My Old Blog

I have blogged about BookBox in the past when I was using it to teach Portuguese to my 4-year old daughter.  I am very elated to see there is also a French version of BookBox as an app you can use to listen to stories and read along in French. The stories are animated with a read-along feature, highlighting the words as they are being read.  It apparently has been scientifically proven that the read-along (SLS) feature strengthens reading skills as words are highlighted in sync with the spoken word. What I really like about BookBox is that the stories are available in several languages.  Although I see the value of an immersive approach to learning a language, I can also see the benefits of supporting the target language acquisition through one's native language.  My daughter, for example, has listened to stories both in English (her native language) and Portuguese and French (target languages).  She has shown an ability to form associations between w...

Below are some resources that I think will be highly useful to teachers and parents interested in the "Flipped Classroom" (or reverse instruction) model: Articles Explaining the Flipped Classroom Approach Copy of Learning Styles and The Flipped Classroom (Neil Commons' Presentation) How the Flipped Classroom is Radically Transforming Learning Real Flipped Classroom (Edudemic) Warning: Flipping Your Classroom May Lead to Increased Student Understanding (Teaching Science and Math) Infographic Explaining the Flipped Classroom Approach