It’s the end of the school year! But, wait! You still have two weeks left to teach! Sometimes you have finals at the end of the year, so you’re reviewing for a test. Sometimes you have field trips and other fun days planned. However, there are those times when you just have a few […]
Teaching tips
10 tips for teaching native speakers
Teaching native speakers in foreign language class is not easy. They have the oral fluency that your other students lack. Their use of idiomatic expressions is superior. They don’t need vocabulary lists to work with, and they don’t want to learn from a textbook. But … they might not know how to read or write […]
Unit bundles for French
Teaching is a lot easier when you have a cohesive French vocabulary unit that flows well from start to finish. Foreign language students need grammar practice, but they also need speaking activities, visuals, games, writing practice, cooperative learning, and so much more. When your students are struggling to grasp the grammar, do you have something […]
French spring teaching resources
Spring is here! Spring fever hits students so hard every year, so it’s a great idea to have some French spring-themed teaching resources ready to go for when the time is right. Whether you want to do a whole French spring unit or just like to have no-prep activities on hand for early finishers or […]
Save yourself from grading stress
Spending too much time grading papers? Constantly feeling like you are never caught up? With constant meetings, conferences, growth charts, progress reports, collaborative planning, curriculum writing, and everything else on their plates, it’s amazing that teachers find any time to grade papers. Before moving to a lower grade, I taught high school for 8 years, […]
Increase enrollment in your language class
Enrollment time will be coming up soon! For French teachers, it’s often really hard to increase enrollment in French. When I taught high school French, enrollment was always a really stressful time for me, because low enrollment could have meant teaching a class outside of my area, getting less funds, or getting a not-so-good schedule. […]
Secondary student self-evaluations
I love using student self-evaluations with my class to encourage them to think reflectively on how they can improve. I find that it is a great way to encourage student responsibility. Self-evaluation activities are great tools to come back to if you need to have a conference with a parent, a quick chat with an […]
Making the most out of leftover class time
Having leftover classtime can be such a challenge! What do you do? Grab some easy ideas to use in any class here, plus find activities that work perfectly in the French classroom! One thing I’ve learned as a teacher is that things just don’t always go as you planned. Maybe there was a fire drill […]
An entire year of French 1 Resources!
It’s hard to teach beginning French students! They need so much structured practice in order to master those basic skills. Speaking doesn’t come naturally for them, spelling is not easy, and they often freak out if you try to speak too much French from the start. Whether you’re a veteran teacher, a new teacher, or […]
Learning French Verbs Should Be Fun!
Yes, you can make it fun to learn French verbs! Often, when I tell people I’m a French teacher, they tell me that they took French in high school and they had a hard time with all those FRENCH VERBS! Yes, there are a lot of verbs to learn, and then a lot of tenses […]
