How to Host a Virtual Class for your Students During Covid-19 School Closures

UPDATE: With the COVID-19 Pandemic many teachers are having to change to teaching online. I made this tutorial in 2018, it will help many of you learn how to run a virtual class. Note, the Today’s meet backchannel mentioned in the training is no longer available but there is a great alternative called Yo Teach.

For further resources and help about how to teach online during school closures Join the Tech for World Language Teachers Facebook group. We have been sharing lots of resources and lessons to help you teach online during this challenging time. See you in the group.

Original blog post below:

Tutoring is something many teachers offer their students. However, students and teachers are often so busy with after-school activities, that it can be hard to find the time after school to offer or attend tutoring regardless of how much a student may need it.  

I set out to find a way to be able to provide students with tutoring in a way that was more convenient. I decided to try offering online tutoring as a solution and the results were surprisingly AMAZING! 

By offering online tutoring I am able to provide tutoring for students at their convenience, If they can't attend the live online tutoring session, they can watch the replay. The feedback I have received from my parents and students is that they prefer the online tutoring. They can watch at their convenience and rewind or fast forward where needed. 

As a teacher, I have found that online tutoring allows me to reach more students at once.  In addition, it allows for better differentiation because students can watch the replay as many times as they need to. They can also skip parts they are already strong in.  

Want to learn how to tutor your students online? 

Watch my step by step video training. I cover the following:

*How to set up online tutoring at NO COST to you.
*How to share your screen or presentation.
*How to set up a chat box for students to participate and ask questions.
*How to use free online WhiteBoard.

Get my free ebook 18 Must-Have Tech Tools for World Language Teachers

Authentic Resources for Language Class

As I talk each day with teachers inside of the Tech for World Language Teachers Facebook group, I often hear about their struggle to find authentic materials and resources to use in the World Language classrooms. When I mention Miscosistas.com I am often surprised how few have heard of this website. 

MisCositas.com has lots of Thematic cultural units, lessons and activities for your World Language classroom. Languages supported are English, Spanish, French, and Chinese.

Below is a video walkthrough I made to show you some of the resources available on the site and how easy it is to use.

What's your favorite resource from MisCositas.com?

Join the conversation inside of our Facebook community.

Verb Conjugation website for your world Language classroom

Do your students need some help conjugating verbs?

Check out this cool verb conjugation website available for multiple languages. http://www.verbix.com/

You can have your students practice as a bellringer, use for early finishers, or as an enrichment activity.

Below is a video walkthrough to show you how easy it is to use.

Did you find this useful? Head on over to our Free Facebook group and join the conversation. Group: Tech for World Language Teachers

Be sure to grab our free resources here>>

Story Prompt Generator for Your World Language Classroom

As a Spanish teacher, I am always looking for creative ways to get my students writing and talking more in the target language. I have found that if I let my students tap into their creativity, they are usually more excited about the writing assignments and they end up producing better results.

A while back I came across that has a random picture prompt generator. You spin and it randomly selects 3 picture prompts. I created a quick video walkthrough for you to see how you can use it with your World Language students to get them writing and talking more.

I want to hear from you, how do you plan on using the picture prompt generator with your world language students. let us know inside our free facebook group Tech for World Language Teachers. Join the conversation here>>

Fun Scrabble Game for Your World Language Students

So I normally blog about how to use technology with your World Language students. However, today's tip is too good not to share even though it is not a tech tip. 

I am always looking for new engaging ways to have my students practice their Spanish vocabulary. A few months back I came across a post about Table/Desk Scrabble for French classes.  I liked the idea so much I decided to use it with my Spanish students. However, I found that some of the necessary letters needed for Spanish were missing due to it being designed for french teachers. As a result, I decided to make my own letter tiles to include the missing Spanish letters. You can view the Spanish Scrabble Tiles here>>

I tried the Floor Scrabble game with my students and it was a BIG HIT! 😍

I divided my students into two groups and I had them compete. Whichever group was able to work together to come up with the most Spanish words won. Well, as I stated before they had a great time doing the activity. It was such a great way for them to collaborate and work together. If you are looking for a FUN way to get your students to practice their vocabulary I highly recommend this activity. 

You can download the French and Spanish scrabble tiles below.

French Scrabble Tiles

Spanish Scrabble Tiles

Would you like more tips and support?

Joins us inside our Free Facebook group Tech for World Language Teachers.

Spanish Speaking Countries Fun Interactive Resources

While teaching my students about Spanish speaking countries, I noticed that some students struggled with the geography part of the lesson. Some needed help remembering the names of the countries. I wanted to find a fun way to help, so I set out to find fun interactive resources I could use with my students.

I found some really neat resources.

Resource 1: Spanish Speaking Countries Setera Online Map Quiz Game.

My students had a ball playing this game and trying to beat each other's time score.

Resource 2: Spanish Speaking Countries Mapas Interactivos.

This interactive map allows students two options study or quiz mode.

Resource 3: Purpose Games Spanish Speaking Countries Online Interactive Map. Students are be able to see their score and keep track of remaining attempts.

I also wanted a fun way for students to remember and practice saying the names of the countries in Spanish. I found two catchy videos on YouTube.

Video 1: Rock The Countries-Central America. The Video includes the countries and capitals of Central America and the Caribbean.

Video 2: Rock The Countries-South America. The Video includes the countries and capitals of South America.

Video 3: The Central America Geography Song by Rocking the World. They also have some free activities to go with the video. The activities include maps, song lyrics, and a cloze activity. You can download the free activities here>>

Mapa Musical by Natalia Hernadez. It is a collaborative map on Padlet. You can add music videos, to illustrate the musical style of regions around the world.

Google Drive resources this was created by Melanie Borges Labendeira and shared by Claudia Shiell inside of the Tech for World Language Teachers Facebook group. It contains several no-prep resources you can use with your students. Some of the resources included are virtual field trips.

Bonus resource: The Taste Atlas website, is a world atlas of food and drinks, an encyclopedia of flavors. You can select a country and see what foods are popular in that region. This is great for cultural enrichment and research projects.

I want to hear from you which resource did you find the most useful?

Let us know your favorite inside our Free Facebook group Tech for World Language Teachers.

Save Time Grading with the Easy Grade Calculator

The Easy Grade Calculator has helped me to Save so much Time grading. I made a quick tutorial to show you how easy it is to use.

Want more tips and support? Join our Free Facebook group Tech for World Language Teachers.

Music Database for World Language Classes

A while back I shared an AWESOME online music database inside the Tech for World Language Teachers Facebook group. The database is a live spreadsheet document created by Sharon Birch from El Mundo de Birch. The database has songs divided by subject, tense, theme and country of origin. It is a wonderful resource for Spanish teachers.

Since the Tech for World Language Teacher community has a variety of language teachers. I suggested we start a music database spreadsheet to include all of the languages in our community. One of our awesome members Joe McCright started the new Music for World Language Classes spreadsheet and it is now an awesome Live growing document for all World Language teachers.

You can view and add songs to the music database here>>

There is also a Música miércoles Google Drive folder created by Susie Kersemeier-Gronwick she shared it inside the Tech for World Language Teachers Facebook group. She has given me permission to share it with everyone. The activities are a great way to integrate culture and CI.

You can access the Música miércole activities here>>

Do you want more useful resources like this? Head on over to the Tech for World Language Teachers Facebook group and request access now.