Day 20

June 30, 2017
So this is it... the final day of GAETI's summer institute. We can look forward to seeing each other again on September 30 and February  24. Hopefully, I will find and bring (or email) some things I want to share with Ruth. Just like the last GAETI I attended - I have connected with another language teacher. It's so nice to add new, young teachers to my network. Many of my older colleagues have retired or they teach part-time at community colleges. I love sharing ideas with the newer teachers. The sharing goes both ways. I have a wealth of collected resources but they have fresh ideas!

This morning we signed up for CEUs and answered post-test questions about technology. We had breakfast snacks, coffee, juice, tea and cake! We also had a working lunch to look forward to.  About half of the participants shared their presentations before lunch. We have some wonderful teachers here. Of course I was partial to the Spanish 'Family' lesson presented by Ruth. It was well-planned and the resources were excellent. We brainstormed on a family lesson as our mini-lesson plan. Ruth added personal photos, more technology and good, solid language teaching methods. Jason and Anne had some excellent 'Hooks' for their lessons: directions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a meme and a colored paper activity which grouped the students by 'race' (but they didn't know what was going on).

One shared idea I need to use is Blogger. It can give students a chance to reflect on what they've learned and to ask for help, if needed. I tried to use Kidblog with my students after the last GAETI but our school network blocked any form of blogging at that time. I will put that on my 'technology questions for Heritage' questions (filters).

Once our presentations were finished - Ms. Latham gave us certificates of participation. We had awards from Dr. Bracey based on what was published, awards from Ms. Latham and awards voted on by the class. I was happy to receive 'Most Detailed Blogger' and 'Best Lesson Plan Document' awards. I am compulsive about details, it's true. Unfortunately, I can't ever find a stopping point. Oh ... here it is!