In my Spanish classes one of the most useful and wonderful phrases that the students have acquired so far is lo siento (I'm sorry). Lo siento has to be high frequency, particularly for a novice level speaker in a foreign country. I know I was always saying it when I [...]
Building community and becoming bonded to the teacher helps immensely in managing the classroom. In the first days we have the opportunity to convince the students of our good will toward them and to get them to associate positive feelings with Spanish class. It is not as if we were trying [...]
Here is a question about encouraging students to use rejoinders in the classroom by a colleague that has begun using them this year. It is a good one, because we all lose steam every so often and because he seems to sense that using rejoinders is important for building [...]