IB Profile: Risk-takers=Audaces=Valientes

This attribute from the IB Profile is possibly one of the most difficult to grasp deeply by our students. Most of the times they get stuck on risky situations on extreme sports or crazy actions. But to be enough brave to start something new, to initiate a new academic adventure, to learn a second/third/fourth language... are not usually on their thoughts for this attribute.
So, it's worth it to dedicate time in our classes to build these concepts in and practice regularly with our students.


Sources and links:

• IB Profile posts in antonioluna.org
• IBLP collaborative document
• IB Profile in Spanish

Lunaprofe 1/26/2015  No comment

Quick tips: ¿Me dejas...?

Hi there!
I've been a bit busy lately but I haven't forgot about you ;)
This poster is a piece of the quick tips series, but is focused in how to make questions, how to start the communication, which, sometimes it's the hardest part of it, right?
The question can be used to borrow things from somebody else.
Questions in yellow, possible answers in green. More potential replies are totally correct, so, it would be interesting to have your students doing some research and find more answers for this communicative situation. All vocabulary used in this image it's from a unit about the school.

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army

Edward Everett

Lunaprofe 1/23/2015  No comment

Learn Spanish for free: The Mixxer

The Mixxer is a free educational site for language learners hosted by Dickinson College. The Mixxer is designed to connect language learners around the world so that everyone is both student and teacher. Based on collaborative learning, this website is a must-visit for language learners. Among the variety of choices you have you can get on writing on the language you are learning and let the community help you proof-checking your writing. It's so interesting to receive such an amount and diverse opinions from native speakers around the world.

You can encourage your students to start a blog on their site or just write posts in the target language. They have a points system based on your corrections to others writing. You can earn 10 points for each correction you send. 

You might be interested in signin up for an event on their site, there are a lot of language exchanges between schools around the world, individuals...

You can/must also help others. You can help your language partner learn your native language. How? Leaving comments on other people's writing.

Interested? Then sign up here. Still have questions? Check out their FAQ page.

Teachers - Are you a professional teacher? If so, you can connect your students with native speakers via written posts or Skype during or after class hours. This may help you fill your extra-credit hours for your language class or you can also use it for enrichment with your advanced students.

Interested? Sign up then email them at bryantt@dickinson.edu requesting teacher permissions. They'll just need something to verify you're a teacher and not a spammer. :)

Find them on: http://www.language-exchanges.org

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.

Rabindranath Tagore

Lunaprofe 1/12/2015  No comment

Quick tips: talking about weather in Spanish

I found this posters to be really useful in my classes. I started created them to save time and it is really working. The posters are based on common mistakes from my students and just general common mistakes of Spanish language learners, sound like proper feedback ;)
They really come in handy when a student makes a mistake and you don't want to stop your class, or the mistake is made by the majority of the class, I just upload a poster with a brief explanation and a couple of examples to their Edmodo for them to check after class. It is a simple way of providing feedback to your students, incorporating technologies in you class and time-management skills.

I like to keep the structure simple using the green color for correct examples and yellow for those that need attention.

A good related resource I usually use to help my students internalize this (sometimes is difficult.... huh?) is the song from Los Rodríguez Hace calor

Lunaprofe 1/09/2015  No comment