How World Language Teachers Can Avoid Burn Out

Every year, thousands of World Language teachers worldwide reach a point of burnout. This is often caused by a combination of factors, including large class sizes, low pay, and a lack of administrative support.

Teacher burnout can seriously impact both the teacher and their students. When a teacher is burned out, they are less likely to be able to give their students the attention they need and deserve. This can lead to lower grades and a higher rate of discipline problems.

There are a few things that teachers can do to prevent burnout.

*First, making time for yourself outside of the classroom is essential. This can be difficult, but it is important to find a balance between work and personal life.

*Secondly, staying organized and having a positive attitude is important.

Third, take an assessment of your teaching practice. Where can you make changes to save time? For example, make time to review tech tools and no-prep lessons you can use to help you save time planning and grading.

The Tech for World Language Teacher Community and The World Language Teacher Tech Academy offer many resources and ideas for saving time in planning, grading, and teaching.

Finally, be sure to reach out to your support network, whether that is other teachers, family, or friends.

You can connect with other World Language Teachers inside of the Tech for World Language Teachers community on Facebook. It is a great place to get ideas, ask questions and get support.

If you are a teacher who is struggling with burnout, know that you are not alone. There are many resources available to help you through this difficult time.

Check out the Tech for World Language Teachers blog, the Facebook group, and the online professional development community.

Free Classroom Management Workshop


The Amazing Race Activities for Language Class

It can be a challenge to keep students engaged throughout the school year. That is why coming up with meaningful language and cultural activities is crucial to keeping your language students excited and engaged.

I recently hosted a live workshop about The Amazing Race Activities for Language Class.

In the workshop, my special guest Gerardo Gancz, a Spanish teacher with over 17 years of experience, shared about some super fun and interactive activities and how he is successfully using them with his students.

You can view the workshop here.

We are going to host The Amazing Race Activities for Language Class Workshop 2 on June 9th at 7:00 PM.

Workshop 2 will show you step-step- how you can create your own amazing interactive activities.

Below is a sneak peek at what's included when you sign up.

Enroll in the workshop here.

As you can see the resources are available in Spanish and French but can be easily adapted to any language or subject.

You can access the two workshops and the No-Prep resources here.

Hope you enjoy!

-Rachel

Free Classroom Management Workshop

Free Student Awards Certificate Templates

It’s official, the end of the school year is upon us and summer is just around the corner.

This is the perfect time to celebrate the achievement of our students. A great way to do that is by hosting a class/school awards ceremony.

Below are some really nice free Student Awards Templates you can use.

Virtual Graduation and End of Year Awards slides by Slides Mania

Fun free certificate template. EOY Awards by Slides Mania

Class Awards Certificates by Slidesgo

Student Awards Templates by Canva

As you can see there are so many beautiful designs to choose from, your awards ceremony is surely to be a success!

Hope you enjoy! 

-Rachel

Free Classroom Management Workshop

How To Make Interactive Checklists In Google Slides

If you’re a teacher then you know the importance of staying organized and on top of things. Using checklists is a great way to get organized and get things done. Did you know you can easily create interactive checklist with Google Docs?

I created a quick tutorial for you to see how you can easily start using this Time-Saving feature. You can watch the tutorial below.


Looking for More Resources for Language Teachers?

Hello! I’m Rachel Lucas, I am a Spanish teacher and Ed Tech Trainer with over 17 years of experience. I am passionate about helping World Language teachers learn to use technology to Save Time, Engage their students, and Improve proficiency.

I help teachers through my online professional development community The World Language Teacher Tech Academy – where there are On-Demand Courses and No-Prep downloadable lesson resources.

All the courses and resources were designed to help save you time, engage your language students, and improve proficiency.

If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in your World Language classroom, I would LOVE to help you inside the World Language Teacher Tech Academy.

Join TODAY to get unlimited access to ALL of our courses and resources for ONLY $5.

Jeopardy Labs Tutorial

If you are looking for a fast and easy way to make FUN interactive review games, check out Jeopardy Labs.

Jeopardy Labs allows you to create self-scoring Jeopardy-Style games much more easily than using a PowerPoint templates. Jeopardy is a Super FUN way to review material with your language students.

You can create your own game in minutes or browse from the game library.

Here is the review game I made for my Intermediate Spanish students. This review games covers the following topics: People, subject pronouns, the verb ser, the family, and the verb tener.

Click here to access the Spanish 1 review game.

I also made a quick tutorial for you to see how easy it is to create your own Jeopardy-Style review games. You can view the tutorial below.

Looking for More Resources for Language Teachers?

Hello! I’m Rachel Lucas, I am a Spanish teacher and Ed Tech Trainer with over 17 years experience. I am passionate about helping World Language teachers learn to use technology to Save Time, Engage their students, and Improve proficiency.

I help teachers through my online professional development community The World Language Teacher Tech Academy – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links, and No-Prep downloadable resources.

I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your World Language curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences.

If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in World Language classroom, I would LOVE to help you inside the World Language Teacher Tech Academy.

Learn more and take a sneak peek inside here.

Engage Your Language Students With Authentic Music

Have you heard of the Locura de marzo? If you are a Spanish teacher this is an AMAZING way to get your students excited and engaged. 

So what exactly is the Locura de marzo?

It is a SUPER FUN music tournament that takes place each year in March (March Madness). It is organized and hosted by Ben Ashby of senorashby.com

The tournament works like this, each day two songs face off against each other. Students from all over the world listen and vote for their favorite song. The winning song moves on to the next round and the losing song gets eliminated. I have my students participate in the Locura de marzo each year and they LOVE it! 😍

Last year Sr. Ashby came Live on The Tech for World Language Teachers Community to explain all the details about this AWESOME music competition.

You can watch and get all the details below.

Want to connect with other Spanish teachers who are participating in the Locura de marzo? Be sure to check out Señor Ashby's Locura De Marzo Facebook group. There are tons of ideas and resources you can use with your Spanish language students. 

Not a Spanish teacher? No worries, you can still get ideas about how to get your students engaged and excited with authentic music. If you are a French teacher there is also a Facebook group called Musique Mercredi and a website where you can get all the details about the French music tournament, you find out more here.

Are you a member of the Tech for World Language Teachers Facebook group? We have over 15,000 language teachers just like you. We share tips, ideas, and resources.

How to record screencast video lessons with Loom

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One of the questions I get asked all the time inside of the Tech for World Language Teachers community is, how to record screencast lessons? Many teachers don't know where to start? With so many tools available it can be a challenge knowing which tool to select. My favorite tool for recording screencasts is Loom. Out of all of the tools, I have tried Loom is hands down the easiest to use. Not only is it super easy and friendly to use. There is no time wasted having to upload/download videos to share. Loom allows you to instantly share your screencast recording via the Loom link. You can use the Loom Chrome extension or the desktop app for more advanced features. You can even add call to actions and clickable links to your video. The best part is that teachers and students get FREE lifetime access when using their educational organization email address. You can visit Loom.com to get your free teacher account. Want to learn how to use Loom? Check out my step-by-step tutorial below.

Want more tech training resources? Check out our professional development community the World Language Teacher Tech Academy. We have lots of training and resources to help save you time and engage your students.

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

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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