#253

What if your students could use the language they’re learning to build real relationships with peers across the globe? In this episode French teacher Heidi Trude joins me to explore how authentic global connections can transform language learning. Heidi shares how a partnership that began with a simple idea grew into meaningful collaborations that deepen students’ language proficiency, cultural understanding, and confidence. We talk about virtual exchanges, international partnerships, practical starting points, sustainability, and the role of technology in making it all possible.

Topics in this Episode:

• Heidi's initial spark for building global connections and moving from “this would be nice” to actually making it happen
• the benefits of global connections for students and the teacher and some unexpected benefits that Heidi has seen
• the various types of global connections (virtual connections, in-country visits) and what it looks like in practice
• a few realistic entry points for a teacher who wants to create authentic global connections
• making these connections sustainable
• tech tools for global collaborations and ensuring the technology enhances communication rather than distract from it
• Heidi's Resource: Making The Global Connection

Connect with Heidi Trude

• Email: techietrude@gmail.com
• Website: Tech with Trude
• Facebook: Heidi.Trude
• Instagram: @hlt2007
• X/Twitter: @htrude07

A Few Ways We Can Work Together:

• Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win PD for Individual Teachers
• On-Site or Virtual Workshops for Language Departments
• Self-Paced Program for For Language Departments

Connect With Me & The World Language Classroom Community:

• Website: wlclassrom.com
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook Group: World Language Classroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• LinkedIn: Joshua Cabral
• Bluesky: /wlclassroom.bsky.socia
• X (Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom

Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.

#252

Have you ever wondered whether your tests, quizzes or assessments truly measure what your students can do with the language, or are they just looking at what students can memorize or explain about the language? In this episode we're diving into Integrated Performance Assessments, or IPAs, an effective way to assess how students are actually able to use the grammar, vocabulary and cultural understanding. An IPA assesses how students engage with the language through the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes. If you've been working toward proficiency-based instruction and looking for assessments that align with those goals, this episode will help you with that.

Topics in this Episode:

• Many teachers are moving toward proficiency-based instruction, but assessment often remains disconnected from communication goals.
• If our goal is communication, then assessment should provide opportunities for students to communicate.
• What is an Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA)? IPAs assess students through the three modes of communication: Interpretive, Interpersonal, Presentational
• The three tasks are connected rather than separate activities.
• Students move through a sequence that mirrors real-world communication: Receive information, Discuss information, Share information
• An IPA focuses on what students can do with language rather than how many grammar rules they can identify.
• Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win Course: Integrated Performance Assessments.

A Few Ways We Can Work Together:

• Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win PD for Individual Teachers
• On-Site or Virtual Workshops for Language Departments
• Self-Paced Program for For Language Departments

Connect With Me & The World Language Classroom Community:

• Website: wlclassrom.com
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook Group: World Language Classroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• LinkedIn: Joshua Cabral
• Bluesky: /wlclassroom.bsky.socia
• X (Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom

Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.

#251

Have you ever felt like you’re not allowed to say this out loud? That Comprehensible Input works beautifully with novices… but something feels different at Intermediate High and Advanced? That maybe your students plateau, avoid complex structures, or fossilize errors and you quietly wonder if you’re doing something wrong? What if the issue isn’t you… and it isn’t your students… but the choice we’ve created between CI or explicit instruction?

Topics in this Episode:

• The tension around CI and explicit instruction: CI has become dominant; Some spaces treat explicit instruction as regression; Teachers feel pressure to claim “pure CI;" Meanwhile, many quietly supplement.
• Most SLA studies focus on novice/intermediate learners; there simply aren't many rigorous studies examining advanced learners.
• When you attend CI workshops or read CI literature, the vast majority of examples, materials, and strategies target novice learners. This isn't because CI can't work at higher levels. It's because we haven't developed robust models for what it looks like there.
• The 'bandwagon effect': CI has achieved near-ideological status in some circles. Teachers feel pressure to claim 'pure CI' success even when they're supplementing with explicit instruction.
• The research does NOT support abandoning CI at advanced levels. It DOES support integrating strategic explicit instruction, particularly for complex features that are infrequent or non-salient in input.
• Blog Post with Cited Research: Balancing CI and Explicit Instruction Across Proficiency Levels

A Few Ways We Can Work Together:

• Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win PD for Individual Teachers
• On-Site or Virtual Workshops for Language Departments
• Self-Paced Program for For Language Departments

Connect With Me & The World Language Classroom Community:

• Website: wlclassrom.com
• Instagram: @wlclassroom
• Facebook Group: World Language Classroom
• Facebook: /wlclassroom
• LinkedIn: Joshua Cabral
• Bluesky: /wlclassroom.bsky.socia
• X (Twitter): @wlclassroom
• Threads: @wlclassroom

Send me a text and let me know your thoughts on this episode or the podcast.