Author Archives: Nathan Lutz

About Nathan Lutz

Nathan Lutz is an elementary school French and Spanish teacher. He frequently presents workshops at the local, state, and national level. Nathan has served the world language community as president of Language Educators of Central New York, and as the National Networking Coordinator for the National Network for Early Language Learning. In 2012, he was a participant in the UPenn STARTALK Excellence in Leadership Institute and was a participant in the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers' Leaders of Tomorrow Program in 2007. Nathan currently serves as the chair of his school's Diversity Committee and he is the World Languages Community Leader for Teach for America. He has published several publications concerning world language education with Early Advantage, Little Pim, and Research Education Association.

Let’s Get Personal: Forming your own PLC

PLCs – otherwise known as Professional or Personal Learning Communities, are another one of those educational buzz word acronyms that keeps creeping its name around schools. We teachers are told “Go out and form your PLC.” Having a network of professional ...

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Classroom Management That Doesn’t Make You A Monster

No matter how versed you are in your content area and pedagogy, one of the most important elements of the true art of teaching is classroom management. In all my years of teaching, I confess that this is probably the weakest ...

Posted in Teaching Tips |

The Case of the Missing Curricula: Plotting Your Own Course

Many school systems have very regimented curricula. I have a teacher friend who literally opens up a binder, turns to whatever day it is, and that day’s lesson’s objectives, procedures, materials, and assessments are all there for him. It’s more ...

Posted in Teaching Tips |

Let’s Get Flexible: A Compulsive Planner’s Guide to the Unpredictable World of Teaching

Once you've got your physical space all set, you can refocus your mental energy on the "big picture" of the year. It all starts with a plan. One thing that isn't decided - or at least shared with me until ...

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Beautifying Your Classroom: Organizing Your Physical Space

During my first teaching job, I was something of a teacher nomad. I traveled from room to room to teach French, lugging a box and CD player. I couldn’t even use a cart because I was in the three buildings. ...

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