Professional Learning Networks:
First and foremost, I rely on other teachers in my building for ideas! Besides being right there at my fingertips all day, everyday, they also are familiar with inner city, high needs students. Many times, the articles, websites and resources I find just won't work for my students because of academic or social difficulties. There is also a severe lack of high quality Foreign Language resources out there, too. My colleagues and I usually find it easier just to make our own resources and pave our own roads each and very day.
One organization that I participate in is the NYSAFLT (New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers). Although not all of their strategies work for my students' particular social-emotional needs, you can usually trust that they materials and resources they provide are accurate an without error. They also have an annual conference where teachers share technologies, manipulatives, games, etc. that they have modified to meet the needs of the FL classroom.
One idea I really want to explore is FB groups for teachers. I knew FB could be used for friends and for businesses, but I honestly never knew that there were groups for teachers! Every time I think I have FB figured out, I realize I have no idea what I am doing. I even searched up NYSAFLT and began following them. I noticed that they even have live videos and webinars! That is amazing for those of us with limited time! I explored some of the other FB recommendations from the articles in the lesson. Some of the articles are elementary based and weren't appropriate for my age range. Another of the groups wasn't in English (or Spanish!) I am really looking forward to exploring this platform more! I need to target my search a little more and see if there are quality groups for foreign language teaching.
