Your World Language Classroom Perfect for K–12 world language teachers, this book provides clear, fun and practical guidance on how to help students master language in the classroom using technology tools. Regardless of your level of technological proficiency as a teacher, this book will show you how to provide effective learning to students in in-person, online and hybrid environments and help you become more comfortable at using digital tools. With teacher vignettes sprinkled throughout, chapters are filled with ideas that will help you foster an inclusive, positive and student-centered classroom environment that supports students’ communication skills and social and emotional needs. Poth’s easy-to-use methods and strategies will help you create authentic, purposeful learning experiences that will prepare students to be risk-takers in a new language in and beyond the classroom. Rachelle Dené Poth is a Spanish and STEAM teacher in Oakmont, PA. She is also an attorney, consultant and presenter. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @Rdene915. Other Eye on Education Books Available from Routledge (www.routledge.com/eyeoneducation) Enlivening Instruction with Drama and Improv: A Guide for Second Language and World Language Teachers Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor and Kathleen R. McGovern Leading Your Language Program: Strategies for Design and Supervision, Even If You Don’t Speak the Language Catherine Ritz Rigor in the Remote Learning Classroom Instructional Tips and Strategies Barbara R. Blackburn Thriving as an Online K-12 Educator Essential Practices from the Field Jody Peerless Green 10 Perspectives on Learning in Education Jimmy Casas, Todd Whitaker, and Jeffrey Zoul The World Language Teacher’s Guide to Active Learning: Strategies and Activities for Increasing Student Engagement Deborah Blaz The Genius Hour Guidebook: Fostering Passion, Wonder, and Inquiry in the Classroom Denise Krebs and Gallit Zvi From Texting to Teaching Grammar Instruction in a Digital Age Jeremy Hyler and Troy Hicks Your World Language Classroom Strategies for In-Person and Digital Instruction Rachelle Dené Poth First published 2022 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 Rachelle Dené Poth The right of Rachelle Dené Poth to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-68467-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-67913-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-13766-5 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003137665 Typeset in Palatino by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents Meet the Author .......................................vi Introduction ............................................1 1 Building Relationships and Future-Ready Skills/Designing Our Classroom Space ..................7 2 Low Tech, High Tech, No Tech: Learning for All .........29 3 Fostering Strong Communication Skills in Our Students ......................................57 4 Breaking Tradition: If You Are Doing This, Then Try This Instead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 5 Student-Led Classrooms: Stepping Aside and Letting Students Learn and Lead ..................117 6 Strategies and Tools That We Can Use to Help Students Create Global Connections .............148 Meet the Author Rachelle Dené Poth is a Spanish and STEAM teacher at Riverview Junior Senior High School in Oakmont, PA. She is also an attorney and consultant. An ISTE-certified educator, Rachelle is the former president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network, the 2019 recipient of the Making IT Happen Award, and received three Presidential Gold Awards for Volunteer Service to educa- tion. She frequently presents at conferences including ASCD, CUE, FETC, ISTE, and TCEA. Her publications include In Other Words: Quotes that Push Our Thinking, Chart a New Course: A Guide to Teaching Essential Skills for Tomorrow’s World, The Future Is Now: Looking Back to Move Ahead, True Story Lessons That One Kid Taught Us, and Unconventional Ways to Thrive in EDU. She is a blogger for Getting Smart and several other publications. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @Rdene915 and visit her website at https://sites.google.com/ view/rachelledenepoth/about-me. Introduction It has been an interesting time for educators. The 2020–21 school year was constantly evolving and pushing us all to embrace new ideas, learn new technologies, face challenges and be flexible in our methods. We had an opportunity to try new ideas, to take some risks with different digital tools and teaching methods as we considered how to plan lessons for our students. Educators around the world spent time looking for the best ways to deliver instruction and for many, this might have been the first time bringing digital tools into their classroom. It took some time to adjust to all that goes into teaching online. There have been adjustments needed in the devices and equipment we use in our classrooms. My workspace expanded to having two computers, a computer stand or two, an iPad, a microphone, a document camera and a ring light so that my students could actually see me. Beyond the tech adjustments, it was a challenge to figure out a workflow. Moving from fully virtual to hybrid, teaching students in-person and at home sim- ultaneously, took time to adjust. It became clear that we do so many different tasks in our physical classroom space, but it takes a lot longer in the virtual and hybrid environment. It is a pro- cess that requires ongoing reflection and iteration. Developing a routine that helps us to minimize a loss of instructional time as we shift between activities is key. Whereas before, we could carry out many tasks and be quite flexible with all students in the DOI: 10.4324/9781003137665-1 2  Introduction classroom, it now requires more planning and quick thinking in case our plans or technology don’t work as we hoped. Teaching in the virtual space definitely has its benefits. It increases our awareness of the power of technology for connecting our classrooms with resources and people from around the world. But it can be a lot to balance, especially when it comes to technology and deciding what tools to use. We must make sure that all students can participate so they have the most meaningful learning experiences possible while also acknow- ledging that we have not been in a typical learning situation. We need to prepare ourselves as best we can for any type of learning environment, whether we suddenly have to make a shift or instead we choose to create more blended learning experiences for our students. Having strategies and tools that we can rely on regardless of our learning space will enable us to keep the learning going and provide consistent support and access to the resources our students need. Throughout school closures and in regular school years, I worry about the students who perhaps are nervous about asking questions or don’t have access to their teacher or class materials beyond the class period. Students must feel comfortable in their learning space and be able to seek help and find resources whenever they need them. Technology enables us to provide so much more for our students when we are intentional about the tools we choose. While we know there are endless benefits to using technology to enhance learning by bringing in possibilities for blended learning, differentiation, facilitating global collaborations and preparing students with future-ready skills, we must be inten- tional as we plan authentic and meaningful ways for our students to build their presence in the virtual space. We must stay clear on our true purpose for trying a different teaching method and implementing a different or new digital tool. With access to more resources than ever before, it affords us with possibilities to open the world as a classroom for our students and for meeting their different learning styles and interests. As educators, we are surrounded by technology and have access to more resources and potential for collaboration and using authentic and innovative learning tools and methods with Introduction  3 our students. Because we have so much available, it can be chal- lenging to know where to begin. I propose that we ask ourselves this question: What types of learning opportunities do we need? The right response is that we need authentic, meaningful and purposeful learning experiences that help us to promote student engagement and increase student motivation for learning. We know how important it is that we create a supportive learning environment, whether that be in the physical or virtual space, and this environment must include the right components to pro- mote more social learning and foster connectedness with the content being taught. When I am asked where to begin with bringing technology into the learning environment, I believe that first, it is critical that we set up a consistent way to communicate with our students and for them to be able to find support when they need it. Whether we decide on a messaging app, build a class website or have something like Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams, these options give us a consistent space to better communicate and provide for all students. Beyond facilitating better commu- nication, we need to invest time into finding versatile tools that enable students to create, collaborate and connect with peers. Having these capabilities will make a difference for students in many essential areas of their growth. When I started to bring technology and try new teaching methods into my classroom, it was to resolve a disconnect that I noticed between my students, me and having access to our class materials. The first consistent space I created online was through Edmodo (www.edmodo.com). As a result of that space, I was easily able to connect with each student and address any concerns they had outside of the classroom. Students started to collaborate more, developing their interpersonal skills in the vir- tual space, which led to more positive peer interactions in the classroom and the development of (SEL) social and emotional learning skills. Students developed more confidence speaking in class, there was an improvement in accountability, students knew when assignments were due and what they had missed in class and they even started to create their own ways to use Edmodo. Leveraging Edmodo provided a lot for what I could