Last Updated on 2020-06-26As we do every year, we use the summer break to push updates to the platform. Some of these updates are major new features; but many others are small tweaks, performance and usability improvements that are reported to us during the year. That being said, we’re excited to announce the first one[…]
Last Updated on 2020-06-07Guest Post by Susana Perez-Castillejo, PhD, Assistant Professor of Spanish, University of St. Thomas. Beyond the Zoom breakout rooms for speaking activities and shared Google docs for collaborative writing practice, there are other tools we can leverage to make our synchronous class meetings a bit more interactive. These are ideas I have been learning[…]
Last Updated on 2020-04-15 The Overnight Transition to Remote Instruction The sudden switch to online teaching has dumbfounded many. There is a fact we must acknowledge, designing online courses takes a substantial amount of thought and effort to get it ready. Even the most experienced ones of us—freaked out and wondered how we were going[…]
Last Updated on 2020-06-26If you would like your students to practice the format of the AP World Language and Culture Exam now instead of waiting until May, Extempore can help. This guide shows how to create Extempore assignments that replicate the same time constraints and environment that your students will have during the test, when[…]
Last Updated on 2020-04-09 Language Acquisition is something that is studied worldwide and languages themselves are something that many people wish they could acquire in the blink of an eye. But we all know that without taking a class, the pathway to language learning is not always what we make it out to be. Below[…]
Last Updated on 2020-03-13But we can still make progress towards our goals. We are seeing more and more schools across the US and the rest of the world enact temporary closures in an attempt to control the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Closures are often accompanied by promises that teaching will continue to be done[…]
Last Updated on 2020-04-10 No one can deny that technology plays an important part in our teaching practices these days. The new generation of students, the so-called “digital natives”, usually welcome state-of-the-art lessons that integrate technology with great enthusiasm, as it is a great motivation booster. Yet, when we come to think about what makes[…]
Last Updated on 2020-02-25The importance of teaching learners about nuclear stress. Traditionally, pronunciation practice has been centered on what some would typify as “articulatory gymnastics”, i.e. a drill-based approach for teaching selected L2 sounds (or segments). The use of these drill-like activities has been criticized overtly and regarded as “techniques of the past which have[…]
Last Updated on 2020-02-18 Nowadays technological developments have affected our lives, how we communicate, how we learn and, of course, our way of teaching. Indeed, it is almost impossible to find a language class that does not use some technological support. Computer assisted language learning has changed the practice of teaching (Chapelle & Voss, 2016).[…]
Here is a quick, low-prep activity for the world language classroom. It allows for reading and writing practice for most levels–I would say 4th grade and up. STEP 1: IT’S ALL YOU! First, you need to create a paragraph that targets what you want the students to practice. It could be a simple paragraph that[…]
Last Updated on 2019-12-05Recently, two of Extempore’s co-founders sat down to discuss how technology, pedagogy, and linguistics can be brought together. If you haven’t yet listened to TEFLology, it’s an excellent podcast “all about teaching English as a foreign language, and related matters.” The podcast was started in 2014 by three EFL teachers working Japan (Matthew Schaefer, Matthew[…]
Last Updated on 2020-04-21 Here is a great activity for reading comprehension, listening and speaking. It can be for any level of instruction and for almost any topic… and it allows for some artistic creativity in the classroom as well. Ok, so there is a little prep… make sure you have blank pieces of paper,[…]
Last Updated on 2019-11-11The results are staggering. According to ACT, Inc. (2006), only 51% of high school graduates read well enough to succeed in college. Fifty-one percent. As a nation, we are failing at preparing half of our students to be college and career ready. What’s even more frightening is the amount of work policy[…]
Last Updated on 2019-10-11 Blended and online language courses are an increasingly common occurrence in colleges and high schools across the country. They allow students who, for many different reasons, cannot physically come to class three times a week to either start or continue learning a language; at the program level, pooling together students from[…]
Last Updated on 2019-09-23 What’s The Edtech Roundup? Extempore was just reviewed by The EdTech Roundup! If you’re unfamiliar, The Roundup is run by Mike Karlin, who has over a decade of classroom experience and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University’s Instructional Systems Technology program. The review gives an overview of what Extempore[…]
Last Updated on 2019-09-19The Can Do Descriptors which are similar to the WIDA Language Development Standards, were created to show what students at different levels of proficiency in English should be able to do in each of the four domains. While not a replacement, the Can Do Descriptors are a supplement to the WIDA Standards[…]
Last Updated on 2020-03-03In today’s image-rich world, infographics have become an essential way to convey information and statistics without an overwhelming overdose of text. This feature makes infographics an ideal instructional tool for teachers in the world language classroom. I often use infographics in the to elicit responses and reactions from students in the[…]
Last Updated on 2019-09-04One of the great advantages of cloud-based products like Extempore is their portability and flexibility: unlike on a legacy language lab, your students are free to practice speaking in any setting, at any time. You are not tied to a room, or a specific type of hardware, or a booking system. This[…]
Last Updated on 2019-09-04It’s the 21st century: Why do we keep taking 3 days to do oral exams when it can be done in ten minutes? If you can relate to this post’s title, it’s probably because you still go through 3 or 4 days of intensive (for you, not for your students who only[…]
Last Updated on 2019-09-19 Sunday night is homework night, right? Not for you. You’ve used recording devices to answer a prompt. You’ve started using Extempore to gather students’ opinions on a video, or poem, or story. What you probably have not thought of is how you can get your students to practice an entire conversation[…]
Last Updated on 2019-08-28 A big part of what makes us effective teachers is staying up to date on what’s going on in our profession. We do this for many reasons: to help our students learn better, to build a supportive network of colleagues, to get that minuscule pay raise at review time… But there[…]
Last Updated on 2019-08-19Time. Time is a teacher’s most precious commodity. We literally never have enough of it and are always, ALWAYS asking for more. We need time to plan lessons, collaborate with staff, grade homework, and even observe students practice and utilize the skills and strategies we teach. As a previous elementary classroom teacher,[…]
Last Updated on 2019-07-29See it Say it! Many learners we teach rely on visuals to help them interpret and process information. Today, I am going to share a resource for images and how I use them as a springboard for speaking activities in the world language classroom. The site is supported by the University of[…]
Last Updated on 2020-02-10 If your institution uses Schoology, we’ve got great news! You can now integrate Extempore assessments into Schoology directly. What does that mean? This integration allows you to connect an Extempore Assessment to a Schoology Assignment and send grades from Extempore to your Schoology Gradebook. Additionally, your students are now able to complete[…]
Last Updated on 2019-07-22 The Collaborative Language Program In May, Extempore was invited to present at a workshop organized by the Collaborative Language Program at the University of Wisconsin System. The Collaborative Language Program (CLP) is a cutting edge way for UW System to staff and support language programs at schools that would otherwise not[…]
Last Updated on 2019-07-17Triangle Talk/Triángulo de Tertulia This is not only a great speaking activity for world languages, but also a student-led activity. The first time I did it this year, the students were scared, but they grew to love it and it became almost a weekly occurrence in the classroom. By the end of[…]
Last Updated on 2019-07-08The Extempore team has been busy over the summer. As we do every year, we use the break to push updates to the platform. Some of these updates are major new features (teaser: a BIG one is coming in late July!) but many others are small tweaks, performance and usability improvements that[…]
Last Updated on 2019-07-17Three Activities and Strategies to keep language students in the target language In this blog post I am going to share with you a couple of strategies and highly engaging activities that I use regularly in the classroom. The Can of Blah Blah Blah (La Lata de bla bla bla) This activity[…]
Last Updated on 2019-07-16One Activity: All-in-one and done? Could there be such a thing? Sometimes being a world language teacher is overwhelming. We do it all…speaking, listening, writing and reading. These are all essential elements of an effective classroom making it all-in-one! In addition to all of these moving parts, we want our students to connect[…]
Last Updated on 2020-02-11 If your institution uses Blackbaud, we’ve got great news! You can now integrate Extempore assessments into Blackbaud directly. What does that mean? This integration allows you to connect an Extempore Assessment to a Blackbaud Assignment and send grades from Extempore to your Blackbaud Gradebook. Additionally, your students are now able to complete[…]
Last Updated on 2019-04-20Preparing students for an AP language class before they take AP If you teach AP, you probably do some AP-type activities with your Spanish 3 and 4 students as well. You know that preparing well for the AP test takes longer than a few months, so you make sure your lower levels[…]
Last Updated on 2020-02-11“What does it look like to leverage technology to increase participation, efficiency, and engagement?” I think we know here at Extempore. Class Tech Tips just covered Extempore in their blog! They highlight how we are a helpful resource for language educators and the benefits we bring to students like: Creating speaking portfolios Save[…]
Last Updated on 2019-02-27Extempore is a low cost alternative to a language lab that can easily be funded by a grant. First things first… The most important thing about grant writing is that you cannot fit a square peg into a round hole. What this means is that you cannot use a technology grant to[…]
Last Updated on 2020-02-09Are you applying for educational technology grant, but don’t know where to start? Learn the steps it takes to create the perfect proposal from an expert grant writer! How many times have you heard a kind hearted parent or volunteer say “You know what you should do, right? You should write[…]
Last Updated on 2019-02-14The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ publication The Language Educator is a magazine for ACTFL members. In its recent Tech Watch, Extempore was featured as a tool to increase “learners’ opportunities for meaningful target language use and exposure.” The Language Educator is a great resource for news and information for educators of all[…]
Last Updated on 2019-02-05Everyone has been asking for it and we’re happy to say it’s now live! Extempore users can now create a customizable rubric! Each criterion can be weighted individually on a scale of 1 to 10. Create an assignment and try it out! Note: Students NEED to update their mobile apps to see[…]
Last Updated on 2019-04-15 We are happy to announce that Extempore users can now access content at Teacher’s Discovery! The Oral Assessments for Extempore from Teacher’s Discover are great if you’re looking for something new for your language classroom. Currently there are 10 content groups available. However, they are designed for Spanish instruction with more[…]
Last Updated on 2019-07-16Extempore is a speaking practice app that provides an oral language assessment tool for teachers (and some added bonuses for parents & students as well). If your child has a teacher that has decided to use Extempore in class, first of all, it means they seriously care about their students’ speaking skills.[…]
The atmosphere of a language class can be heavily influenced by how excited the students are to learn, engage, and progress. If students are unengaged or fearful, you may be working with a very quiet or even potentially hostile classroom with kids teasing each other or choosing not to speak. If you have students that[…]
Last Updated on 2018-12-13If you are a language teacher who has decided to incorporate Extempore into your classroom, congratulations! You are about to embark on a journey that is going to save you time and energy while also engaging your students in more speaking exercises than ever before in your classroom. You will find that[…]
Last Updated on 2018-12-07Every language teacher knows how difficult it is to get students to speak in class. It is even more difficult, and can be extremely time-consuming, when there is a need to evaluate each student’s speaking skills individually. Imagine you are a language teacher with 30 students and you need to provide an[…]
Last Updated on 2018-11-28With the cost of textbooks soaring over the past several years, there are many teachers and even more parents who are seeking alternatives to the traditional textbook in the classroom. Teachers don’t want to ask students to pay $200-300 for a book anymore, and many students simply can’t afford the cost. Luckily,[…]
Last Updated on 2018-11-07EdTech Language Platform Sees Usage Surge 400% Year over Year St. Paul, MN, October 31, 2018 — Extempore announces that year over year usage of its Speaking Practice platform has surged nearly 400%. In addition to this growth, teachers are seeing valuable time savings while conducting oral language assessments. The average Extempore[…]
Most teachers and schools simply don’t have the capital to set up an expensive language lab. Check out our ROI calculator to see just how much you’d need to spend to get a lab off the ground. But thanks to today’s new technologies, there’s no need to invest in costly equipment and software. If you’re[…]
In just the past few years, the cloud has changed the way we live and think. No longer do we carry flash drives or CDs; instead, we just upload whatever information we need to the cloud and access it later from any of our various electronic devices. With that in mind, why are you still[…]
Last Updated on 2018-07-03Language labs are an excellent way to simulate conversation for your students, as they’ll provide all the equipment the students need to hear and speak. However, setting up a language lab is extremely expensive, especially if you have to buy all the tools yourself. Luckily, there are plenty of less-costly alternatives that[…]
As we do every year, we use the summer break to push updates to the platform. Some of these updates are major new features; but many others are small tweaks, performance and usability improvements that are reported to us during the year. That being said, we’re excited to announce the first one of the summer![...]
Posted on 2020-06-26 by Thomas Murr
Guest Post by Susana Perez-Castillejo, PhD, Assistant Professor of Spanish, University of St. Thomas. Beyond the Zoom breakout rooms for speaking activities and shared Google docs for collaborative writing practice, there are other tools we can leverage to make our synchronous class meetings a bit more interactive. These are ideas I have been learning these past few[...]
Posted on 2020-04-16 by Thomas Murr
Nowadays technological developments have affected our lives, how we communicate, how we learn and, of course, our way of teaching. Indeed, it is almost impossible to find a language class that does not use some technological support. Computer assisted language learning has changed the practice of teaching (Chapelle & Voss, 2016). Technology in Language[...]
Posted on 2020-02-10 by Thomas Murr
