Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Have you tried looking on epals? I know the site is a bit dated now, but that is where I have found teachers in Italy. I have prob worked with 6, some for many years. Met 3 of them on trips to Italy! We use Padlet now. 120
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 26/08/2026I loved this episode! Gave me some great ideas. I liked when you mentioned the variation of the choral translation where the teacher "lies". 110
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Loved this episode! growingwithproficiency.com/choral-trans...growingwithproficiency.comChoral Translation and Pop-Up Grammar Without Losing Communication - Growing with ProficiencyLearn how to use Write and Discuss, choral translation and pop-up grammar without losing meaningful communication or comprehensible input. 000
Reposted by Shelly IronsideLarry Ferlazzo @larryferlazzo.bsky.social · 05/08/2026This may be the first useful column that Bret Stephens has ever written ------I’m Begging You: Never Write With A.I. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/o...nytimes.comOpinion | I’m Begging You: Never Write With A.I. (Gift Article)It’s bad for your brain and worse for democracy. 012
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 19/07/2026There are loads of excellent podcasts. I believe the SLAYYY one aims to share research in a friendly way. 020
Reposted by Shelly IronsideRachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 22/03/2026I know this has circulated with alacrity recently, so you may have already seen it, but if you haven't... WOW BOY HOWDY it's the most useful thing. Thank you cardcatalogforlife.substack.com -- this is a very very very helpful public service: cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/google-has...cardcatalogforlife.substack.comGoogle Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here's How to Use It.40 Google features to find exactly what you need, the alternative search engines that do things Google won't, and the reference desk framework underneath all of it. 287116684865
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 11/03/2026I use some out of print textbooks for intro stories, and it is the most proficiency oriented, CI based text I have seen. The kids love the funny stories which become an inside joke. One story takes place in a Rome McDonalds. I took some photos of me there last week and they recognized it! 120
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 04/03/2026I still hear it from time to time. It's like a few of them can't let go. 010
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 09/01/2026Looking forward to this workshop next week! #langchat 000
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 06/12/2025In recent years in the USA the focus has been less on prescribed vocabulary and more on language functions. There are broad topics for AP. I do not have experience with testing at high school level, but here is an example of how they describe expectations for lang learners in MA: 110
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 06/12/2025There is also a Peppa episode called snow that includes a snowman and the words for hat, coat, gloves and boots that goes along with it. I have an Italian song as well with a dance. 010
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 04/12/2025I use snowpeople. They have to make them reflect their personality somehow and they have to say something in TL 220
Reposted by Shelly IronsideKat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Maybe instead of committing atrocities, we could just make the rich pay their fair share and have universal healthcare and affordable housing instead. Idk, just spitballing here. 564129723149
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 05/11/2025Yesterday at a dept meeting with HS teachers (happens only twice a year) I was happy to see that a new colleague has read the book. I mentioned it to him. Also that HS teachers are using several games I presented a few years ago. Another teacher was upset she joined the dept after my presentation. 010
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 01/11/20252/2. However today I have 2 students who have challenges. Both spontaneously used Italian - one gave me a paper gift where she had written phrases she knew. The other saw me walking on the street and whispered to his parent how to greet me in TL. I am not a fan of rigidity, just positive envirnmt 020
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 01/11/20251/2 I don’t have a strict policy. I encourage by teaching phrases they need in the first 2 weeks and with a positive reward system for spontaneous use in context (separate from class practice). I often hear students repeating the classroom commands they hear regularly. At novice level it’s not easy 020
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 23/10/2025Just got an email from a former student who is going to study in Rome next semester saying her Italian journey started in my class. And another former student might be there with her. 😁 000
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 05/10/2025Yes I thought it was interesting knowing that in my opinion ACTFL core practices and CI diverge on certain points. My colleague is reading it too for her Master’s program. (Catherine Ritz is the dept head) so fun to be able to discuss with her. 020
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 05/10/2025Excited to have found a bargain graduate class through The Teaching Channel that uses Proficiency Based Instruction by Catherine Ritz & Christina Toro as a text. The class is called Unlocking WL through Comprehensible Input. Can’t wait to dig in. #LangChat #SLAyyy 140
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 05/10/2025Great post. Very true. Haven’t looked at the menu yet but I sent it to my work email. 😅 020
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 02/10/2025I had three real Ava’s in one class. I enjoy the middle schoolers too! Although I sang and chanted so much with 6th grade that I almost lost my voice. 010
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 22/09/2025I have not read this book, but your comments are piquing my interest! My experience with leveled readers has been good and empowering for my students. Although I have always used authentic resources, they are rarely 95% comprehensible. Some work, but you can't build a whole lesson plan with them. 110
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Showing examples of students who have succeeded because of their self motivation, and what strategies they used. I like to show the video of the teen polyglot. It’s dated but it leaves an impression. On my quarterly reflections there are some concrete goal ideas. 010
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 21/08/2025I am embarrassed to remember that 10-15 years ago I gave quizzes where I graded adjective agreement and verb forms. I am doing more interpretive / translation quizzes which allow for students to show what they know. 120
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 21/08/2025I have been doing these for a few years but would love to know some more juicy questions. I have used the same questions and it def helps them master the basics, but I felt like it was getting boring. Tx for the new ideas (guess answer, what are you afraid of) 000
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 21/08/2025You could point her in the direction of all the great podcasts talking about back to school. Even after 17 years I find myself doing that to prepare for the beginning of the year. I like Claudia Elliot’s or Liam Printer’s. 110
Reposted by Shelly IronsideBen Fisher-Rodriguez @mrfishersays.bsky.social · 20/08/2025Listened to this on my drive today - required listening for trying times. 071
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 16/08/2025I admire you doing daily notes. At least the activities that bomb usually stick in my mind! 010
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 13/08/2025I wrote a thoughtful, reflective response to the blog post, but before posting I scrolled up and filled in the "add my name to subscription list". When I scrolled back down it had deleted my response. I can't try to remember it all. Sorry! But thanks for sharing. Frustrating technology! 110
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 07/08/2025I hadn't heard this term before, but I do many of these things to reduce student anxiety about speaking, and I haven't really had problems with participation. We do lots of pair and small group speaking after modeling, and I never make students present in front of the class. They do record for me! 010
Reposted by Shelly IronsideLarry Ferlazzo @larryferlazzo.bsky.social · 05/08/2025Google Often Failed At AI, But They Have Hit It Out Of The Park – For ELLs, At Least – With New “Storybook” larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2025/08/05/g...larryferlazzo.edublogs.orgGoogle Often Failed At AI, But They Have Hit It Out Of The Park – For ELLs, At Least – With New “Storybook”Google has struggled mightily in developing Artificial Intelligence tools that are actually useful. In my opinion, at least, NotebookLM has been the only thing they’ve come up that act… 143
Reposted by Shelly IronsideThe New Yorker @newyorker.com · 29/07/2025“Small children from poor or middle-class families who watch ‘Sesame Street’ do better on cognitive tests and in first grade than children who do not watch it,” Renata Adler wrote, in 1972.newyorker.comThe Invention of “Sesame Street”Renata Adler’s 1972 review of the program that revolutionized children’s television. 387172624389
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Reminds me of when I learned the word fon (hairdryer) in Italian. My Italian friend explained it was the noise the hairdryer made. 010
Reposted by Shelly IronsideJohn Pavlovitz @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social · 28/05/2025It’s time for people of faith, morality, and conscience to hold the people in our lives accountable for their willing partnership with this filth. We need to sever ties with our family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers who still support him. johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/we-may-nee...johnpavlovitz.substack.comIt's Time to Cut Ties With Trump SupportersI really hate this. 1141038294
Reposted by Shelly IronsideJonathan Goldsbie @goldsbie.bsky.social · 02/05/2025This is a terrific little piece, whose lessons are pretty much in line with what behavioural scientists have figured out: www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/talking-ou...hamiltonnolan.comTalking Our Way ForwardHow to have a conversation with a political enemy. 13517
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 16/04/2025I usually do the circling after a story - not every day. I do about 6 main questions and 4 repetitions per question - did they eat chicken, did they eat pasta, did they eat chicken or pasta, what did they eat? They answer as a group. Works well. 120
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 16/04/2025I think emphasizing repetition and high frequency vocab gets through to them. That the sentence doesn’t need to be perfect to communicate. 010
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 15/04/2025I did this myself today - explained they needed to hear the words 16 times to internalize and understand words in context - hence the value of stories & circling. 120
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 06/04/2025I was shocked they didn’t put it on the front page. Buried! 010
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 05/04/2025#langchat Great article about vocabulary / readers www.fraubastowmfl.co.uk/post/what-i-...fraubastowmfl.co.ukWhat I Learned from Paul Nation’s Webinar on Word Frequency and Vocabulary LearningWhen we talk about teaching languages, it’s easy to get caught up in the grammar structures, the tenses, or the ever-growing pressure of exam specifications. But again and again, I find myself coming ... 120
Shelly Ironside @shellyi.bsky.social · 31/03/2025I suggested this at our school district without success. 🙁 It's true there is now so much great information available, and you can easily focus by specific topics. 100
