Stacy Witkowski
@stacywitkowski.bsky.social
Middle school Spanish teacher. Life long learner. She/her. 🏳️🌈 Looking for #langchat community.
i am familiar with the idea of a 'glow and grow' comment bank for use by teachers. I have even used one occasionally. What i haven't done is put this in the hands of students to use for peer feedback. I will use it this week as students finish their letters to their pen pals.
#SLAyyy #LangChat
#SLAyyy #LangChat
November 11, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Ooh this is brilliant!
After filling students up with input during Special Person Interviews, we played the Question and Answer Game with similar questions. Students were able to talk so confidently in German about themselves! I want to play this more. Check it out:
mrfishersays.com/partner-spea...
mrfishersays.com/partner-spea...
Partner Speaking Game / Q+A Game / Interpersonal Speaking Game – Just Talking, plus Points
Fundamental for our learners’ language proficiency is access to boatload of Comprehensible Input, and so I spend most of my class time facilitating interesting reading and listening input in …
mrfishersays.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Ooh this is brilliant!
I’m a fan of Duolingo. I think it’s a good tool for language learners. I’ve spent 90% of my time on this app learning Korean, except for a few weeks spent learning Catalan and Hawaiian.
November 11, 2025 at 11:28 AM
I’m a fan of Duolingo. I think it’s a good tool for language learners. I’ve spent 90% of my time on this app learning Korean, except for a few weeks spent learning Catalan and Hawaiian.
This episode inspired me to use more TL than usual with my students today. It was good for them. It was good for me. It was only partially effective. 😅 But I got better at it as the day went on. 3rd hour stared at me blankly, but I gave 4th hour better scaffolding and we managed to communicate. 🙌
In this episode, we discuss the Interaction Hypothesis, and the potential effects of making class more interactive!
rss.com/podcasts/sla...
rss.com/podcasts/sla...
Ep. 28: SLAyyy Interaction Hypothesis | Podcast Episode on RSS.com
Artists:Ben Fisher-Rodriguez, Bill LangleyMain PointsSLAyyy: Second Language Acquisition for Everyone WebsiteGaslightParking on New VocabularyAllowing for Negotiating MeaningTalking Ourselves Out of U...
rss.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:31 AM
This episode inspired me to use more TL than usual with my students today. It was good for them. It was good for me. It was only partially effective. 😅 But I got better at it as the day went on. 3rd hour stared at me blankly, but I gave 4th hour better scaffolding and we managed to communicate. 🙌
My biggest TA is that I need to give students more structured opportunities to talk in Spanish. I HATED the information gap speaking activities that my textbook required, and they were one of the first things I dropped. But I hadn't found a way to replace them. Until now.
#SLAyyy #LangChat
#SLAyyy #LangChat
November 10, 2025 at 2:36 AM
They say we shouldn't tell students our goal is to use certain grammar. I get that "Write a letter and ask 5Q in the preterite" is a bad task. But I think it's appropriate to say that one of our goals this unit is to be able to express things that happened in the past. Am I wrong?
#SLAyyy #LangChat
#SLAyyy #LangChat
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 AM
I'm still struggling with the SCRAP and SPEAKING models of setting the stage for communication. "You are a student leader / traveler / camp counselor / etc." feel so FAKE to me. Didn't BVP talk about authentic contexts for communication? Do any of my mutuals remember?
#LangChat #SLAyyy
#LangChat #SLAyyy
November 10, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Scaffolding: sentence starters, chat mats, and providing examples. I use these all regularly. I added a graphic organizer to my current unit on writing letters to pen pals. I started with it last Friday and will continue with it on Monday. It's working great!
#LangChat #SLAyyy
#LangChat #SLAyyy
November 10, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Ch. 6 describes a speaking task where students work in groups of 4 to talk, then the group chooses 1 student to share out to the whole class, and the whole class votes for the best 2 students. I could use this with Weekend Chat. Who had the most interesting/stressful/busy weekend?
#SLAyyy #LangChat
#SLAyyy #LangChat
November 10, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by Stacy Witkowski
Strongly feel that adults learning a new language should be treated like babies doing the same thing. Look, I'm going through a developmental leap this week, so I'm just going to be more cranky, hungrier, cry a lot at night etc.
November 7, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Strongly feel that adults learning a new language should be treated like babies doing the same thing. Look, I'm going through a developmental leap this week, so I'm just going to be more cranky, hungrier, cry a lot at night etc.
Reposted by Stacy Witkowski
Will you be at ACTFL? I have so many freebies at booth 823!
November 5, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Will you be at ACTFL? I have so many freebies at booth 823!
i haven't listened to this episode yet, but I want to give a shoutout to @senorwooly.com because as I was reading Ch.5 of the Grammar book, I got to the Interpretive Comprehension Tasks on p.139 and my notes say "Very useful. Señor Wooly is good at this."
In our latest episode, we interview Señor Wooly @senorwooly.com, who shares his mindset when creating content for language learners!
rss.com/podcasts/sla...
rss.com/podcasts/sla...
Ep. 27: SLAyyy Creating Compelling Content with Señor Wooly | Podcast Episode on RSS.com
GaslightWhat is it that we want to / have to teach?There Is No Faking a Storyteller’s Intention“One Day, You Will Have a Real Conversation”Gatekeep - Jim WooldridgeWhat does the life of a kid look li...
rss.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:09 AM
i haven't listened to this episode yet, but I want to give a shoutout to @senorwooly.com because as I was reading Ch.5 of the Grammar book, I got to the Interpretive Comprehension Tasks on p.139 and my notes say "Very useful. Señor Wooly is good at this."
Very clear takeaways from this chapter. 1. Learners try to get meaning from content words (lexical items) before grammatical markers. 2. Learners pay more attention to what comes first in a sentence. Easy to use rules to make my input more valuable for students.
November 4, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Very clear takeaways from this chapter. 1. Learners try to get meaning from content words (lexical items) before grammatical markers. 2. Learners pay more attention to what comes first in a sentence. Easy to use rules to make my input more valuable for students.
On p. 142 the authors give a sample unit. The proficiency target is Intermediate Low. But the grammar focus is present tense verbs, third person singular. I was surprised because I thought that would be an early acquired structure. Shows I'm still partially back in the old days of textbook grammar.
November 4, 2025 at 12:03 AM
On p. 142 the authors give a sample unit. The proficiency target is Intermediate Low. But the grammar focus is present tense verbs, third person singular. I was surprised because I thought that would be an early acquired structure. Shows I'm still partially back in the old days of textbook grammar.
I do a good job of leading students from referential to affective questions (those are new terms to me, but the distinction is not). I.E., when I introduce a new form in Weekend Chat, I start with MY weekend, and my Qs let them show they understood. Later, I ask them to talk about THEIR weekends.
November 3, 2025 at 11:56 PM
I do a good job of leading students from referential to affective questions (those are new terms to me, but the distinction is not). I.E., when I introduce a new form in Weekend Chat, I start with MY weekend, and my Qs let them show they understood. Later, I ask them to talk about THEIR weekends.
"Learners pay more attention to what comes first in a sentence." This is clear and easy to implement. I can use this.
November 3, 2025 at 11:48 PM
"Learners pay more attention to what comes first in a sentence." This is clear and easy to implement. I can use this.
I know I'm a week behind, but I've been sick. I had both a sinus infection and bronchitis. Dear teacher, please accept my homework late just this one time... 🙏
I really do enjoy reading this book, thinking about big ideas in teaching, and discussing them with you all.
I really do enjoy reading this book, thinking about big ideas in teaching, and discussing them with you all.
November 3, 2025 at 11:45 PM
I know I'm a week behind, but I've been sick. I had both a sinus infection and bronchitis. Dear teacher, please accept my homework late just this one time... 🙏
I really do enjoy reading this book, thinking about big ideas in teaching, and discussing them with you all.
I really do enjoy reading this book, thinking about big ideas in teaching, and discussing them with you all.
Creativity. I used to end each novel with a project that allowed for creativity. Kids love it, but honestly it's hard to scaffold, hard to grade, hard to keep them from using Google Translate and AI, and not great as far as language acquisition vs. time invested. But, KIDS LOVE IT. Time to revisit.
November 3, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Creativity. I used to end each novel with a project that allowed for creativity. Kids love it, but honestly it's hard to scaffold, hard to grade, hard to keep them from using Google Translate and AI, and not great as far as language acquisition vs. time invested. But, KIDS LOVE IT. Time to revisit.
Erica Peplinski-Burge has so much to share. I attended her session on Addressing Teacher Burnout at #MiWLA. We can’t fill up out students if we ourselves are running on empty. I ❤️ her resources to learn more about sleep, glucose, and the gut microbiome. I want to share this info with everyone I love
a cartoon of stewie from family guy sitting in bed
Alt: a cartoon of stewie from family guy sitting in bed with dark circles under his eyes. Caption: Need some sleep. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.
media.tenor.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Erica Peplinski-Burge has so much to share. I attended her session on Addressing Teacher Burnout at #MiWLA. We can’t fill up out students if we ourselves are running on empty. I ❤️ her resources to learn more about sleep, glucose, and the gut microbiome. I want to share this info with everyone I love
a cartoon of stewie from family guy sitting in bed
Alt: a cartoon of stewie from family guy sitting in bed with dark circles under his eyes. Caption: Need some sleep. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.
media.tenor.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Erica Peplinski-Burge has so much to share. I attended her session on Addressing Teacher Burnout at #MiWLA. We can’t fill up out students if we ourselves are running on empty. I ❤️ her resources to learn more about sleep, glucose, and the gut microbiome. I want to share this info with everyone I love
It’s always good to see @justinslocumbailey.bsky.social present. I’ve learned about Brain Breaks from him before, but I went back for more at #MiWLA25. Now added to my toolkit: 4 Quadrants with Pictures, Image Imitation. My students will love these. Danke, Justin.
October 24, 2025 at 6:41 PM
It’s always good to see @justinslocumbailey.bsky.social present. I’ve learned about Brain Breaks from him before, but I went back for more at #MiWLA25. Now added to my toolkit: 4 Quadrants with Pictures, Image Imitation. My students will love these. Danke, Justin.
Happy to see @mmegoodenough.bsky.social in real life at #MiWLA25. Her session on social media made me think about why I have professional and personal accounts for Twitter and Bluesky, but only 1 for Facebook. As I have left X and engage more with teachers on FB, maybe I need separate accounts?
October 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Happy to see @mmegoodenough.bsky.social in real life at #MiWLA25. Her session on social media made me think about why I have professional and personal accounts for Twitter and Bluesky, but only 1 for Facebook. As I have left X and engage more with teachers on FB, maybe I need separate accounts?
I loved Erica Peplinski-Burge’s session on Top Tips for Talking With Students at #MiWLA25. I am feeling low energy today, and I appreciated that she offered a sitting option for the fun “obstacle course” brain break. I should give my students that option too.
October 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I loved Erica Peplinski-Burge’s session on Top Tips for Talking With Students at #MiWLA25. I am feeling low energy today, and I appreciated that she offered a sitting option for the fun “obstacle course” brain break. I should give my students that option too.