Every day, we juggle target language use, meaningful communication, culture, and the wonderfully unpredictable humans sitting in front of us. No two students bring the same background, motivation, or experiences, and no two classes ever unfold the same way. ACTFL provides the roadmap, but the real challenge is what we
The classroom fell silent as Brandon leaned in to complete his final ethnographic interview reflection.“I’ve heard the story before, but this time felt different. I noticed things about the story and myself I never noticed before. I realized I am afraid of being forgotten." After he spoke,
When I taught elementary school Spanish, I would often enter classrooms full of visual and verbal cues that reminded students what active listening looked like: “Face the speaker,” “Use kind eyes,” “Wait your turn.” We practiced these daily with playful prompts: “Put on your elephant ears, owl eyes ready, calm
"The whole study is the power of eliciting people’s stories," says Dr. Maureen Lothrop Magnan '20.Dr. Magnan, a Spanish teacher and language coordinator for Sharon Public Schools, strives for empathy through active listening for challenging attitudes towards speakers of other languages. Spanish teacher Dr. Maureen