Here is a link to the Ille Auctor questions page and The Maker video on youtube.

What is something you did that didn't go as planned?
Okay, here we go - the good stuff :). I would say a lot didn't go as planned. There were pieces here and there in each class that I could have done better or that went in a direction I wasn't prepared for.  I think what I want to focus on though, is something that didn't go quite as planned and yet, did well enough that I am intending on continuing for the foreseeable future. 

This last year and a half (I started in January 2017) I kept to a daily routine in my classes. I started to experiment some with some new ideas. Some went well, others crashed after a short joy ride. So, here is a quick layout of what I did, when I started, and how long it lasted:

1. Date; January 2017; to present
2. Weather; January 2017; to present
3. Roll Call; January 2010; to present
   
4. Weekly password; August 2017; to present
5. Daily Cellphone TPR-ish; August 2016; January 2017
6. Daily News item; October 2017; January 2018

Okay... let's break it down!

Why? Let's be honest. We want our kids to know the dates and how to count and THEY want to be able to come running into your room and (if it's the South in January) say, "It's snowing!" in the target language. It's the truth. So... I see this as a must. My kids have learned how to do the date and weather and this last year we got a lot of opportunity to talk about some unique weather with the eclipse, a hurricane, snow, etc. 
How? The way I did this was with mini white boards. I had kids try it on their own while I took roll and then we went over it together. 
What didn't go well? HA! A lot. (1) The whiteboards were great in theory, but in reality... the markers dried out quickly and the kids discovered their greatest struggle: putting things away. (2) It was monotonous. (3) The weather didn't vary enough sometimes for us to have fun. (4) Eventually the kids who could do it really well stopped paying attention.
Changes for the future? Despite these issues, I am going to continue doing this every day. I do plan to address the above issues in a few ways: (1) instead of white boards, we'll write it in our reflection/timed write journals or on our vocabulary notes. (2) I'm not quite sure how to change this up. I think it is really important we do this, but I don't quite have ideas to change it up as often as possible yet. (3) Read previous. (4) I've thought of a few ways to handle this: when kids seem to get it, stop having them write it down or stop having them write it down before we discuss; perhaps I could (and this worked well when it happened) allow one of these high flyers to lead this discussion.

Why? Well, because I need to know who is here! And also because it gets a little, even if repetitive, practice with the 1st person present. 
How? Standard: Katy? Adsum!
What didn't go well? SO MONOTONOUS! Some kids don't answer loud enough, others at all, and some aren't in the room. 
Changes for the future? I stole this from my father, who I think got it from John Piazza (?). The idea is that every day the kids have something different to say or do for their roll call. I love this. There are a wide variety of things that they might do:

• respond "adsum"
• stand up and complete a command, TPR style
  
• translate a sentence from the previous day's story
  
• answer a PQA question
  
• Complete a sentence frame. 
  

Why? Because they are fun. When we do these we learn colloquialisms and idioms. We learn fun ways to say things we already know and we provide extra input for those who want it. 
How? Every Monday (okay... many Mondays) I would have a word of phrase on the board and I would go over it. Each time the kids used it in class, they received a ticket they could trade in for something. 
What didn't go well? The overall success of the word/phrase depended heavily on my own use of it and the particular class. Some were more popular than others. Some got lost in the hustle and bustle. I wanted it to be so much more than it was...
Changes for the future? I am still going to use these... They will be weekly... but... Instead of tickets, we'll count them as rejoinders and the class will get to acquire those points toward a fun Friday. 

If there was anything such as a daily ritual it is this. This is how we fight rampant cell phone abuse. I stole this from my father, straight up. It works really well, if  you are consistent. I wasn't... 
Why? To fight extraneous cell phone use, and set the tone of the day. 
How? Each day the teacher asks in TL "Where are your cell phones" and students and teacher go through the list: Not on my desk, not in my hands, not on my lap, not in my pockets, not on the floor. It is in my backpack or on the wall (I have a wall of pockets where kids can turn in cell phones).
What didn't go well? I wasn't consistent. I didn't start this from day 1 with my kids in Latin I. If I had, I would have been more committed myself. I am learning from this mistake... No exceptions - EVERY DAY from here on out. 
Changes for the future? EVERY DAY. 

Why? Kids want to talk about the news. It is relevant to them and important. They want to know how to use the language in meaningful ways to them. 
How? Each day I would find a news story (often one I heard on the radio on the way in) and write 1-3 sentences in Latin about it. I would read those sentences and we would discuss it in the TL. 
What didn't go well? Again, this one is completely on me. I wasn't consistent. I let the hassle of finding news and testing get in my way of what I knew was a great thing for the kids. 
Changes for the future? For my IVs I am considering using Nuntii Latini. For my ones and twos, I will commit myself do doing this... maybe not every day, but 3 days a week. 

I think I'm most excited about working to bring more representation and non-white cultural focus and comparisons into my classes this coming year. I credit Miriam with starting me down this path originally, and I am curious to read her entry because we recently discussed this, so if it's similar it won't be a surprise. 
This is also on my mind because I just returned from the American Classical League Institute and this is an interest that was common to many of us. Aside from some great conversations that I had with others at random, there were both a preinstitute workshop, called "Latin When Everyone Can Do It," and a panel, called "Listening to All Voices 2.0: teaching Latin in the inclusive Latin classroom," on social justice, representation, and inclusivity, that not only offered a great list of readings (I'll save that for a later journal entry) but also several ideas for creating a classroom that feels safe for all of your students.

• One thing that I have always sort of done--when putting together pictures, like of a family or of any other random gathering of images that includes humans, I have always thought to choose images of people from all kinds of races and ethnicities. It occurred to me that some of my kids weren't being represented in the pictures I was putting together in a powerpoint and I reconfigured the entire thing. This is an easy thing to start to do to make sure your kids can see themselves, and it's something I'm going to redouble my efforts on to make sure that I'm really making sure I'm being thorough.
• I used to be satisfied to promote the usual white imagery of the Romans and Greeks, but it turns out that the Empire was really amazingly diverse and should be shown that way. This is where Miriam has helped me a lot. I have only recently started pushing myself here, and this is something that I am really excited to start working on in earnest this year.  It's also something that the Alt Right uses to promote themselves, so I have a new level of reason, outside my students' need to see themselves, to change that imagery. Therefore I will be working to incorporate readings that change that perspective and bring forth the multitude of cultures along the Mediterranean that were not white Europeans.
• I have finally come to the conclusion that it is okay to not care whether my imagery is perfectly authentic because representation can be incredibly powerful. This was my impetus for drawing Eurydice as a black woman. I know it seems obvious, but it needs to be stated: beauty should not just be represented as white. Or thin. Or all the other stereotypes that prevent students from seeing themselves valued by the things we usually present them with as Roman in our classes.  But by always worrying about whether we are representing our characters and deities just as the Romans imagined them, we reinforce those ideals. So instead I am going to be creating whatever imagery strikes me for characters, and, better, if kids create that imagery, I'm going to celebrate it and display it.

Those are my steps. Both the panel and the workshop also emphasized the importance of teaching in such a way that all kinds of learners felt safe and valued--with an emphasis on CI--as well. I am already on that journey and continue to try to improve my teaching at all times.

I feel this is one more piece of the CI puzzle too--it does incorporate comprehensibility and compellingness, but most importantly, by making my classroom an inclusive place that represents all of my students, I will have really tackled that third C, Caring, which is my personal favorite.

What topic excites me most to work on in the new school year?
I will be honest here and say that I have been feeling strapped for material... not because there isn't a lot, but because I have so many ideas for what I want to do when it is my turn to put together lessons for the beginner students that I am having trouble thinking on the upper end. What excites me to offer my kids year to year changes and this was no exception...

As many of you know, we do not follow a textbook, but allow our students to vote on topics to read the following year. It is up to us to decide what that survey looks like and how we interpret the results. This year, I offered a variety of topics and then had a runoff for what Latin IV will read next year. What I've decided to do for this post is share those results with a word on what I'm most excited for because, to be honest, I'm most excited for a little something everywhere! 

First, let me apologize for being a day late with this. I was at the American Classical League Institute last weekend and It was amazing but also exhausting and yesterday I spent most of the day traveling from Montana to Georgia so I was (and am) exhausted. And really exhilarated--it was a really fantastic conference!
Last year I taught Latin IV, AP as well as Latin I. One thing that all three had in common was a chance to connect with students. 
​So this is a more vague, less-easily defined thing that I'm reflecting on, but I think that I did it fairly well: I connected with my students. I made it a point to get to know my students. I talked to them while they worked on assignments and asked them about their interests. If someone drew in my class, I checked in to see what it was about and if I recognized an influence (a show, an artist) I discussed it with him or her. I asked about bands they listened to and shows they had pictured on their shirts and listened when they told me about their families and their friends and the places they liked to go or how they liked to get time alone in their rooms or sometimes how it was really hard to get time alone in their houses so they usually escaped outside.
The thing is, I do this because I really love it and really love my students and I care about their passions and interests, even when I don't always share them. I also have passions and interests, so I at least understand how that feels, and I think I communicate that to them.
I love Latin.
But I love my students more. And I'm okay with them figuring that out. Sometimes I think that it's essential that they do.
So, yeah. I'll end this awkwardly, journal style. 

What is something you did that you loved?
There are lots of things I loved about my year teaching Latin III... but... if I think about something that I loved and will continue to loved, I'm going to have to go with Free Voluntary Reading. 
Last year, Rachel and I did a podcast series on The Reading Whisperer and I took many ideas from it. When it came time to set up my expectations for FVR, I knew I wanted to establish the kind of space the author had. It is something I'm still working on, but I am very pleased with how it went this year and I am sure it will only get better. 

What I did
Since I was teaching Level III, my students already had some reading skill (so when I do this with my Is this year, it will be different). I started by discussing with them the rules for FVR:

1. We read, 3 days a week. 
2. We read - we don't write, we don't talk, we don't draw - we just read. 
3. WE read, meaning that I am expected to read too. 
4. We'll start with 10 minutes and increase time as needed. 

Since I was just starting this process with them, we only got to about 12 minutes, but I look forward to having even more time to read with the Is that start with me. 

We also established some expectations for what they would read:

• Any book in Latin that was in the FVR library. 

This included all the available novellas that we had bought, as well as a few other books in Latin that I had. I went ahead and added them even though they were well above the reading level of my students because the interest was there. 

Hello and welcome to our summer 2018 Create-A-Long! We are so glad you're here :) 
In December, we hosted the 12 Days of CI-mas and shared some of our favourite ideas and activities. This time around, we decided to take a more reflective approach. We're hosting a series of 16 prompts for the month of July to reflect on. Some will focus on the most recent school year and others will ask us to consider the upcoming year. Some may reflect on what we do/did and some may reflect on why. I hope you will join us in this journey! See below for details!

There are a few ways you can participate. Feel free to choose whichever way makes the most sense to you or find a new way. I hope that you'll share your reflections with us! Rachel and I (Miriam) will be posting our own reflections on this blog each day. Some times we may post a video reflection and sometimes it will be written. 

1. Start a blog (or use the one you have) to share your reflections! 
   1. send us a link in the comments of our reflections.
   2. Tweet a link out with the hashtag #steppingintoci
2. Leave your reflections in the comments of our posts! 
3. Share a video reflection and post it on youtube.
   1. send us a link in the comments of our reflections
   2. tweet a link out with the hashtag #steppingintoci