Señora Cummins' Reflections

I love using Quizlet.  I began using it because my own sons talked about how great it was in their 5th grade classes.  Students in my 1412 class were using it and enthusiastically talked about how much it helped them study.  I began looking at it and realized in fall of 2019 that it could be a great asset to my classes. I love games.  I try hard for class not to be boring.  I used to use Jeopardy and found that some classes loved it but many students became frustrated when their teammates didn't know the information.  Quizlet Live is a better modality and easier to use. Yesterday I presented at the 2020 Quizlet Unconference.  I specifically spoke about how to use differentiation using Quizlet sets, but I was billed as Quizlet in higher ed.  234 people attended my session and I was pleased that I shared the big idea that we can differentiate instruction in an efficient manner by using Quizlet. I didn't anticipate having tech issues but in my prepar...

I'm reading yet another book for professional development.  One reason I'm drawn so much into reading for PD is because I want to be more efficient.  If I could develop systems to help me get the yuck parts of my life under control I think I would live a life more abundant.   So, now I'm reading The Productive Online and Offline Professor by Bonnie Stachowiak.  I listen to her podcast, Teaching in Higher Ed, pretty regularly and I like how the topics challenge me to grow. The book begins with goal setting.  My husband is laid back.  I'm not.  His term is that I'm "reactionary."  I tend to wig out at the drop of a hat.  It's not his favorite quality in me and I have worked to get better at it. I like goal setting because it reminds me of the big picture.  I love teaching, but the little details of lesson planning, grading, organizing, etc can be hard to remember.  Getting bogged down by the annoying details makes me even more "...

Group work is tricky.  I like social interaction very much, but in learning situations even I can get laser focused on wanting to learn the information and become irritated by slackers.  However, I see the benefits of learning from others, especially in a language class. I love the jigsaw idea in which students are experts on one particular element and when they work in groups they are the expert of that element.  In my hybrid classes I'm considering using this idea during face to face time for: 1- pronunciation practice.  Spanish vowels can be tricky, especially the Spanish /i/ & /e/ because they are similar but different from English vowels.  Student A is listening for Spanish /i/ pronunciation and student B could listen for /e/.  It would be a good practice with this tricky skill. 2-writing practice.  All write sentences based on a prompt.  Student A looks specifically for one writing element while student B looks for another.  They sw...

I'm currently reading a book called The Productive Online and Offline Professor by Bonni Stachowiak.  I listen to her Teaching in Higher Ed podcast regularly and I like that she talks about being our best in our profession while also being our best in our lives.  That resonates with me. After reading Ch 1 she suggests reflecting on 3 thoughts:  1-the meaning of productivity, 2- the purpose of productivity and 3-If I can achieve maximum productivity what will it free me from?  #1:  Productivity means getting things done.  As I'm writing this, I'm switching back and forth to grade student projects.  While they load with my super slow internet access I process my thoughts here.  I like checking things off.  I learned a while back that somehow I've ingrained "work first, then rest."  I can't really rest if I feel there's work to be done.  My husband doesn't have this imaginary nag tapping him on the shoulder.  He can just take a b...

I listened to the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast over the past few days and am learning more about flipping the classroom and peer instruction.  I first heard about flipping the classroom in the spring of 2018.  I had been teaching only 1411 face to face to that point, but that semester I also added 1412 face to face.  I heard a colleague speak about how to flip the classroom and my mind was blown.  How could I do this?  After thinking of it a little more I asked myself:  how could I not do this?  This clearly would serve my students much better than me lecturing all the time. Now that I'm teaching hybrid classes, this is real.  Flipping the classroom is the way this model works best.  However, on these podcasts I crystalized a few important concepts. First:  "first exposure" is a great way to describe what I expect students to do before class.  Last semester, I used the graphic of a mountain and I showed students that I expected th...

We all have preferences.  I prefer a little heat in food and my husband prefers quite a bit more.  With Spanish, I prefer the way I heard it while I was in grad school. In grad school I lived in Madrid, Spain with a family who was very proud of their Galician roots.  Their accent was different than those who were Madrileños.   If you're unfamiliar, Galicia is a region of Spain that is proud of its own unique cultural heritage that is different than that of Madrid.  In Madrid, many people pronounce the /s/ with a /th/ sound.  A good number of my professors were Madrileños and their accent never sounded quite right to me because it wasn't what I was used to.  The speech therapist in me (that's what I studied for my undergrad) wanted to "fix" Madrileños by teaching them how to pronounce the /s/ sound.  No, I never did that but I sure wanted to.   I found a Spanish show on Netflix called El Barco.  It was made in Spain in 2013....