So excited that I finally got to attend my first ACTFL Convention!  After 22 years. And my first visit to New Orleans to boot!   I had to fight to get here, but thanks to my awesome Curriculum Director who supported me, I made it.  I met up with one of my best friends from grad school (Salut Beth!) and reconnected with my former student teacher from 1995 (Coucou Debbie!). I also made some new friends (Hola Lisa! ) and got to spend quality time with current friends and colleagues (Oye Karen!)

It was amazing to see so many language educators in one place.  The atmosphere was electric.  I learned so much from the sessions I attended and even got to present my work on Project Based Learning.  (You can find my presentation and materials on under the Documents tab on the Homepage).  By far my favorite sessions were put on by Donna Clementi and Laura Terrill.  If you haven’t read “The Keys to Planning and Learning” that they wrote, you must!  It will transform your teaching.  These ladies feed my teaching soul!

Every time I see them, they make me want to be a better teacher.  They make me question what I am doing in my class.  For instance, I was supposed to start the “House”unit with my French 2s when I returned from the ACTFL Convention.  You know the one: rooms of the house, furniture, appliances, chores…But why the heck do my 16 years olds need to know this?  Do you think they will be buying a home in France any time soon?  And do 16 years old even talk about appliances and chores?  Imagine the conversation in the school cafeteria:

“Hey Patty, what appliances are in your kitchen?”

“I have a dishwasher and a sink.  I do the dishes in the kitchen.  Do you have a sofa in your living room, Gianna?”

“Yes, I do have a sofa in the living room.  It’s a green sofa.”

Really??  Have you ever heard teenagers??  This is definitely NOT what they want to talk about!  So how can we make the “house” unit pertinent to our students?  How can we make it intrinsically motivating to them and to us?  How do we make the unit open their minds to different perspectives?  How can this unit contribute to making our students globally competent?

I began with an essential question: What is home?  From there, the ideas just flowed.  Home is more than four walls.  It’s what is in the home, the feeling, the people.  Homes are different depending on geographical needs.  And when we are talking about homes, shouldn’t we also talk about homelessness?  So sure, the students will need to use the house and furniture vocabulary, but they will need so much more.  They will explore what they think makes a home and what happens when someone doesn’t have a home.  They will get to see how homes differ throughout the world and think about how to help people get shelter.  This is so much more meaningful than “I have pink bedroom.  What color is your bedroom?”