avoiding the binder graveyard
As a teacher, I sat through a LOT of professional learning – some of it fantastic, and some of it not so much. Professional learning that gave me new tools renewed my enthusiasm for teaching, or directly challenged my thinking, and often left me with high hopes of transforming my teaching to impact student learning. […]
Stay in the target language with circumlocution: mindset, method & awesome madness.
“My immersion students don’t have the vocabulary yet to be able to stay in the target language.” “When I’m in guided reading, my immersion students come to ask me how to say words.” “My kids stay in Spanish when I’m around them, but sneak back into English when I’m away.” As a dual language immersion […]
dual language immersion professional learning: finding a recipe that delivers
Each school has its own special recipe that makes it unique. The recipe includes ingredients like school cultural practices, beliefs about student capacity, curricular choices, the home context of the students, geographic location, etc. When dual language immersion education is added to a school’s recipe, the ingredients and steps involved simply multiply. And just like […]
boost student language output: implement and maximize the turn-and-talk strategy
Immersion educators who are committed to dual language development are constantly thinking about ways to boost student language output. One of the foundational strategies we teach our addalingua partner teachers is “turn-and-talk.” It’s a simple strategy to help get students producing more in the immersion language, and it can be used in any immersion classroom. how […]
5 values that can impact your classroom setup
Feeling excited to set up your immersion classroom?! Don’t start moving the desks yet! When it comes to classroom setup, the best first step is to REFLECT on our values and beliefs about teaching and learning in an immersion setting. You see, the spaces we create communicate what we value. Furthermore, values-informed design supports us […]
4 myths about struggling students and immersion programs.
Instructional support for addalingua partner programs comes in a wide variety of forms but there’s one topic that comes up All. The. Time. Teachers, administrators, point people and parents reach out to our team to ask the following question: What about students who struggle in immersion education? There’s certainly room in the field for more […]
new professional learning topics from addalingua
We take professional learning very seriously. So seriously that we have developed a five year professional learning and addalingua certification cycle for our partner teachers, administrators and point people. Yes, you read correctly – FIVE YEARS! addalingua pd – flexible. differentiated. immersion specific. We know that there are very few (as in less than four) […]
How to focus on English Specific Skills (ESS) (and avoid double teaching in Spanish immersion classrooms).
There are three letters that every immersion educator must know: E. S. S. ESS stands for English Specific Skills. Knowing what these skills are and how and when to introduce them in the classroom will impact everything from immersion program design to the instructional practice you’ll see in classrooms. What are English Specific Skills (ESS)? […]
make virtual instructional visits a part of your professional learning cycle
Do you believe in your teaching team’s capacity to grow? Do you want to help support their growth? If your answer to those questions is yes (and why else would you be reading this blog?), we want to help you make virtual instructional support visits (VISVs) a foundational part of your professional learning cycle. One […]
teacher feature: Christa Holland-Anderson
Christa Holland-Anderson is a 6th grade Spanish immersion teacher at Holland Language Academy. In this teacher feature, addalingua’s Stephanie Irizarry asks Maestra Holland-Anderson to describe her journey to Holland Language Academy, the strategies she uses to grow her proficiency in the Spanish language, and how she works to motivate her students and encourage correct use of […]
