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About Me

Welcome to my blog, Christa's Cuentos! I teach beginning and intermediate Spanish to undergraduate students in Massachusetts, and I have about 10 years of experience. Learning from other teachers who generously share their ideas and experiences on their blogs has had a huge impact on my teaching practices, so I am excited to use this blog to reflect on my teaching and contribute to the conversation!


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Novice-level dictogloss activity with art by Carmen Lomas Garza

Hi, there! I haven't used this blog in quite some time, but I wanted to share this lesson that I used with novice-level Spanish students in my first-semester class this semester in our unit on family and friends.  I was really happy with how this lesson came together! Students were able to process language while learning about Carmen Lomas Garza, a well known artist who creates art that challenges negative stereotypes about Hispanic communities in the U.S.  Check out Carmen Lomas Garza's paintings here on her website  and in her books Family Pictures / Cuadros de familia and In My Family / En mi familia . As you might notice, her artwork is perfect for discussing topics that we often cover in novice-level Spanish, such as family, hobbies, places, food, and celebrations. I knew I wanted to incorporate her work in my class this semester, and then this video from Florencia Henshaw's YouTube channel Unpacking Language Pedagogy gave me the idea to do a dictogloss activity! ...
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Exploring H5P for Language Classes

What is H5P?  H5P is a program to create interactive content for websites or your learning management system (LMS). There are many kinds of content to choose from, including interactive videos and presentations, games, quizzes, questionnaires, dictation activities, flashcards, and more. Check out the full list of content possibilities with examples here at H5P.org . How to use H5P Because my university's LMS is Moodle, I am able to create content on H5P directly in Moodle. I can also see how students performed on the activity with results for each question or prompt in the LMS. In addition to Moodle, H5P integrates with other common learning management systems, including Canvas, Blackboard, and Brightspace.  Here the yellow arrow is pointing at the option I select in Moodle to create an H5P activity. If you want to use H5P and do not have access to it via your LMS, there are a few other options. You can create an account on H5P.com , but there is a cost after the 30-day free t...
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PLN Reflections and Exploration

Getting Started with my PLN My first full-time gig teaching was at a rural high school where I taught all levels of Spanish, and my only language colleague was part-time. I taught that year on an alternative license because I did not complete an education degree (I had studied journalism and Spanish), and my prior teaching experience was primarily with undergraduate students when I was a graduate teaching associate. Suffice it to say, I was a bit in over my head and without a mentor in my content area. By the second week of classes, it was evident--I needed some help. That's when I started building my PLN (Personal Learning Network). Of course, I didn't know that's what I was doing at the time, but I started following the blogs of other high school Spanish teachers to see what they were doing to engage and connect with their students. I especially loved the Creative Language Class , by Kara Parker and Megan Smith , and Musicuentos , by Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell . These teache...
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