Teacher Notebook

In an effort to keep myself organized this next year while doing new (to me) activities and lessons, as well as find a way to record class behavior and/or misbehavior without a ton of extra “things” hanging around that I need to keep track of, I’ve put together a notebook of resources.

Here’s what I’m including in my “Teacher Notebook” and how/why I plan to use each resource:

Class Lists – Our class lists are printable with student names and a long space delineated where information can be recorded. I put each class list in a sheet protector. Now I can record behavior (specific notes along with a record of skill attempts) with an expo marker, to be recorded in the grade book and wiped clean at the end of each week. I got this idea from the CI Liftoff Facebook group. Simple and multi-use. Love it! Behind these class lists, I have also included the Think-Sheet (by Bryce Hedstrom) for behavior management purposes.

Antiphona – This is a list of my four chosen Call-n- Response‘s to get my students’ attention and direct them that we are moving into using the target language.

Lesson Plan Template – A copy of my generalized Lesson Plan with timing and a list of  activities (the activities themselves have their own section in the notebook) for each category. This is very similar to Tina Hargaden’s Instructional Framework template. Also with this, I have included a copy of my Unit MGMT Sheet (original idea from Jon Cowart; adapted from the MGMT sheet by Lance Piantaggini) for reference.

Brain Breaks – I have three worksheets of brain breaks outlined on cheat sheets for me to pull ideas from during breaks. I can also add ideas to these as I discover or learn more. (Hey, I learned more! Check out these Brain Breaks that stay in Latin.)

Vocabulary Lists – I have separated this section of my notebook into each of the four classes with copies of our “targeted vocabulary” printed from Quizlet. Alongside these lists, I have a running list of all introduced (well, used at least a handful of times in class) vocabulary, which can be copied for a game of “SEX” when needed.

References – There are few activities I plan to do regularly, that since they are new to me, I need references (tutorials, prompts, etc.) ready for me to refer back to as the activity progresses until I am totally comfortable with the activity: Weekend/Daily Life Talk cheat sheet; Circling (Martina Bex at the Comprehensible Classroom has an excellent tutorial on Circling with a Template and Graphic Reminder); Differentiation of Questions (for informal comprehension checks from Bryce Hedstrom); Questioning Ideas for Student Interviews (from Lance Piantaggini); One-Word Image Prompts (I can’t seem to remember if I got this list from someone, so if it is yours, please let me know and I’ll give proper credit); Slow Down Techniques (from Bryce Hedstrom); Quick Quizzes (I have adapted Senora Chase‘s Quiz Quizzes for Listening and Reading to make them more user-friendly for me across multiple levels).

Activities – Here I include the “quick and dirty” instructions or descriptions of the different activities I am using in class to impart comprehensible input. By the end of the year this will be an excellent quick reference for me to reflect on each activity, its usefulness, and any adaptations I made which worked better.

Rubrics – Most of these are from A Natural Approach to the Year (ANATTY) by Tina Hargaden. Some are adaptations from other teachers, which they’ve gratefully shared and I’ve adapted to my language.

It is my hope that this notebook can and will travel with me (I am in three schools this coming school year), come home with me, and generally become my very best friend for this and all the following school years. A massive resource of what I need, where I need it, when I need it.