Mike Travers

A few pics from MAFLA 2025. It was such a fun experience to serve as conference chair for two years! The sessions and presenters were nothing short of amazing. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a success!

Thanks for attending and for your great questions!

Ann Arbor World Language teachers are ready to hit the ground running this year! We worked on understanding grammar’s role in our classes and curriculum as well as using resources to draw attention to new grammar.

Joe joined me for this trip and we got to see a Diego Rivera mural

Line titled The Forgetting Curve. In an hour, your students will forget more than half of what they learn. The chart shows that in 20 minutes, what students remember declines from 100% to roughly 60%. Then by the hour mark, it declines to just above 40%.

Without reinforcement, we forget almost everything we learn, @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social writes.

Decades of research show that unless an effort is made to retain new information, 50% of new info disappears within an hour, 75% is gone by the next day, & up to 90% fades away within a week. 🤯

🧵1/7

Reference table includes instructions for 12 questioning strategies.

Better questioning techniques > More questions.

Here's an array of options from T @Kasey_Kiehl:

theliteracyeffect.com/2025/06/19/i...

#BiteSizedPD

Thank you @miwla.bsky.social for hosting a Q&A with @ritzworldlang.bsky.social and I tonight. It was great to connect and talk about grammar and how to approach the shift to prof. based teaching

Massachusetts educators, families, and language advocates:
DESE is rethinking graduation requirements. 📣
Now’s the time to tell them—🌍 World Languages must be part of every student’s education.

🗓️ Survey closes June 30
📋 Take the survey: survey.alchemer.com/s3/8327795/S...
#WorldLanguagesMatter

Thanks to RIFLA for inviting me to present on my favorite topic last night! It was a fun crowd especially for a Tuesday in May!

🌟 Exciting News! I'm thrilled to be facilitating a workshop for MAFLA's new "Framework in Action" series this summer. See you there!
📅 Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
📍 Location: Northborough, MA
🔗 Register here: mafla.org/pdonline/fra...
#MAFLA #FrameworkInAction #ProficiencyBasedInstruction

Catherine Ritz and Mike Travers, authors of "Proficiency-Based Instruction: Teaching GRAMMAR for Proficiency," join me to talk about the place of grammar in a proficiency-based classroom. #wlclassroompodcast
▶️ pod.fo/e/2d0c4e

Check this out and let us know what you think!

Proficiency-Based Instruction | Independent Publishers Group Independent Publishers Group

Thanks Caleb! Yes here you go www.ipgbook.com/proficiency-...

Wellesley Middle School holds annual French Fête - The Swellesley Report By Hanna Zhu. Hanna is a 6th grader at Wellesley Middle School and a member of the Bradford Junior. Hannah has covered several topics while a member of the club, […]

Another great school-wide French Fête in the books! theswellesleyreport.com/2025/04/well... #langchat #Frenchteachers #fle

🎤 Calling all world language educators!
Have you submitted your session proposal for the 2025 MAFLA Fall Conference yet? Share your expertise, inspire others, and connect with an incredible community of language teachers. 🌎💬
mafla.org/pdonline/con...
📅 Don’t miss out—deadline April 18!
#MAFLA2025

AMAZING! That’s such a well-developed lesson sequence. I’m so glad it went well. Keep sharing these resources!

Les transports Interpretive & PACE Activité 1 : Parle de ces questions avec ton groupe. La voiture est plus confortable que le bus. Je suis d'accord parce que… b. Je ne suis pas d'accord parce que… Le métro est plus rapide que la vo...

Had the good fortune last week to attend a day-long PD taught by @traversteach.bsky.social on Teaching #grammar in a #proficiency classroom. I did my first PACE lesson with my French 2s with great results! Since sharing is caring, here are my materials. Tell me about your PACE lessons #langsky 📣

“If students don’t collaborate well, that’s your clue to do it more often, not less. But structure it. Teach them how to create norms, find consensus, and move on after a disagreement.” —Heather Wolpert-Gawron, Teacher

#EduSky

Also- one of the biggest ask around making these changes is needing time. This makes me think of @tjeag.bsky.social and @traversteach.bsky.social ACTFL presentation (that you can also catch at NECTFL!)

Putting the final touches on our NECTFL presentation. Come learn about some cool new ways to approach writing instruction. Friday 2/28 at 1:45

NECTFL 2025: Change: The Good, the Bad and the Necess... View more about this event at NECTFL 2025

I'm looking forward to presenting with my colleague @traversteach.bsky.social at @nectfl.bsky.social sched.co/1voqE

"Progression of Talk" infographic made with colored sticky notes on a file folder. In order of progression: Say anything, Say something relevant, Say something back, Say something to clarify, Say something better, Say something to revise, Say something to provoke, Say something to extend

Want to level up student discussions? 💬 See how @gwenblumberg.bsky.social uses the Progression of Talk to scaffold classroom conversation. https://buff.ly/416skXv

#EduSky

Brain Power Strategy Card handout. It's separated into three zones: the frustration zone, the growth zone, and the independent growth zone. Below each zone are steps to guide the student through independent problem-solving.

These handouts help teacher Katherine Efremkin teach her students about cognitive overload—and how to overcome it. 🧠🏋️ Download a template: https://buff.ly/3Q47NMO

Love this article. Simple, yet effective ways to help students self-reflect

16 Variations on Think-Pair-Share to Keep Students Engaged Teachers and students use this classic learning strategy often. To keep it from getting stale, try these tweaks.

Do you use Think-Pair-Share a lot in your classroom? Shake things up with 16 variations on this classic strategy. 🌟

I just registered for retrieval practice on 2/11 with #MAFLA and I'm so excited for it! #langchat

Had a great afternoon working with Concord Carlisle High School starting the curriculum revision process!

16 Variations on Think-Pair-Share to Keep Students Engaged Teachers and students use this classic learning strategy often. To keep it from getting stale, try these tweaks.

Here are 16 ways to spice up the old favorite Think-Pair-Share (which is also great without extra spice!) from @toddfinley.bsky.social : www.edutopia.org/article/thin...

Check out what MAFLA is offering in 2025! mafla.org/pdonline/win...