To Blog or Not....

So I've been pondering making a blog for a bit.  I feel like I've gotten so much from other blogs and from being part of a PLC through #langchat that I'd like to pay ahead.  I'm hesitant with how much work this can be so am envisioning just sharing how I structure a unit that I think will be compelling for students.  I've gotten inpirations from other sources and sometimes my path differs based on my needs (the levels I teach, my students' interest or experiences, my personal strengths or preferences, goals).

Additionally, I want to create an outlet for my pedagogy thoughts.  I received my masters through the University of Southern Mississippi.  I received a Masters of Arts in Teaching Languages.

The focus of the MATL program is on knowledge, skills, and theories in language, language acquisition, and language instruction.  I learned a lot about SLA and had numerous ah-ha moments as the research and theories supported what I felt worked in students.  I always knew that studying about the language wasn't quite right.  It wasn't engaging enough and it never produced any communicative skills.  And really, what's the goal of taking a language course?  Nobody says that they want to learn paradigms, verb charts, lists of words...they want to communicate!  So that's probably when my work with CI began.  I took Krashen's 5 hypotheses to heart and let i+1 be my motto and tried to create a setting to lower affective filters.

So I figure this blog may be a way to get my SLA/CI ramblings out.  I know that I can be intense to colleagues and friends when our paths cross when I'm in SLA mode (I don't even bother with my husband because SLA talk is a foreign language to him!) and everyone's busy and on their own journey at different places.....so here we go.