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Not Having Every Answer
It is not at all uncommon to see the following anxiety expressed by a new instructor: My job is to have the answer to every single question that could possibly come up in class today; if I don’t, I’m not doing my job properly, I will immediately forfeit all authority in the classroom, and it…
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Online Tools
We can’t prevent students from discovering tools like Perseus and William Whitaker’s Words, but we should definitely not help them find them. Once they discover a website that will fully parse morphology and provide the (not always correct) meaning of the word, our job is made much more difficult. Instead of pretending like online resources…
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Learning & Testing Vocabulary
Learning vocabulary isn’t simply a matter of learning what roots mean. However, many or most of your students will assume it is. You need to be sure they know that vocabulary is both lexical and morphological. Take amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus. This string of words does not mean “I love.” Only amō means that, and…
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Mini Quizzes
More low stakes assignments (e.g. lots of quizzes, mini tests, etc.) are preferred to fewer high stakes assignments (e.g. one midterm and a final). No assignment should be worth more than 20% of one’s final grade. Low stakes assignments are preferred for a variety of reasons: • Less stress on the student (a single quiz…
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DocuCams
A Document Camera (or DocuCam) is quite simply a camera that displays whatever it sees on the projector screen. As far as I’m concerned, it is the single most valuable tool in the language classroom. By projecting the text under examination using a DocuCam, you and your students can always be on the same page—or…
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Assignments
Text coming soon. Low-Stakes Quizzing in Canvas: https://canvas.yale.edu/spotlight/low-stakes-quizzing-canvas Voicethread
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Substitutes
For the teacher: If you need to miss class, find a substitute to cover for you rather than simply cancelling class. Your Course Coordinator or Language Program Director should be able to help you find a sub. Only as a last resort (and with your supervisor’s approval) should you cancel class. A substitute is doing…
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Canceling Class @ Yale
Under no circumstance should you unilaterally cancel a class. As soon as you suspect a possible scheduling conflict, contact me. If there is an emergency, contact me. Only if I cannot find a solution to your absence is it permitted for you to cancel class. See here for substitute teachers. —James F. Patterson
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Observations
Everyone hates being observed. It’s intimidating. Sometimes you have to modify class or your instruction in a way that may feel unnatural. But it’s an integral part of professional development at every level of the game. When you are observed, do the following: (1) Give your observer a sufficiently detailed lesson plan. This shows your…
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Classics Teaching 