2020 kicked my butt. Hard core. But I don’t feel alone in that, and I know that many had it harder than me for a variety of reasons. My mantra for 2020: Get back to the basics. Professionally, I told myself that (student) growth is (student) growth, and it’s okay if this year doesn’t show…
Teaching Blog
Songs for the “Big 4” French Irregulars
Aller, être, avoir, and faire: the “Big 4” French irregular verbs. Aller opens students to the future, être and avoir open the past, and faire…well, that’s just wildly popular and used all over the place! The trouble for language learners is that these verbs are irregular. There is seemingly no rhyme or reason to their…
French Grammar Spotlight: Adjectives that Precede Nouns
I am an advocate for teaching in whatever way works best for you and your students. It may be a more traditional method, or maybe the latest trend in language acquisition strikes a chord with you. It might be something that only fits you and your students, and it might be a blend a few…
National Board Certification: Tips for Component 1 for World Language Teachers
When I got the little firework banner message proclaiming I passed–I was finally Erin Austin, NBCT–I cried. (I wanted to be tougher than that, but apparently I’m not.) The NBPTS process is long, difficult, and expensive. I completed the four components plus the language tests over the course of two years, and during the second…
Top 3 Things Nirvana Can Teach Us about Good Teaching
Disclaimers: 1. Yes, I’m a product of the 90s2. Yes, I know this is frivolous3. Despite #1 and #2, I still assert that this is relevant 25 years ago Nirvana released arguably one of the Top 5 greatest live albums of all time: MTV Unplugged. I remain just as mesmerized by their albums now as…
PREPP* Yourself : French Reflexives in the Passé Composé
Putting French reflexive verbs in the passé composé isn’t hard, but man, it’s long. In order to deal with this cumbersome structure, I made an acronym to help students: It’s not hard, but you do have to PREPP* yourself to put reflexives in the passé composé! PR = Pronom Réfléchi You have to start with…
Keeping the Magic Alive: why I won’t live in France
Dumped, schmumped! My first trip to Paris was my freshman year of college. I was a teaching assistant to my former French teacher, and we found a steal of a deal to Paris over spring break. I’m not sure how that even worked with 1999’s technology, but it happened. Good thing, too, because my boyfriend…
The Delegate System
Years ago, a former colleague told me about French classrooms having student “delegates”. Essentially, they were elected classroom leaders that helped the teachers and other students with various tasks. Genius! While it’s a modern trend to assign classroom jobs to every kid, that feels like too much to me: too much to set up, too…
Elles Ont Toutes Une Histoire (Standing Tall)
Netflix currently has a solid list of French films, ranging from the embarrassingly lowly rated Planetarium to the inspirational true story in The African Doctor. In an effort to find new films to enhance my curriculum, I took a shot on a documentary: Elles Ont Toutes Une Histoire (Standing Tall). The shot ended up a…
Book Review : What School Could Be by Ted Dintersmith
Years ago, I was talking to a dean at my school, getting interviewing tips. I asked what a good response is to “What is one of your weaknesses?” He laughed and said a good one is always, “I just don’t always have time to keep up on my educational journal reading.” Brilliant! I laughed too!…
