What do I believe about teaching and learning foreign languages?

My goal is to help my students increase their overall language proficiency. The main theoretical lens through which I view proficiency is provided by ACTFL with its guidelines and descriptors. I rely on a task-based framework to increase student motivation and understanding of their own proficiency. I strive for authenticity in my lesson plans and assessments, tempered with a healthy dose of practicality, recognizing the limits and tradeoffs of an effective, sustainable teaching practice. The essay below tells a bit of my own language journey and explains how these and other key principles guide my classroom teaching.