Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Stacy Witkowski

Carrie Toth @senoracmt.bsky.social · 6h

Will you be at ACTFL? I have so many freebies at booth 823!

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 19h

Thank you! I went to the doctor for the third time yesterday. Feeling hopeful. 🤞

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Merci

Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

i haven't listened to this episode yet, but I want to give a shoutout to @senorwooly.com because as I was reading Ch.5 of the Grammar book, I got to the Interpretive Comprehension Tasks on p.139 and my notes say "Very useful. Señor Wooly is good at this."

SLAyyy Pod @slayyypod.bsky.social · 14d

In our latest episode, we interview Señor Wooly @senorwooly.com, who shares his mindset when creating content for language learners!

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Ep. 27: SLAyyy Creating Compelling Content with Señor Wooly | Podcast Episode on RSS.com

GaslightWhat is it that we want to / have to teach?There Is No Faking a Storyteller’s Intention“One Day, You Will Have a Real Conversation”Gatekeep - Jim WooldridgeWhat does the life of a kid look li...

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Very clear takeaways from this chapter. 1. Learners try to get meaning from content words (lexical items) before grammatical markers. 2. Learners pay more attention to what comes first in a sentence. Easy to use rules to make my input more valuable for students.

SLAyyy Pod @slayyypod.bsky.social · 18d

#SLAyyy #LangChat

Chapter 5 discussion prompt reading: "What is your biggest takeaway from reading this chapter or participating in this chat?"

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

On p. 142 the authors give a sample unit. The proficiency target is Intermediate Low. But the grammar focus is present tense verbs, third person singular. I was surprised because I thought that would be an early acquired structure. Shows I'm still partially back in the old days of textbook grammar.

SLAyyy Pod @slayyypod.bsky.social · 19d

#LangChat #SLAyyy

Chapter 5 discussion prompt reading: “after reading this chapter, what questions do YOU have? It made you go, ‘huh?’”

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Agree!!!!!!!!!

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

I do a good job of leading students from referential to affective questions (those are new terms to me, but the distinction is not). I.E., when I introduce a new form in Weekend Chat, I start with MY weekend, and my Qs let them show they understood. Later, I ask them to talk about THEIR weekends.

SLAyyy Pod @slayyypod.bsky.social · 20d

#LangChat #SLAyyy

Chapter 5 discussion prompt reading: “What is something that makes you feel you are doing well? It made you go, I’ve got this! Time to brag - tell us about your strengths.”

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Yea!!! Congratulations! Good job. 👏

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

"Learners pay more attention to what comes first in a sentence." This is clear and easy to implement. I can use this.

SLAyyy Pod @slayyypod.bsky.social · 21d

#LangChat #SLAyyy

Chapter 5 discussion prompt reading: "What's something you read that was new to you? It made you go, Oh! I could use this!"

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Same! When I read this chapter I was just back from #MiWLA25 where I attended a workshop with a presenter who talked about these two types of tasks, but didn't use these terms. Are these terms new?

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

I know I'm a week behind, but I've been sick. I had both a sinus infection and bronchitis. Dear teacher, please accept my homework late just this one time... 🙏

I really do enjoy reading this book, thinking about big ideas in teaching, and discussing them with you all.

SLAyyy Pod @slayyypod.bsky.social · 22d

#Langchat #SLAyyy

Chapter 5 discussion prompt reading: “What’s something you read in this chapter that you realize you could improve, or that has been hard for you? It made you go oops! Or maybe you already know that this is not your strong point, and that’s why you’re reading this chapter!”

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Creativity. I used to end each novel with a project that allowed for creativity. Kids love it, but honestly it's hard to scaffold, hard to grade, hard to keep them from using Google Translate and AI, and not great as far as language acquisition vs. time invested. But, KIDS LOVE IT. Time to revisit.

SLAyyy Pod @slayyypod.bsky.social · 22d

#Langchat #SLAyyy

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe some students want that? As long as you're not trying to grade them on it?

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 11d

#MiWLA25

Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 11d

Erica Peplinski-Burge has so much to share. I attended her session on Addressing Teacher Burnout at #MiWLA. We can’t fill up out students if we ourselves are running on empty. I ❤️ her resources to learn more about sleep, glucose, and the gut microbiome. I want to share this info with everyone I love

a cartoon of stewie from family guy sitting in bed

Alt: a cartoon of stewie from family guy sitting in bed with dark circles under his eyes. Caption: Need some sleep. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.

media.tenor.com

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 11d

Erica Peplinski-Burge has so much to share. I attended her session on Addressing Teacher Burnout at #MiWLA. We can’t fill up out students if we ourselves are running on empty. I ❤️ her resources to learn more about sleep, glucose, and the gut microbiome. I want to share this info with everyone I love

a cartoon of stewie from family guy sitting in bed

Alt: a cartoon of stewie from family guy sitting in bed with dark circles under his eyes. Caption: Need some sleep. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.

media.tenor.com

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 11d

It’s always good to see @justinslocumbailey.bsky.social present. I’ve learned about Brain Breaks from him before, but I went back for more at #MiWLA25. Now added to my toolkit: 4 Quadrants with Pictures, Image Imitation. My students will love these. Danke, Justin.

Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 11d

Happy to see @mmegoodenough.bsky.social in real life at #MiWLA25. Her session on social media made me think about why I have professional and personal accounts for Twitter and Bluesky, but only 1 for Facebook. As I have left X and engage more with teachers on FB, maybe I need separate accounts?

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 12d

I loved Erica Peplinski-Burge’s session on Top Tips for Talking With Students at #MiWLA25. I am feeling low energy today, and I appreciated that she offered a sitting option for the fun “obstacle course” brain break. I should give my students that option too.

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 12d

Thrilled to see Meredith White @techmewithyou.bsky.social give the keynote address at #MiWLA25. As always, she gives a spoonful of sugar (her sense of humor) to make the medicine go down: teachers need to set boundaries to protect our time.

a cartoon of spongebob and patrick with the word boundaries

ALT: a cartoon of spongebob and patrick with the word boundaries

media.tenor.com

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 14d

Thank you so much! 😊

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 15d

Tonight I’m working on my presentation for #MiWLA25 on the topic of teaching culture in the language classroom. This session is based on the work of Cécile Lainé. She quoted Cathline Tanis and I’m delighted to rediscover she’s here on 🦋 @tanisleads.bsky.social

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 15d

Oh man, if I were still teaching French…

Carrie Tait @carrietait.bsky.social · 16d

This photo accompanying a news story about the heist at the Louvre is perfection.

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 16d

Update: currently working on SHORTENING the presentation I wrote yesterday for #MiWLa25. 😅
Luckily, my wife is an editor and I get in-home consultations. 🥰

Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 17d

Up early for a bike ride to the best bagel shop in metro Detroit. Now full of bagel and coffee, working on my slide deck for #MiWLA25. Today’s topic: Grading in the 21st Century Language Classroom. @miwla.bsky.social

Photo of morning sky shows dark blue grey fading to light blue and yellow on the horizon behind trees, with a few thin clouds.

Photo of glass door with icon of New York Bagel, “born and bread in Detroit”

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Stacy Witkowski @stacywitkowski.bsky.social · 17d

Turns out all I need to do to hear “te amo” from a 16 year old boy is let him sleep till 11:00am and have bagels waiting for him when he gets up. 🥯❤️

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