Tag / Kelly Ferguson
WAFLT 2019 Recommendations
Here it is, folks, my annual recommendations of session at WAFLT. These are sessions that are focused on Comprehensible-Input/Acquisition-Driven teaching, as well as those by creative and engaging teachers I know. Please let me know if I've missed any! Also, don't take it that a session not listed is not a good choice. There are plenty that will be perfect for you if the topic is something specific you're concerned with.
Friday, November 1, 2019 8:30am-11:30am (NOTE: these 3-hour workshops cost extra to attend.)
Señor Wooly: Where do I start?
You've heard the buzz. Sr. Wooly is where it is at. But then you log yourself on to www.senorwooly.com and are immediately fill with a sense of overwhelm. You've seen the Baño video on YouTube and have heard of the famous Billy la Bufanda. Your crazy colleague down the hall actually BOUGHT...
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Señor Wooly is the BEST THING EVER
We recently finished "Wooly Week", which for the uninitiated is a week-long celebration of all things Wooly. New products, new songs, new activities for everyone who subscribes to the Sr. Wooly website. And this has renewed the strength in my opinion that this website is the best thing ever.
Now,...
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2019: New Year, New FOCUS
I've been inspired. I mean, this time of year, it is hard not to look ahead with eyes to the bright shining promise of the new year. But it also is tempting to pull my head out of the clouds and realize I have a few short weeks left in first semester, and a pile of grading staring at me from before break. So, how the heck do I balance my need for, well, balance with these competing sentiments of optimism and exhaustion?
As usual, when it comes to great ideas, I need to blame Meredith White. I feel like lately, she is my teaching...
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Dissecting Danielson Domain 2: Making the Rubric Work for your CI Classroom
This is the second of a draft-quality (for now) series of posts about the Danielson evaluation tool and how the qualifiers and criteria can apply to a Comprehensible Input-focused classroom. If you're just stumbling onto this now, you can find Domain 1 here.
Danielson Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
Okay! This one is probably the least difficult to make fit a CI class, because frankly a good environment is a good environment! There are certainly some...Read More
Dissecting Danielson Domain 1: Making the rubric work for your CI Classroom
Recently, a teacher asked in an online forum how the Danielson assessment system can be "worked" within a Comprehensible Input-focused classroom. So I've included my rubric interpretation here. My disclaimer also should be that I rate myself high, but with rationale, and then ask my administrator to prove I'm wrong. But I want my administrator to give me specific things I should improve if they don't feel I'm doing the best possible job. (Obviously, I totally know I can improve in many areas. But I'm not going to make it easy on them.) Please also remember that just because these can be connected...
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Packing for Travel–What about Luggage?
Luggage. There is SO much luggage out there! Odds are, your family has a suitcase or two laying around the house. My parents have a TON of luggage. Some old, some new, some big, some small, some giant. This post is going to help lead you through the pros/cons of different types of luggage, from the perspective that you might be looking to buy a new bag for the trip, or at least trying to figure out which of the bags you have access to would be best for you to take. Of course, you don't need to buy new luggage to travel. And you may be stuck with whatever your family has, like it or not. ...
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About student travel
As I prepare to make a 3-week carry-on-only trip this summer and find myself obsessively pouring over blogs and videos and tips for traveling light, it struck me that while I learned a lot of tips from the experts in traveling with a backpack only, most of the suggestions for packing techniques and how to not be that traveler are all things I knew. And I realized that many teachers are not incredibly experienced travelers, and our students less so. I haven't seen a lot of articles, blogs, videos, or hacks produced from the perspective of student travel. So this series of posts...
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I need a system. (Intro to upcoming series)
Today I was reading some notes from a conference I attended a year or two ago, and realized something that hit me like a ton of bricks: I need a system. Truth be told, I need several systems. And they need to work together. I work out at a great gym with franchises throughout the middle of the US called Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping. I've been a member for 5 years. (Please withhold the comments about how not so extremely my body seems shaped...I like cake.) Anyhow, every day that I've gone there for five years, I walk...
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La casa de la Dentista…part 1: My Review
When Jim Wooldridge (Sr. Wooly) asked me to review his new graphic novel, I JUMPED at the chance!! You can't blame me for not resisting a sneak peek of what he calls "...the best story I've ever created in any medium. ", right? So I was over the moon when the book landed in my mailbox. But does it hold up to the hype? Is it really that good? Yeah. It is. A young girl has nightmares about her...la Dentista. And at school the folklore continues as the world remembers the incident...so long ago...well,...
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