It is so hard to believe it is already August and just a few weeks remain of summer… The week I am writing this is really my last week of real summer since I am working Freshman orientation next week and the week after is Volleyball Tryouts and the week after that is back to school. I feel like my summer has barely begun and has been so busy that I can’t fathom going back to work yet. I thought it might help motivate me to think about what I am excited about in the coming year…

World Language Participation Cards — **Click the photo to read more about Participation Cards!**

I am looking forward to…

Teaching French 3 for the first time! That means new curriculum and some fresh lessons. We rewrote our curriculum maps this past year and many of my favorite lessons ended up in French 3 (may or may not have just worked out that way 😊). I am looking forward to teaching a more advanced class.
I am looking forward to the new topics and stories I have been working on developing this summer for our French 3 curriculum. I did not really learn about French colonialism until my study abroad in college and a lot of my curriculum in France or Canada focused so I am actively working to bring in history and stories from Francophone Africa.
My second year in the district with some returning students in my 8th grade and French 3 classes, and some new faces as well. I am looking forward to the year being a little easier as I know the district and schools a little better.
My 7th grade class. I am a little concerned at the size of my 7th grade classes since we merged 3 classes into 2. But, I did have all of them in my 6th grade Exploratory classes so we already know each other a little bit.
CATHERINE’S PARTICIPATION CARDS. This should have been first or second. I am really looking forward to trying out this strategy to manage blurting, encourage participation and target language use! Read more about the strategy here.
Building off of the participation card idea I am working on a way to gameify / incentivize participation with my high schoolers but have them earn personalized swag (any excuse to use my Cricut right?) It’s just an idea so more to come when I have developed it more… Stay tuned..
Volleyball! Coaching is a lot of work but also so much fun. The graduating seniors were my first group of 6th graders in my old district and some of my first Volleyball Club kids. It is fun watching them play now. The incoming Freshman on my team I taught for three years starting in 5th grade, it was so hard to leave them their 8th grade year so I am looking forward to coaching them again. So far they are looking like really good players and fast learners so I think we will have a good season!

What I am working on this year…

Speaking activities. It is not my strong suit and I always forget to incorporate enough meaningful practice. Luckily, my co-teacher is really good at incorporating them so we’ll work together to balance it out. I am hoping to create Chat Mats for each unit in French 3 and questions of the day to make sure we’re practicing!
Presenting! I presented at my first virtual conference this summer and it was so much fun getting to share ideas live. Catherine and I will be presenting at our state conference in October!
My masters… I started it this summer and have a couple of classes down. I am hoping to get a couple more done before going back to school and a couple more this fall. It will definitely be slow going during Volleyball season but I have the app on my phone and Speechify to listen to articles while driving to work and practice and on the bus to games. It’s about making progress.