World Language Back to School Tips & Resources
Hey there, World Language Teacher! I know you’re short on time because it’s back to school season, so I’m going to cut right to the chase: in this blog post, you will find a bunch of posts chock full of Back to School Tips & Resources. Think of it like a catalogue: browse and choose what you need at this moment!
Back to School Unit for the First Month of French, Spanish, and Italian
Back to School is right around the corner, and if you’re teaching a French 1, Spanish 1, Italian 1, or Exploratory World Language course, you’ll want to start thinking about how you will plan out the first month of instruction.
In this blog post, I share some tips for how you can plan out the first few weeks of your French, Spanish, or Italian 1 classes. I also link to my First Month of French, First Month of Spanish, and First Month of Italian bundles on my TPT Store.
Each bundle is designed to save you COUNTLESS hours of prep time. It is great for brand new World Language teachers who need comprehensive and engaging resources for their students, as well as veteran World Language teachers who are looking to diversify their instructional strategies, liven up their classroom with beautiful color-print posters, and enhance their assessment practices.
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If you’re looking for a comprehensive and engaging resource that will provide you with all of the instructional tools and assessments you need to have an amazing start to the school year, check out my First Month of French, Spanish, and Italian bundles below!
First Day of School Lesson Plan Activities for World Language Teachers
Need some novel ideas to freshen up your first day of school lesson plans in your French, Spanish, or Italian classes? In this blog post, I walk you through what the first day of my French class looks like. I give you several ideas for activities that you can implement during the first few days of your class so that you can achieve the following goals:
Goal #1: Get my students talking & interacting!
Goal #2: Help my students understand the benefits of language learning!
Goal #3: Get to know my students!
Goal #4: Get my students up and moving!
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Mindset Shifts for a Happier and More Sustainable School Year
It is no secret that we as teachers have a tough job, and it seems like our work gets more challenging and complicated as the years go by.
Over the years, I’ve begun to adopt a handful of mindset shifts to help me feel happier and healthier at work. These mindset shifts have included changing my perspective on our role and responsibilities as classroom teachers, setting more realistic expectations for myself and my students, and replacing negative and harmful beliefs with more positive, gentler ones.
If you feel like teaching is this heavy, all-consuming profession that throws your life out of balance in uncomfortable and unsustainable ways, continue reading to learn about the mindset shifts I implemented to feel more at peace in this profession.
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Four Back to School Tips for World Language Teachers
As Back to School season approaches, many of us are returning to the classroom feeling refreshed and revitalized, ready to welcome enthusiastic language learners to our World Language classroom. Some of us are super excited to be back, while others (like myself!) could use a couple extra weeks of summer vacation!
Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, it is no secret that back to school season can be super stressful and overwhelming, even for the most seasoned teachers. In this blog post, I share four nuggets of wisdom that I have picked up over the years which have helped me to reduce some of the stress and overwhelm that can accompany the back to school season.
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Setting Intentions for the New School Year
As a new school year begins, it’s the perfect time for teachers to reflect and set meaningful intentions. Rather than getting swept up in the hustle, take a moment to ask yourself what kind of energy you want to bring into your classroom. Setting clear intentions can help you stay grounded, focused, and aligned with your core values—especially when things get hectic.
Whether it's fostering more joy, building stronger student connections, or protecting your own boundaries, your intentions can guide your daily choices. Start small, stay consistent, and let those intentions shape a year that feels purposeful and empowering.
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How to Save Time & Maximize Efficiency During Back to School Season
It is no secret that the Back to School season is one of the busiest for teachers. Between setting up our classrooms, making photocopies, lesson planning, attending what sometimes feels like an interminable chain of back-to-back meetings…it’s a lot! It is so easy for us to lose steam during the first few days and weeks of school despite having had a restful summer break.
In this post, I share some tips and ideas to save you some time and energy so that you can start the school year off being fully present with your students and not feeling tired or exhausted from all of the tasks you’ve got piled up on your plate!
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Back to School Self Care for World Language Teachers
The first few weeks of school are exciting but also one of the most challenging and stressful periods of the entire school year. We are dusting off our language skills, setting up our classrooms, lesson planning like crazy, getting to know our students, building relationships, establishing procedures, reviewing old content, beginning to teach new content, so on and so forth.
It’s easy to forget that self-care is important, especially during this initial period of the year when we feel like we might not need to pay much attention to our self-care practices because we’ve just come back from a relaxing summer break. In my eyes, it’s the perfect time to think about and establish really strong and effective self-care practices that you can take with you throughout the year.
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Essential Elements of an Effective World Language Course Syllabus
When thinking about drafting your French, Spanish, or Italian Course Syllabus, what are some key items you’ll want to include so that students and parents understand what the course is about and what your expectations are for student learning in your class? Read more to find out what are some ESSENTIAL components that you’ll want to include in your syllabus.
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I hope you have gleaned some useful tips, strategies, and ideas to help you start off the brand new school year with gusto!
Happy language teaching,
~ Michael
