
Practical Proficiency Podcast
Where world language teachers gather to transition to proficiency oriented instruction through comprehensible input. All through practical, real-life, teacher-friendly ideas that make teaching language more joyful! Hosted by Devon of La Libre Language Learning.
Practical Proficiency Podcast
15 Common Target Language Mistakes & How to Fix Them
This is a special insider episode where you get to see what it's like to be a part of the Practical Proficiency Network! Join us for this amazing insider look and masterclass workshop on target language.
Find out more about the Practical Proficiency Network here: https://lalibrelanguagelearning.mykajabi.com/join-practical-proficiency-network
This workshop reveals 15 common mistakes language teachers make when using target language and provides practical solutions to create a more immersive, interactive classroom experience.
• Avoid making interaction a memory test by focusing on successful communication rather than vocabulary recall
• Interrupt yourself every 30-60 seconds to check for understanding through questions, visuals, or activities
• Shift from content obsession to student-focused interactions by being a "party host" instead of just covering material
• Create a "pool party" environment with appropriate scaffolding instead of throwing students into an overwhelming "ocean" of language
• Celebrate language attempts instead of constantly correcting errors, especially with beginning learners
• Focus on making everyday classroom moments happen in the target language rather than worrying about exceptional circumstances
• Slow down curriculum pacing to allow students to play with and internalize language before moving to new content
• Make cultural lessons more accessible through comprehensible resources rather than defaulting to English
• Keep classroom routines consistent to build confidence in target language use
• Match assessments to classroom practices by evaluating interactive communication rather than just form
If you'd like more support implementing these strategies, join the Practical Proficiency Network for regular workshops, resources, and a community of language teachers committed to effective teaching practices.
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Hey Devin here. This is a very special episode of the Practical Proficiency Podcast. I'm so excited to introduce to you a very special workshop that previously only those who are members of the Practical Proficiency Network had access to. But after this hot fire workshop, I decided this needs to be shared with everybody. So I'm going to give you a special sneak peek into what a hands-on workshop looks like inside of the Practical Proficiency Network on this all-important topic of 15 common target language mistakes when you're trying to use more target language in your classroom and how to fix it. So this workshop is going to let you in onto a meeting, like you're a PPN member, where we're going to go in depth, beyond just the intro layers of how to add more target language to your class. We're really going to tweak, refine and help you move towards a lot more target language a lot easier. By looking at these 15 different aspects, I guarantee you that one of them at least is affecting you, if not a lot more, because I know that there are these 15 common mistakes because I used to make them all, and when I work with schools, districts and individual teachers, we're usually addressing at least three or four of these 15 things. So buckle up for a bit of a longer episode, because this is a masterclass on how to add more target language or to increase the target language you're already using and help you to avoid these common mistakes. Let's dive in. I hope you love it. Welcome to 15 Common Target Language Mistakes and how to Fix them. Very appropriate.
Speaker 1:So this month's challenge, as I was just saying here, is that we're focusing in on increasing your target language use, and as I was thinking about what should be our hands-on topic for this month, it occurred to me that target language is something that we actually is our focus as world language teachers and we talk about all the time. But since it's something that we talk about all the time, it's beneficial for us to look at this in a level two context, and what I mean by that is you all know that target language is important. You all know that target language is the way to get to your goals of seeing improvements in your class as well as having a better time teaching. All of that, like target language, is the vibe, it's the deal, it's what we're all going for. So today I'm hoping to address with you 15 of the most common I've made them all target language mistakes, so that we can get into the detail that affects you, because, more than likely, you're doing a lot of things right. You're doing a lot of things that are really moving the needle in your class and you don't even realize it, but these common mistakes will be the maybe the one thing that's making it a lot harder than it needs to be. So my first one for you in hoping to think about this topic a little bit differently is, sure, like we know that you know, teaching to the eyes is important. Checking for understanding is so important. Practicing being comprehensible is so important, but here, I think, are the 15 things that are going to get in your way. For me, when I work with schools, this is the number one thing that I encounter. So this is number one on the list, and that is number one.
Speaker 1:Making interaction a memory test. This is really common, because this is the way that we're taught how to teach, like we know that our students are with us if they know the vocab. So when we're talking about interaction, though, and when I I'm going to use the word interaction a lot today, and what I'm saying with interaction is any moment that you are asking a student a question in French or in Spanish for Diane. Any time that you're asking a student a question on a worksheet and you're expecting them to respond to you, anytime that you're talking to your students in the target language and you just want them to show you that they're understanding, anytime that those moments are happening, if you're making it about individual word recall, you're going to lose out on the magic of what interaction really is. So here's how to fix it. With each mistake, I'm going to show you some ways that I think you can fix it or troubleshoot this. How to fix it?
Speaker 1:Well, we've got this notion as teachers that we should be checking all the time and like holding kids accountable to work, and that's very true and that can happen in other areas of teaching. But interaction is not the best place to do it. Should they know it? Honestly, it doesn't matter. Like do they need it to understand your question? Do they need it to answer you? Then you should give them the word Like write it down, translate it, draw it, because interaction is when you're putting together all of the things that you're working on in class. It's all of the skills put together in one. There's so many processes happening in the brain that it's already difficult on its own.
Speaker 1:You don't need to make it a memory recall thing, which what I mean by that is often when I'm observing teachers or talking about their classes, I hear a lot of like, oh, like, we're going to use the verb estar in this lesson. Tell me what you remember about the verb estar, like, when do we use it? What's the differences between that and ser? And like, cool, but all of that stuff that you're doing, you probably have to do in English and you know what's actually better, using estar in context, when you say ¿Cómo estás hoy? How are you doing today? ¿dónde estás? When you say como estas hoy, how are you doing today? Donde estas? Where are you Like? That works so much better than recall anyways.
Speaker 1:So I would say the one of the best things you can do with this is don't choose memory recall over interaction Like. Don't choose the, the your, your go-to thing of like. Let me quiz them and make sure that they remember these words or these concepts. It's not words and it's not concepts. You're interacting. You're helping students get better at interacting with you. That's the educational goal of this. So I would say, instead of focusing on memory recall, do this instead, give kids all the language they need to understand and interact with you. Make your end goal the interaction. Make your end goal the interaction. Make your end goal the response.
Speaker 1:Number two when people say be comprehensible in your class, I feel like we should break this down a little bit more and I wish somebody told me this when I was trying this out in my class, because it would have saved me so many awkward silences out in my class, because it would have saved me so many awkward silences. Number two is if you are talking for more than a minute and you haven't interrupted yourself at some point, you're losing them. You're making a mistake. So, like, this is the crucial time frame. I would say it's actually even shorter, like 30 seconds really, but every 30 seconds or so you should be interrupting yourself with some of these things.
Speaker 1:You should be constantly checking for understanding, asking a student a question, interacting in some way with students that might never require their response. Like, maybe you are handing them things and they need to grab the right thing, or you're pointing to things and they need to all point there with you. Or maybe you're pausing to draw something, maybe you're pausing to write something, maybe you're pausing to point to some of the scaffolding around your room. So, instead of letting yourself talk or sign for a minute, like once you hit 60 seconds, I would say earlier, if can interrupt yourself with something Like find some way to add in whatever the scaffolding is All right, put here in the chat. What are your suggestions for interrupting yourself? Like, what are the things that you do that help you know that your students are with you and they understand you? I want to see what those are. We skipped it by accident.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:Number three this one's a little bit. Oh. What is CFU? I'm so glad you asked. That is my shortening for check for understanding. Thank you, you're so welcome. Oh, courtney, I'm so glad to see you. You remember that from when we were doing the live PPNs Light bulb moment, courtney just had one. That's so good. So I would love to continue that trend. Thank you for reminding me of that, courtney, because this is a good CFU that I like to do with you checking for understanding. If you have something that is a light bulb moment for you, like ooh, that's really me, or I'm excited to talk about this, or yeah, like this is a big shift for me, put light bulb if it's something that you're learning from.
Speaker 1:Number three is we, as world language teachers and teachers in general, we're really guilty of thinking the floor is ours all the time. So we have a lot of one-sided conversations and we have a little bit of content obsession. What do I mean by that? This mistake, number three is when you are got, you're entirely a part of the conversation and you're not ever asking for a student's contribution. It's very different from the whole concept of teachers talking most of the time to provide input. We're not talking about that, because that is still a thing. That is what you have to do, but how you do it doesn't have to be completely one-sided. So here are some things to think about to prevent you from being really content obsessed, or I like to call, like you know, like the overcoverer, when you are like you have this really and it's probably not your fault, but you have this really intense, crammed list of things you have to cover, quote unquote, in this unit. So you're always presenting new information and you're obsessed with making sure that you cover it, like because for many reasons, maybe there's a test coming and you want your kids to do well, but when we get to that content obsession, then you miss all of those moments for your students to actually develop communicative fluency and interaction, because your kids probably have a lot to offer and bring into the subject.
Speaker 1:So if you don't take time to slow down in a unit, for example when you're talking about personal preferences and opinions, if you get too lost in the sauce of talking about the differences between me gusta and te gusta and me gustan, like, if you're too focused on that, you're missing out on opportunities to ask your students what do you like? What do you like? What do you not like? What does your mom really like? What does your best friend like? Does that help bring you together, like though you're missing, that you're missing out on those moments?
Speaker 1:So I would say a way that you can fix this is and we'll talk more about ways to fix this because it's complex that all exercises that you do with students should be inquiry based and question based. That means that if you're doing a unit on personal preferences and opinions, then, like the entire time that you're using personal preferences and opinions, make it a question and an excuse to talk about the things that your kids like to do and the things that the people in their environment like to do and what you like to do, and ask students if there's anything you have in common, like my. Do this instead is going to be for this one. Be a party host, like be actually interested in your kids and what they're bringing to the subject. Another way that this happens, when we get content obsessed, is we often, when we're working with cultural artifacts or resources or authentic texts, we're trying so hard to make sure that our students understand, like the importance of a festival or the perspective of this or that, that it becomes a lot of recall, it becomes a lot of interpretation of facts, it becomes a lot of true, false responses. So how can you bring the student experience back into this? Because this is really what the five C's of culture is about, which there's a whole another workshop on that, so I won't go down that whole rabbit hole, but there is a whole workshop to dive further into this concept of the five C's.
Speaker 1:But with this, if you're trying to help students find cultural connections, to make that bridge, then you're looking for experiences, opinions, connections and yes, you can do that in level one. The questions just have to be different. So try to make any time that you're interacting with students student-focused and not content-focused. It's different, it hits different. It's a whole different classroom vibe.
Speaker 1:Any time that you are talking about nationalities, how can you make the conversation about your students or your students' experiences, instead of presenting that this nationality is gonna look like this when it's masculine, this nationality is gonna look like that when it's feminine. Like which one do you think your students are actually gonna wanna talk back to you with and talk back to you in the good way? Oh, diane says I think I interrupt myself all the time. Yes, I stop and ask questions or I say things the opposite way and incorrectly. All of these are like textbook the things going down the list of how to check for understanding and pause for them to correct me. That's a great way to do it. I really like that.
Speaker 1:So for this one, we're talking about like being obsessed with content or with covering things. You'll get a lot more target language use if you're a party host instead and if you make it more student focused. Ok, this one's really hard, but it's very true world language classroom and set it up really well, with lots of posters, with, you know, kids facing each other and sitting in tables instead of in rows, and they speak in French the whole time. They're using a lot of Spanish. They're bringing in their own nationality background often, which makes it so interesting and brings the language to life, but they forget this missing piece, this missing concept that we need to talk about in world language, and that is you can't expect interaction with your students in another language to happen, naturally when they constantly have that buoy of English or the L1 to hang on to. So I honestly say, look, we're going to talk about the pool as a metaphor quite a bit today.
Speaker 1:So if you're talking about your language classroom as a pool and you're asking students to, you're really asking students to dive into the pool instead of staying on the outskirts and on the pool chairs. The pool chairs is English Like. If you want them to be in the language which is the water, then you really really need to remove the chairs, which is English Like. You need to find a way that you can create opportunities for interaction, and it also means that you need to take a very close look at how do interactions happen in your class. How many times do students feel like they need to use the target language? If that answer is not very much, then that's one of the reasons why you're not getting a lot of interaction. What do we got here? Oh, this is great too, diane says.
Speaker 1:Sometimes the interruption turns into a redirect for a student who's distracted. So I stop and ask the distracted student a short, specific question Brilliant, it gives them time to think as I ask the question of the class in third person, like maybe about the student. And then I return to the student and ask them the question again, which is like a personal interview, and then we share it again the student's response to the whole class in third person. That's really smart. I like that Very, very specific response to this. That's great. That is how you are taking, I would say. This is a really good example of this. One, diane, is when you're expecting interaction to happen. Naturally, you know that you have to create interaction, so instead of just redirecting that student, you turned it into an interaction opportunity, which is a great example of what we're trying to talk about here.
Speaker 1:So where this gets a little bit tricky, and why we're all having such a hard time with this in world language, is that our world language class really is like a backyard pool party and we have to draw students towards the water, to get into the water, get wet, get into the language, because if you all have a common language to rely on, like we all do, then this becomes especially difficult, and your students, who are already kind of nervous, are not going to want to get wet, they're going to want to stay dry. So you have to convince them. You have to convince them, but also I would say more than convincing them you have to create a scenario where English is not feasible, like can you take away the chairs? You know things like that. Can you make sure that there's a party happening in the water so the kids want to jump in? Can you create games so the kids want to jump into the water? So you have to intentionally create this environment where students expect to and they want to interact in the target language. They want to be in the water with you. Students will master what you spend time with them on. So if you're spending a lot of time telling students stop using English, stop using English, pay attention, all of these things like then maybe we need to look at what does your pool party look like? Like, what does the setup really look like here? Because if they feel like they can spend most of the time out of the water in your very water-driven classroom for language, then we need to work on that.
Speaker 1:For doing this instead for this lesson, I would say can you make interaction a lesson plan priority? Can you make it something that happens for the majority of your class day or something that you're always working towards? This is a profound shift from the idea of covering content, because when interaction and communication is the priority in class, you don't need to follow units and lessons as much. They're just there to guide you. They're just there to provide opportunities for interaction with your students. Okay, let's get back to comprehension checks and CFUs. Our new favorite acronym, number five, is when you test or check comprehension with output. This actually will freak kids out a lot and it will also make for kind of a difficult time of actually gauging what your students can understand, because they can understand a lot more than they can say.
Speaker 1:This is a really, really common thing that teachers do. I know I used to do it a lot. I actually got called out on it in a lesson what's it called? Oh, in an evaluation. Somebody was in my classroom and I usually get stellar evaluations, so I was like a little bit butthurt that I got a comment about like, oh, there's something wrong with your lesson here. Here's what you did, because I didn't usually get comments like that.
Speaker 1:So what this administrator said was you spent the whole class teaching with a song how to say como te llamas with these sixth graders. They loved it, they were with you, they kept saying como te llamas, they kept answering with their names, and then the thing that you asked for as the exit ticket was write your name in Spanish, like write me, llamo Juanita. And she said when did you teach them how to spell that? When did they see the word meyamo? When did you practice how to write that? Like that's the wrong CFU for the lesson you just taught. And I was like, oh my god, you're right. Like I spend all this time doing como te llamas and me llamo, and not once did we talk about how to spell it or what it meant. Like writing was not the appropriate cfu for that for that lesson.
Speaker 1:So try this instead, because you still need to check for understanding and exit tickets are like low-hanging fruit they're literally free gold in your class. So try this instead. Time you check by maybe sorting something or doing a true-false or an either-or question, or having students circle the correct answer out of a few choices. So writing an output is the most common CFU that we use, but it's not the most appropriate for interactions. So keep that in mind, because that might be one of the reasons why your students are having trouble with whatever CFU that you're doing. Or you think that you've used the word meyamo a million times, but actually you haven't written it on the board once and now you're asking kids to spell it. So keep that in mind, that that happens quite a lot with interaction-based lessons.
Speaker 1:That's a simple and easy gimme, one that you can fix really quickly. This one is tough, however. Number six is and we all do this. It's something we're all working on. It's very difficult. Number six is when you're using complex language and excessive vocabulary, when they're simple situations. I'm going to give you like a direct example of what this could look like. It's a Spanish one. I'll see if we can come up with a French one as well. So you're trying to keep target language as a focus in your classroom. So when there's a student who has their feet up on the desk and like maybe this bothers you and you're trying to get it down.
Speaker 1:So I was talking to one of the teachers I used to work with at uh, in the school that I worked at, was a native speaker and she just rattled off without thinking like, which means like take your, take your legs off the, off the desk. Um, while she was talking to students and you know, she kept like pointing to la pierna and things like that and was trying her very best to make it very comprehensible and was doing all the things like staying in the target language even when doing a redirect, like it's all the things that you would want to see. Bajame la pierna means please, take your like, take your legs off the desk. Well, not off the desk, but just take your legs down. So I thought, well, could you make that a little bit simpler in the language that you're using? Thinking back on the same scenario where her student had trouble understanding her, what if you could do la pierna and just point to it, like, and show like what part of the body that is, point to your leg and then say en el escritorio, which is familiar language, in the desk or on the desk, and then you can point to your leg and then say en el escritorio, which is familiar language, in the desk or on the desk, and then you can point to the desk, point to your leg and say no, like. That's what I mean by often because we are, we're proficient in this language that we're using A phrase like bajame is. It's not that the grammar is actually difficult for them, but it's actually the idea of Baha. They might have not seen it before, like put down or take down. They might not have seen that before, but you would be able to have students understand you better if you did, probably both, even Like if you broke down, hey, bring your leg down for me. And you showed the native version of how people would say. And then you said your leg on the desk, that's a no. Your leg on the desk, take that down, that's a no. Like you're probably going to need like six phrases to make that comprehensible to your students, so hopefully that helps to illustrate ways that you can do shorter. Bring in some shorter phrases, bring in some familiar phrases to help out with a new idea that you're exploring, because you can still do that in a level one classroom.
Speaker 1:If you got a kid who's being who's, maybe let's say, sleeping in class or like putting their head down when it's not an appropriate time, like like en français, you can say something like which means to wake up. They're not going to understand what you're saying in a French one class, right. So you might be like which means to wake up. They're not going to understand what you're saying in a French one class, right. So you might be like well, why don't I just tap on their desk and say it in English? What could you do instead to make that comprehensible to your student? Like how can you bring the idea of wake up to them. I want to hear your ideas. Now. Let's do that. This is the hands-on part. How could you make this idea more comprehensible in French to your student? How could you say in a way that they would understand or make it happen Ooh, stacy, what do you think?
Speaker 3:I well, I actually do this because I have a lot of tired students and um, we came up with um, not quite like a hand signal, but we came up with a motion that means open your eyes, and so you know, it's just your hands opening up as if they're the eyelashes, and I'll say and so they know that's what they're supposed to do, because they've learned the hand motion with it.
Speaker 1:That's brilliant and this is a perfect example. Like you don't have to shelter this word from them, you just have to make it accessible to them. Don't shelter, make it accessible. So if you're doing the eye open thing all the time, then you're they're going to know exactly what you're talking about. And then they you say and they're going to know. And after you do it cause you're going to do it like 10 times, and then another kid whenever they need to, you're going to do it again, like now they know what that phrase means. That's the magic of adding accessibility to your target language. You don't have to say it in English, you just have to make it accessible to them.
Speaker 1:Diane has another good example for this. She says things like hello, are you with us? Where are you, where are your eyes? Hola, estas conmigo? D ¿Dónde estás? ¿dónde están tus ojos? All of those are things that your students can follow, and then you can follow it up with despiértate, like now you're bringing in all of it together. This is great. These are great examples of how to do this. So we talk constantly in the proficiency space about this idea. I'm going back to it because this one is a tough one About how to be comprehensible, and I want you to take note that you are already doing a lot of these things and it's just sticking to your guns with this by making sure that, yeah, I mean, I know that language might be a little bit tough for them, but I can make it accessible. Believing that you can make it accessible and seeing examples of it, oh for sure.
Speaker 1:Okay, so Diane says too like these past few weeks, spring sports are taking my kiddos down. They are extra sleepy every afternoon. This is a perfect conversation topic. Like the next time that somebody's sleepy. Talk about like ¿Por qué tienes tanto sueño? Like, why do you have, why are you so sleepy? And ask them like, what's been going on? Like, oh, like, ¿tienes deportes, ¿tienes práctica de deportes? Like now it's an interaction, now it's a conversation, and it can all be in Spanish, because they know all those things. Or even if they don't, you'll do what we talked about earlier, which is don't make it about memory recall. Put a bunch of sports on the board, talk about sports, write the questions, give them pictures, all of it. So good, y'all are on it.
Speaker 1:Um, number seven is Ooh, this is perfect. We're going to get back to our pool metaphors. Who? I mean like it's hot in Charleston. That's all I'm thinking about is going to the beach. Um, it's beach season. I haven't been yet. I'm very excited, and if you're in a cold part of the world, then you can just continue to dream with me about the fact that beach season is coming around the corner. But for me, beach season is like it started like a month ago and I'm still not there yet.
Speaker 1:So number seven is thinking that immersion is the problem, thinking that the idea of using target language is actually what's preventing your students from understanding you in class Full stop. It's actually not. There's a lot of things that go into this, and here's what I want you to think about. I want to introduce to you this idea of you are inviting your students to a pool party. You are not throwing them overboard in an ocean Like. There's a very large difference in this metaphor of a sea of language versus a pool of language with floaties is that many people will compare the idea of immersion with water and like feeling like people are constantly drowning in water because they're in 100% target language and they are 100% immersed in water.
Speaker 1:So I want you to take a look at these two swimmers we have on the left. We have two kids who are pretty much fully immersed in water. They're in a pool, though, and it's shallow, and they're very secure that their heads are above water, like there's. There's no bottoming out, like they're going to be standing. They're very safe, they're very secure. Also, there's one kid who is in a floatie, because that's how they like to swim. So who cares? Let them have the floatie, and the other kid doesn't want it. They don't need it, whatever. There's also another kid who's over there who is on the the pool deck area, but not in the water yet. So that's the pool of language with floaties. It's a lot more welcoming, even though there's just as much water.
Speaker 1:The image that we have on the right is of a person, an adult, fully immersed in water. They're swimming, they're loving it and they're able to keep their head above water because they're an adult, because they've been swimming for a long time. They're comfortable, they're good to go. So I would like to expand this metaphor a little bit with immersion and being in water. That like what kind of water are you throwing your kids into and what kind of supports are you giving them? The water is not the problem. Immersion is not the problem.
Speaker 1:Your kids are actually ready to swim. They you just need to provide to them water that they can swim in at their level and things for them to hold on to that make them feel safe. So they need a pool with floaties, not an open ocean in an unfamiliar place. However, as your kids become stronger swimmers, they won't need the floaties as much and they'll tell you when that you'll start to see when that's happening. And then, by the time you know they won't need the floaties as much and they'll tell you when that you'll start to see when that's happening. And then, by the time you know, they get to level five and they're starting to be an AP. Yeah, you do want them to be in open water, because it's not appropriate to teach somebody who already knows how to swim and give them a bunch of floaties. That's not appropriate. So that's actually going to keep them from becoming better swimmers. So there's a time and a place for the type of immersion that you're doing. But your kids are ready to swim. They just might move from the shallow end to the deep end slowly with you and they might slowly let go of floaties, but you still need to provide floaties.
Speaker 1:So let's get even deeper into this metaphor. What are the floaties? So how can we fix this? Do these things instead, your floaties are any type of scaffolding that you provide. Write the word meanings on the board. Keep your language simple, repetitive and short. Repeat routines.
Speaker 1:When kids are starting to feel uncomfortable and they want to get out of the pool, how can you draw them back into the pool and let them know that the pool is safe, that the pool is okay, they're not going to bottom out, they'll be fine. So what can you? Draw them back into the pool and let them know that the pool is safe, that the pool is okay, they're not going to bottom out, they'll be fine. So what can you do to help them with that? Can you give them all the scaffolding that they need? How can you remove all of the snacks and stuff and all of the pool chairs and the easy things that are not in the pool water? How can you bring those fun things to the water and eliminate any opportunities for them to say, like I'm just going to lounge on a pool chair and chill, because that's not the purpose of going to a pool party is to be a wallflower.
Speaker 1:So whenever you're introducing new language, make sure that it has floaties with it. So, whenever you're doing new language in class, can you pair it with familiar language? Can you pair it with cognates and things that they've seen before? Could you pair it with a familiar concept, like if you're talking about activities, for example, and you're talking about swimming and floating? It took me five seconds to find these images on Canva, and I'm sure that you could do the same thing on Canva as well.
Speaker 1:If you don't want to draw, like, pull up a picture of a pool while you're talking about the pool. Pull up a picture of a pool while you're talking about the pool. Pull up a picture of somebody swimming while you're talking about swimming. Like, give your students all the floaties. And this is an old standby for target language. We're going to make sure that we address it, though. Shelter the vocabulary, not the grammar. So what that means is we are trying to make the vocabulary as accessible as possible instead of adding lots and lots of vocabulary.
Speaker 1:That they might not see very often, but even two-year-olds, who are actually great language learners. Two-year-olds understand all the different complex tenses and moods and things, and they're 100% with you when you're using lots and lots of different tenses and conditions and ideas about where their stuffed teddy bear is Like. I know for a fact that when you talk to a two-year-old about their favorite toy, as long as you're just using the word toy and like room and house and playhouse and things like that that they're familiar with, you can use whatever tenses you want. Where is your toy, jackie? Where did you put your toy yesterday? Where did you leave your toy? Do you not remember where your toy is? Let's go look for it together.
Speaker 1:This is a ton of different, complex language, but I'm only using the words like look, put, found toy, like. Those are the words that you're using. So talk to your students about different topics, but in the same way that you talk to young language learners of their first language two to three year old. You don't need baby talk, of course, but you're keeping it really focused. You're using lots of different tenses, but there's so many clues to what those tenses are talking about. Okay, I love to dispel this myth. This is one of my favorite myths about target language and, like when you're experiencing a lot of silence in class, put in the chat if you've ever experienced like moments of like wow, there's a, lights are on but nobody's home, like I'm not getting any responses today, cause that used to happen to me all the time and I used to think this too. So it's important that we address this, because I think it happens a lot.
Speaker 1:Number eight is new activities and new ideas will fix the silence. So they just need something new, they need something to shake them up, they need some energy. This will fix it. The answer to this is not necessarily. Maybe your students are actually pretty lost in the sauce of what you're trying to do. So I would say that in a target language focused environment, there's a lot of power in having trusted routines, because everything else about your class is already kind of scary. So how can you make the class more inviting, more welcoming? How can you add more pool floaties to what can be a little bit scary, which is jumping into cold water, and that is things that they're familiar with, things that they know that you're going to be doing Like oh, I had like a rotation of five activities that I would do all the time.
Speaker 1:And that doesn't mean that you don't introduce new things. It means, like every now and then, I'm going to spice it up with a new activity, add novelty when you need it, but constantly trying new tactics might not actually be what you need to achieve the engagement that you're after. Also, note that it might not even be the activity. Disengagement means a lot of things, including a little bit of lack of comprehension on your student's part. So you don't have to add to the confusion by saying we're going to try an escape room today. We're going to do something different, because you're going to have to explain how that escape room works and it's going to be difficult. So unless you do escape rooms all the time, then I would make sure that you've got at least some options for ways that you can chill it out a little bit or ways that you can make those directions really comprehensible. So your do this instead. For this one is add novelty when you need it. That never happens. Add novelty when you need it, but focus on mastering three to five great techniques or routines. Absolutely love that. That's right, stacey. Okay, we're at the halfway point and we're we're moving right along, so here's some time for you to practice. Hey, marcel, welcome in.
Speaker 1:I would love to know from the ones that you've seen so far, what do you think is your common mistake? Like which one do you think really is like you? This is something that you know like, ooh, I think I've been doing that. Or how can you provide floaties in class tomorrow? So let me know what are going to be your floaties tomorrow. I would say, too where is there an unused target language phrase or opportunity in your class? That happened today. So was there a moment today that you knew, like, I did that in English, but I think I can do that in the target language next time. Or what is a content heavy one sided lesson that you think could use more student focus? Did somebody have a comment? Go for it? If so, oh, maybe it's just a little bit of background noise. Okay, so we've got Ooh, yes, yes, go ahead. Stacey, tell me, volunteer is tribute.
Speaker 3:I actually do all of these a little bit, but not one of them more than the other, and I'm finding that this year I felt a little bit overwhelmed at the beginning of well, no, not a little. I felt massively overwhelmed at the beginning of the year, and so I got into some bad teacher habits and so I've been weeding them out as I go. But hearing all of this, it's exactly what I need to hear today, because I've got this last quarter to go and I'm going to make it as fun, interactive, communicative.
Speaker 3:It's going to be all about the kids this quarter, so so it's not about me.
Speaker 1:That is so awesome. And I would say too that, like the reason I know what all these mistakes are is because I used to do them all the time. Like this, I, these, I think, are the most common things that make it hard for us to get to our target language goals for sure. So that's a really good way to put it is because I feel that way too, like I've done all of these in like multiple times a day at one point and I would say, ooh, we got another one here. Diane says I used to be really content obsessed. Thank the Lord, I am learning to let this go and treasure interaction. This is, you're really hitting the nail on the head with this one, because I think all teachers are a little bit content obsessed, like we really do get obsessed with the. I'm using the word obsessed Cause I want it to be that, that strong of a thing that?
Speaker 2:when can I share?
Speaker 1:Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just that idea, like, and it all depends on what situation you're walking into, cause if you're walking into a job, walking into yeah, because if you're walking into a job, a new job, where you're at a school that has a whole department, and they're like here's what we cover, right, here's what we cover, here's the syllabus, we are expecting to do this and this and this. And I am super blessed, yet also burdened by the fact that I am a department of one. So you know I I rule the roost. You know I can decide. I can say, well, we didn't do a department of one, so you know I rule the roost. You know I can decide. I can say, well, we didn't do that in Spanish one, we'll get to it in Spanish two, like, so it is a blessing, but yet, you know, sometimes then I still have little moments where I'm like oh my gosh, spanish two, they're doing this and they haven't even got to that. You know that tense or whatever. And I'm like ah, you know, in Spanish three, cause I'm thinking about the old days in my head and I'm thinking about when I taught in public schools.
Speaker 2:I'm in a private school now, but I mean it's. I mean we're still accredited by the state. Right, you know we still have expectations. But, um, but again. I was in a department and things were expected. And when you have colleagues who are like this is expected, or a department head who said this is expected, you do feel that pressure. So trying to tell yourself they're experiencing these things, they just may not have a name for it or a label for it, like I'm experiencing the conditional tense right now. It's just, but again. So trying to give it over to the interaction and know that this is very positive and the kids are going to figure it out eventually.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, oh girl, that's so true. That is so true because here's the bottom line that if you are expected to cover certain materials in a department where those kids are going to see other teachers, that does need to be your priority and your burden now becomes how can I turn this content that I have to cover into interaction? How can I make interaction the focus of this content that I have to cover? Because it's a pretty strong disservice to your students if you're sending them off to level three and they're going to be tested differently. The teacher is going to have all those expectations for them and you don't have what. They're going to be tested differently. The teacher is going to have all those expectations for them and you don't have what they're supposed to have for level two quote unquote. So your journey becomes different at that point. If that's you In those situations, it's how can I remove the unnecessary from the assessments? How can I only teach what's necessary? How can I alleviate some of this pressure that I have to cover certain things by flipping that into? How can I interact with students using this idea, this tense, this concept? That is quote unquote covered. But yeah, that's a real thing, that is for sure. Okay, now we're getting into the like. Now we're here, we're getting into the good ones. You ready.
Speaker 1:Number nine is a blast because we all do this. We all do this, and that is you quit when kids don't understand or respond. I'm so guilty of this I used to do it all the time because you feel like you're like moving mountains just to get things to happen. However, instead of this, like understand, we've all done it. There's no shame in this, but something to understand about. The next time that you want to like oof, I'm going to take a break from this. Like, I give you full permission to do that. However, like watch how long that break is between those minutes in class and you know how it goes from day to day and things like that. And if you're constantly feeling like you have to stop because kids don't understand you or they're not responding, we need to work on something. There's something going on in class that is not enabling your students to interact with you. So it's not you, it's not that you don't have enough drive or whatever. It is Like there's a lot of conversation and language out there that, like you just need to have the drive to use target language every day, but you might be encountering some systematic issues, like maybe your students don't have enough floaties or whatever it might be. So note that.
Speaker 1:Note that everyone has hard days too and that sometimes lessons just don't work. Like sometimes they suck and they flop and it's no big deal. You move on. And it's also a really good lesson for students as well when you gracefully tell them hey, I think I failed today. Let's take a look at what that looks like and how we can pivot. Like students don't see that enough. With adults, they don't see enough examples of what it looks like to pick yourself back up. So that's a lesson in itself. Don't teach that as like a. It's a teachable moment for sure.
Speaker 1:Also, if you're struggling to be comprehensible, then like nothing's gonna happen. You really should just, you know, cut ties and move on to something else. Some days the kids just aren't in it. Here's all your permissions and all these things, but here's what I want you to keep in mind the next time that you're because it's going to happen the next time that you're really feeling the grind of the year that you've had so far and you're feeling tired and there's a lot going on in your class that every time that you lower your expectations for target language.
Speaker 1:Every time that this happens, you're stopping your momentum in the middle of it. It's like when you stop to walk in the middle of a run, so you sometimes you will need to a run, so you sometimes you will need to do that. Sometimes you just need to take like a quick 30 second break to reduce your heart rate to keep going. However, if you stop altogether and you start walking for a certain amount of minutes, like four minutes or whatever then your body starts to think that the work is over, and your kids are thinking the same way too. Every time that you stop using target language, your kids think like oh cool, like we don't have to, we don't have to pay attention anymore, like it's back to English, we're fine. So every time that you're stopping, you're stopping the momentum. So it needs to be intentional about when you do it, because the next time that you go to do it, it's going to require more energy from you than if you had just kept going. So I'm saying all this to help put into perspective that it's hard to keep going when kids don't understand you Absolutely, but it's in working through that that you become more comprehensible, that you figure out what it is that's happening, that makes sense, that doesn't make sense, and you also find ways to negotiate meeting with your kids.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying that it's going to be easy or that people are going to automatically start responding to you, but you will start to build up that skill set, that endurance, when you push through the moments where kids don't understand you. So think about doing this instead. Constantly restarting and like psyching yourself up and hyping yourself up to use more target language in every interaction is taxing. It's taking a lot of your energy and that's why it feels so intense. So try this instead. Start small, get a win. Maintain an awesome routine Like what's a small two minute interaction that you can celebrate that was in the target language? Celebrate it and move on and then the next day try to make it three minutes, you know. Try that instead of saying like, oh my God, I only used 50% target language this whole class period. Celebrate the individual interactions, interactions instead. Okay, this one's heavy, but it's real.
Speaker 1:Number 10 is not understanding and having a lot of misconceptions about correct language use and errors and all of that I have. I have like a whole big soapbox about this and I understand that there are many differing opinions about it. Check the SLA module if you'd like more information about this and like why we it's time to leave the errors behind and the idea of errors behind, but a big one, number 10, is correcting language in everything. I'm not just talking about speaking Like. I mean correct, like correct grammar, correcting, spelling mistakes, correcting accents. Correcting instead of celebrating is a big thing that is so outdated in our practice. We need to let this go Celebrate instead of correcting attempts.
Speaker 1:Here's how I want you to think about this. There's a lot of research on this. You can check the SLA module if you want to get into it. But the first, the way that I want you to conceptualize this, is that every time that you're correcting a student in the target language, you're making it a lot harder for them to interact with you. So think of it this way Sure, there's room for correction in your class, but it's a lot less than you think. Like. Correction belongs in about 5% maybe of all of the teaching time that you're going to be doing with students. It's actually not that much.
Speaker 1:Many teachers and presenters from Practical and Comprehensible. This is the conference that I run every year and that all of you are going to be involved in. It's going to be awesome that conference. Every time, like, errors always comes up. It always comes up as a topic, and many teachers and presenters report from just anecdotal evidence that when we're focusing less on errors, there's better conversations happening in class and you have better relationships with students. So aren't those all the things that you're going for? Conversation skills, interaction skills, more language use and better relationships? Just by removing one simple thing, that's a pretty big win.
Speaker 1:Here is a way to conceptualize this. If, like, the research is boring to you, it's this idea when children are learning how to walk, they instinctively know how to walk, like we don't have to teach them. They learn by watching, and they also have this internal, intuitive sense of how to walk. It's part of our biology and evolution, which is amazing. Language is the same way. When a baby takes his first steps, it is a huge milestone, it is a celebration, and that step is not cute. Okay, like I've seen it, it's. They're wobbling, they're falling all over the place. It's actually adorable, but none nothing about it is like perfect ambulatory movement. We celebrate it, though, because it's an important first step.
Speaker 1:Now think about walking when your students are. You know, six, seven, eight, you have a crossing guard. This is the point where you start correcting their walking and telling them when they should walk and when they shouldn't, Because now there's a safety thing there. Like, yeah, you need a crossing guard. Plus, they've been walking forever. They know how to do it by now. Those are the differences.
Speaker 1:You are correcting a two-year-old if you on how they walk. If you are correcting a lot in your levels one, two and three classes. They're just getting into language. They're just learning how to swim. They're just learning how to walk. They're just learning how to do all these things and they're excited to use them. So if you over-correct, it's like telling a two-year-old that they're not walking right or they're not running right, when you know as well as I do that they just need time to master those skills. When you're correcting a six-year-old, you're going to tell them things like look around you as you keep running into walls because you're not paying attention to what you're doing. Yeah, like that's a common thing you need to tell six-year-olds to do, because they get so excited they don't look where they're going and they run into walls. So that's an appropriate correction. That's an appropriate time to do it.
Speaker 1:If you have level fours and level fives who are still having issues with like simple spelling and things like that and it's getting in the way of them actually communicating an idea appropriately, then, yeah, correct them all you want, but think of it in this way, just like a toddler's first words relentlessly celebrate every word and every career, every opportunity that your students have to interact with you, instead of correcting them. Answer with compassion every time that your students interact with you and every time that they respond to something. You will get so much more interaction when you leave the correction behind or you let it wait till when it's appropriate to do so. This one is a gimme, but I'm sure that it's something that we need to talk about, because I know I used to let it happen all the time, too, when I was tired. But this one's very straightforward Number 11 common mistake is when you let L1 slide, when your students are saying things in the L1 that you know that they can do in the target language, or they're asking you for simple things and you're letting them respond in English, or you're letting them use English to get things done in class.
Speaker 1:So here's how to fix it Hold your students accountable. Be consistent, be clear with what you expect Like where do you expect them to use target language, how much? And make it very clear again that you're not going to correct them, because level one and level two students are definitely afraid of using the wrong accent. They're painfully aware of their lack of pronunciation knowledge. So celebrate their attempts instead of correcting them, and whatever you expect them to say. If you expect them to say it, then it's something that you should have directly taught them or something that they're working on with you actively in class. So, instead of letting it slide, do this. Equip your students to communicate in every way possible way possible.
Speaker 1:This I find to be a very interesting problem with target language that you know everybody worries about. I know I used to worry about it when I started using more target language in class, but this, I feel like, is one of the biggest barriers for teachers. Number 12 is you worry about the what-ifs when you use more target language instead of focusing on the everyday moments. Here's what I mean by that. If I told you that tomorrow I was coming into your classroom and I was going to count how many times you used an English word, and I expect the ratio to be nine out of 10 for target language to English word, what would be the thing that you worry about? For me, the thing that often gets worried about and people usually ask is like well, what if I need English? Like what if I need it to do what I'm doing? The first thing that I'm going to say is you probably don't need English as much as you think that you do, but, yeah, use English if you need it. There's a reason it's 90 and not 100.
Speaker 1:So the most common question that people have about using more target language is like what if there's like a real relationship meet? Like I need to speak in English to this person to in order for whatever it might be like to help brighten their day or bring more um relationship capital to the relationship? Like if you're trying to get um relationship capital, like relationship points with students, like I used to have a quote of like how many compliments I would give out or like how many times I'd give attention to a specific person in class, like that kind of thing. You might need to do that in English to earn people's trust. Or what if using the target language just really doesn't feel right for what I need to say Then, duh, trust your gut. Like, trust your gut. We often don't listen to our guts, but trust your gut.
Speaker 1:Use English when it matters. Yes, like you'll know, you'll know when it's important to do that. Like if you're um, your students are having a tough day and they're clearly emotionally distraught. Like you can't continually ask them like que te pasa in Spanish and have them actually give you a response Like that's kind of disrespectful. So, honor, where your kids are at, use English when you need it.
Speaker 1:However, here's the mistake. That's all you're thinking about and that's what's keeping you from using target language. Because you're thinking about these moments that are only 10%, probably, of your interactions. They're probably a very small portion of the things that go on in your classroom. This, what we're talking about right here, is like plan B, worst case scenario. Okay, I really really need this to get through the day. Like this isn't your everyday. So the mistake that we're trying to talk about here is focus on the everyday moments when you're increasing target language.
Speaker 1:What I'm asking you to do is increase target language on the everyday moments when you're increasing target language. What I'm asking you to do is increase target language in the everyday moments, in the things that you do all the time in the things that are repetitive in your class. Here's a thing to help you with. This difference is trust your gut A and use English when it serves the student. So if it serves the student better to use English, it's a good time to use English or the L1. If it helps preserve the relationship, it's a good time to use English and it's fine. Nobody's counting, nobody's counting. There's so much more room for target language in the everyday little interactions Like hey, can you pass me that? Oh, you need a tissue. Hey, we're moving to the next slide. Everybody gather around for this next activity. Everybody take out your books. Oh, you had prom last night. Tell me about prom.
Speaker 1:That's the target language you want to focus in on. How can you make that accessible to your students and stay in the target language? Every single transition that you do is something that all kids do in every classroom ever. You're not special. It should be in the target language. So when they're moving out of their seats, when they're getting back into their seats, when you're asking them to look over here instead of over there, when all of these things are natural classroom interactions, it should all be in the target language and if it's not, that's your first easy, low-hanging fruit place for you to start.
Speaker 1:Anything that you're saying more than five times in class is a good way to gauge this. So look here, pay attention, question like those things should be in the target language and you can teach those phrases. So here's your motto for this one Trust your gut, use English when you need it. Teach everything else. Okay, we've got a couple more and we're going to breeze through them because I know we're at the end of our time. But if you have to leave, I understand Totally, get it. I just want to give you all of these.
Speaker 1:So number 13 is putting input last. This is a common mistake. It happens all the time, because it's very hard to prioritize input when you have an overstuffed curriculum, as we were talking about earlier. But keep this in mind. I'll give you the short version of this. Input's the primary purpose of every lesson, right? So why is it on the back burner? Input should be the thing that's driving your lessons every day. How are you giving input today? How are your students accessing input today? If something is costing you input time, then that's something that we need to reduce as much as possible. How can you remove it? How can you adjust it? Think about it this way Explaining activities, admin work like collecting paper or collecting information from students.
Speaker 1:Complex culture lessons and grammar instruction or form instruction are the biggest reasons that you switch back to English in your classroom, so those are easy to tackle. If you really want to include more target language in class, hit those four first. How can you reduce the time you need to explain activities or do it in the target language? How can you make admin a part of your classroom routine so that you can use target language to get it done? I used to take attendance in Spanish, and I know that you can do it too. I used to collect papers in French, and I know that you can do it too. I used to explain tests in mostly French and then I would check real quick in English. You can do it too. Complex culture lessons that requires some untangling, but I will give you some tips later on in that one.
Speaker 1:But that's a big reason people switch to English and grammar instruction. That's an easy one. If you don't really feel attached to it, you can move from it. If you're in a higher level, like level four or five, you can explain that concept in Spanish or French. It's actually very good setup for them for college classes, because everything is explained. All the grammar concepts are explained in the target language, so that's very helpful. But if you're in a lower level, like levels one and two, could you teach that concept a different way? Could you use it instead of talking about it and then do a quick pop-up lesson in English, like how can you eliminate as much English as possible? Okay, let's do this practice and do this, this quick check-in, real quick for the hands-on portion.
Speaker 1:How do you personally reduce English in your class? How are you reducing the things that we just talked about that are big target language time sucks. So I'm talking about like direct instruction time, anytime that you're explaining, like a form or a feature or how to do something, or like how to access this folder that they need on Google Classroom. Like how can you reduce that? Explaining activities, how do you reduce your English use for that or reduce the need to explain the activity? That could be something as simple as keeping to the same few activities for the rest of the year. How are you facilitating transitions, like, how do you do this in the target language?
Speaker 1:And for admin. What are some of the ways that you handle admin type stuff in your classroom and you're doing it in the target language. I would love to know how you're doing this, because these are like. These are the four big ones for using more target language in class. You can expand a lot of your target language by hitting these four things. Oh, that's really smart, diane. I used to do the same thing. So I've started listing the instructions for an activity and putting it in the classroom agenda and I make myself read them to the students to keep myself from overtaking or switching into English. Yeah, because if you write the instructions and you do it in simple written Spanish, you can explain that activity in Spanish for sure, and then you can just quickly clarify anything they need in English. Yes, Overtalking.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I feel you. Yeah, all right. So I just want to add that I feel like I am a? Um, an actor and an acrobat, because I do so much acting out of everything and I make them mimic me Like if I saying, open your books, I do the huge opening your book gesture and so they're like, oh okay. And then when I have to say like pass your papers, then I'm like holding a paper and I'm acting it out and so I'm exhausted at the end of the day. But it's the most effective that I have found for my personal style and the way I teach.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's it for sure, and a hundred percent for that to the yes, like somebody else put in the chat too. Like yes, because that is why it gets to be so exhausting, because it is. It's exhausting to do that all the time, but it is one of the most effective ways to do that. So on days where that doesn't really feel available to you, you can do things like you know, show pictures of other people doing those things, so that you don't constantly feel like you have to be on on on all the time. One way that I used to do it, so that it wasn't as energy draining for me, is I would put the activity instructions on the board and I would put little clip art pictures next to each thing, so like it would be a picture of somebody passing, it would be a picture of somebody writing, it would be a picture of because we have all of these clip art things now. Like I found all these little pictures of people, these clip art pictures of people in like less than a minute by doing, you know, like search typey things on Canva to find actions for that. So you can do that too, if that there, because it does it gets exhausting. All right we're going to talk about uh, we're going to skip number 14 and but just address this really quickly because it is important for number 14.
Speaker 1:Culture lessons are really hard. This is where a lot of English comes into play. First of all, it's not a bad thing. Like culture's wonderful. However, if you're struggling with your target language use, there's a lot of opportunities here that you can add target language into the mix. There are some teachers that do this really really well. It's really hard to do, we know. Here's my suggestion for you to make more stuff in the target language is, first of all, check all of the cultural resources that I have for you, because that's my specialty is making resources that are about cool cultural things but are all in the target language so they're accessible for your students. There's a lot of guidance for them on what those words mean. So check those out first, because my first suggestion for you is gonna be can you find a comprehensible resource on that topic instead, like can you find well, like my friend Sherry Sebesta from World Language Cafe is really good at this where she'll make resources all about all these different holidays and celebrations and cultural things, or even like introducing new countries and places and all of the language is accessible and comprehensible for students. So, and none of it is in English. So there's lots and lots of activities out there that are like that.
Speaker 1:I would also say can you change the way that your students need to show that they understand you for this? So, like, can you change how they're interacting with that text? Like, instead of giving them a really complex question, try a true or false type deal? And the last thing I would say, too, is can you provide some of the input yourself, like, can you put together all the articles that they're reading, the pictures that they're looking at, all these different things that are really cool but might be in English? Could you summarize it for them and just do a write and discuss together, like, write a paragraph together, add some of your all the things that we talked about with acting things out, putting pictures, writing things down, like, how can you add some of your own input and target language to that?
Speaker 1:Okay, this is really important and it's my last one for you here, and that's number 15, which is fast pace and constant new stuff. That is the number one reason that you're not using as much target language as you would like to so in working with curriculums. Here's what we have going on level one is too easy because there's too much english, and levels two through five are way too hard like obnoxiously hard for students to do because of all the things that we talked about earlier. With the curriculum's really overstuffed, you feel like you need to rush through all these new tenses and, as a teacher, you feel like you're not doing your job unless you're constantly presenting and working with new material. However, if you're going too fast and you're constantly presenting new things, this is the problem with most curriculums is that there's zero room for kids to play. There's zero room for kids to try out and practice the language they just acquired.
Speaker 1:So, like, feel free to cut things out. If you have that freedom, feel free to pump the brakes and just let your students use the language that you want them to use and I have some specific notes here about, like problems in level two and problems in level three, but for the interest of time, I'm going to give you just the. Do this instead when in doubt. This is your new mantra Present, less, converse, more Present, less converse, more Present, less, converse, more. In anything that you're doing, in anything in class, this is the number one key to more target language Present less, converse more. I do have a bonus one for you and I'm pretty sure you're going to know what it is Like. This is the bonus one here, and the bonus is, like you say, you want to use target language, but the grade book says otherwise, and this is just helping us to notice.
Speaker 1:Make sure that your assessment matches what you're doing in class, because so many people are doing. I have this really common mismatch for teachers, which is having great interactions. They communicate during class and then they have a form-based assessment where you're asking students to do all of these things that are not giving them credit for all the cool interactions they're doing with you. So if you can take a look at your assessments, that's my bonus one for you. But all in all, we have hit all of them and I want you to think about as you're parting shot here.
Speaker 1:What do you think are some of the common mistakes for you? Where do you think your content could really slow down? Maybe when is your next culture lesson? How could you reduce the L1 in there? And what's an everyday classroom moment that you think could be in the target language from now on. And the final one I want to leave you with is how can you celebrate your students more tomorrow for the interaction they're doing with you?
Speaker 1:All right, so we are going to stop here. Thank you, guys for being here with me. I know we went a little bit over time, I got too excited and put too many things in there, but there are so many ways that you can increase target language, and it really has to do with looking at all these different things, these different 15 ideas, 16, and looking at how are all of these chipping away at your overall picture, because it's not just like one thing or one scenario, it's usually. You can take a look at a little bit of these here and there to find a great way to add more TL to your class. And the number one thing I want you to come away from. This is, too is that there's opportunities everywhere to use more target language and that your class is like a pool party. So how can you invite more kids to jump into the water with you in a way that feels fun and safe for them?