Free Professional Development for World Language Teachers
Good professional development for Spanish teachers, French teachers, and all world language teachers is hard to come by.
Here’s a list of the ten resources that I use to improve my world language instruction and will make you a better language teacher TOMORROW.
Don’t put your professional development off until breaks–you can use these resources during lunch breaks, commutes, and relaxed reading time to solve the everyday problems that bug you with quick and actionable fixes for real teachers pressed for time.
Podcasts for World Language Teachers
If you’ve got a commute and you’re looking to listen….
Try Podcasts!
- Talkin’ L2 with BVP – world language researchers and professors talking all things world language with a focus on research and edutainment. This is a spinoff from Tea with BVP-in a word, a gem. Check out their resource page for a full list of readings too.
- Inspired Proficiency– lead by the most positive human on earth and featuring world language teachers best tips and tricks with fun games–it’s got it all! The episode on 90% Target Language is my favorite. Search it wherever you listen to podcasts.
Pssst….Have you ever wished the transition to proficiency were easier to do? Grab the FREE toolkit below to learn the framework for updating your practice to comprehensible input – without all the overwhelm – and prepare for the challenges ahead.
Put your phone scrolling habit to good use and occasionally replace it with…
Blog Scrolling!
Blog for World Language Teachers
Here are my favorites with some short articles that will give you ideas you can use tomorrow in your world language classroom. Besides the cornerstone, The Comprehensible Classroom by Martina Bex, (Start with Dip Your Toes in CI), there are so many great blogs for world language teachers to scroll for personalized professional development.
3. World Language Cafe by Sherry Sebesta
Watch my interview with Sherry on how to use 100% target language in your classroom here!
4. Bryce Hedstrom
The legend himself. Read his guest post here and watch my video interview with him here. (My favorite articles: Special Person Interviews, Classroom Management for World Language Teachers)
5. Spanish Mama
A soulful wonderlady of all things language learning & even raising bilingual kids. (why CI series-breaks down the nature of language learning in a reader-friendly way)
6. Mike Peto
(sweet 16 verbs and other big proficiency ideas)
Helpful Apps for the World Language Classroom
7. Duolingo Classroom
Completely free and teaches the language for you-instant differentiation that feels like a game? Yes please. If you’re totally new to Duolingo, check out this intro video and testimonial for Duolingo Classroom.
*By the way, Duolingo is a good way to brush up your skills too! Take a placement test to get to the advanced level and instant game-like free world language professional development! Wham, bam, thank ya ma’am. *
Social Media Accounts for World Language Teachers
8. Follow LaMaestraLoca on Instagram
For a daily dose of positivity and kick-ass CI strategies, the queen of the internet is Annabelle Williamson, better known as La Loca. Her videos are the quickest and most fun professional development out there. She records whole classes sometimes! You can also watch her best ideas for how to create a safe classroom environment for language learning to occur. You didn’t think you’d get all these bonus videos, did you?
9. Learn More About Teaching for Proficiency
Teaching for proficiency is the research-based direction for language teaching. Are you new to this style? Find a curated section of articles for teachers new to proficiency here. Find out more about second language acquisition and the science behind it here. Learning about proficiency is some of the best professional development for world language teachers out there!
Where Good Language Teachers Get Resources
10. Get a Pre-Made Lesson Plan
We all have those moments where we get in a pinch and need something fast and high quality. For high quality lesson plans for French and Spanish teachers that will last you year to year, I recommend TpT. You can check out my store by clicking here.
For video and news-related media for educators, I use this website:
Share My Lesson is a collection of materials uploaded by educators and news/other media programs literally built to provide high-quality lessons for educators. There’s a ton of lessons for all languages here. FO’ FREE, Y’ALL.
What resources do you use to make you a better teacher? What’s your favorite professional development for world language teachers? Post in the comments below!
See you in the trenches,
P.S. Have you ever wished the transition to proficiency were easier to do? Grab the FREE toolkit below to learn the framework for updating your practice to comprehensible input – without all the overwhelm – and prepare for the challenges ahead.
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