In episode 126, Dr. Claire Knowles, whom you might remember from episodes 9, 88, 89, or 100, returns to the podcast with a list of questions from the teachers in her language teaching methods course. Claire and Stacey sat down during a break in the action at the 2019 ACTFL Convention to talk about how Stacey ended up obsessed with language teaching and producing a podcast, along with questions about how to use authentic resources with novices, how to teach without any technology at all, and how to connect with students when they feel unsafe at school. Stacey wants to warn everyone that this episode is way too long to actually listen to–almost 2 hours!!! Check out the show notes to see what questions Stacey and Claire discussed and what resources they mentioned; then you can fast-forward straight to the good stuff.
Or listen on iTunes/the Apple podcast app, on the Google Podcast app, or on Stitcher!
Download the episode guide here or the full transcript here.
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Show Notes
We welcome feedback, resources, and diverse perspectives on this topic! To contribute to the conversation started here, leave us a voicemail or send a text message to (629)888-3398. Or you can follow us on Twitter @weteachlang or use this contact form to send us an email.
You can learn more about Stacey here, and reach out to the podcast email address or Twitter account which she manages.
Claire Knowles is an online Spanish instructor primarily at Harrisburg Area Community College. She wrote her dissertation on online machine translation in the language classroom, and that dissertation won the 2017 ACTFL-NFMLTA/MLJ Emma Marie Birkmaier Award for Doctoral Dissertation Research in Foreign Language Education. Claire was previously a guest on the podcast Episode 9: Performance Assessment in a Fully Online College Spanish Course with Claire Knowles as well as the interviewer for episodes 88 and 89 about Google Translate. You can contact Claire on Twitter @clairelknowles.
Questions in this episode:
- 1: How did Stacey end up obsessed with language teaching? Starts at about 0:0:55
- 2: How did Stacey come to start a podcast about language teaching? Starts at about 0:4:20
- 3: Discussion about being a professional adjunct like Claire Starts at about 0:8:50
- 4: What are the challenges associated with starting a podcast? Starts at about 0:11:10
- Here is a blog post from Stacey wrote for others who might be thinking about starting an academic podcast.
- 5: When you started, what were your worries about putting things out into the world? Starts at about 0:15:50
- 6: Do you get a sense of what your listeners care about and are thinking about with regards to language teaching? Starts at about 0:19:10
- 7: What is “equitable”? Starts at about 0:21:20
- In hindsight, Stacey got on a roll talking about equitable in the context of language varieties and target culture portrayals. But she thinks she really missed an entire and important discussion about equity with regards to our own students we are teaching. Here are a few places you can go to learn more about those topics:
- 8: How can we teach for social justice if I as the teacher don’t feel like an authority? Starts at about 0:24:25
- 9: You are learning alongside your students. Starts at about 0:27:30
- 10: Discussion about discomfort. Starts at about 0:29:05
- Stacey mentioned the book “Courageous Conversations” (but accidentally called it courageous classrooms!)
- 11: Making connections instead of othering. Starts at about 0:32:40
- 12: Where do you see the profession in 5 years? Starts at around 0:33:10
- 13: Language programs cut. Starts at around 0:36:05
- Colleges Lose a ‘Stunning’ 651 Foreign-Language Programs in 3 Years By Steven Johnson
- 14: Questions from Claire’s students. Starts at around 0:40:36
- 15: Social justice with novices. Starts around 0:41:10
- We Teach Languages Episode 82: Social Justice and Representation with LJ Randolph
- My #ACTFL19 presentation with Dorie Conlon Perugini and LJ Randolph
- Stacey and LJ’s article-> Social Justice in the Language Classroom: A Call to Action
- Cecile Laine shared this video with Rudine Sims Bishop about her concept of windows and mirrors
- 16: Authentic resources and real experiences. Starts at around 0:48:35
- In addition to social media, have a look at Leslie Grahan’s (episode 69) Pinterest board where she pins every authentic resource you will ever need.
- Like the concept of textual borrowing with social media posts? Learn more about it in Episode 55: L2 Writing Instruction and Corrective Feedback with Heather Willis Allen
- Episode 110: A Fulbright Award and Afro-Mexican Stories with Michelle Nicola
- 17: Students leading class. Starts at around 0:56:50
- Thinking about discussing something you’ve tried in class and then sending it in to the podcast? Get more info here! We’d love to have your voice included in the podcast.
- 18: Teaching in a violent environment. Starts at around 1:02:05
- 19: Getting started with proficiency and spoken Latin. Starts at around 1:13:25
- 20: Getting started with proficiency and spoken Latin. Starts at around 1:22:40
- 21: Block schedule. Starts at around 1:25:25
- 22: Transitioning into class with FVR. Starts at around 1:31:15
- 23: What if I can’t go to ACTFL? Starts at around 1:34:25
If you want to cite this episode, our suggested APA reference is:
Johnson, S.M. (Producer), & Knowles, C. L. (Interviewer). (2019). We Teach Languages Episode 126: Claire Knowles asks Stacey some Questions from her Methods Class [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://weteachlang.com/2019/11/29/episode-126-claire-knowles-stacey-margarita-johnson/