Teaching is the work. Everything else is extra.
Built in the evenings by a teacher who spends most of the day in the classroom — with a little help from time in the school office and a couple of side projects.
Vocabulary, phrases, and a game or two — free Spanish I tools built for my own students, and shared here for anyone else's.
Mini-projects, worksheets, and a plan generator — free Business tools built for my own students, and shared here for anyone else's.
Built in the evenings by a teacher who spends most of the day in the classroom — with a little help from time in the school office and a couple of side projects.
Everything else on the site lives just one click away.
Real lessons from a real classroom — Spanish I, tested on real middle schoolers. With a bit of help from time in the school office and a couple of side projects along the way.
Vocabulary, phrases, and study tools built for a real Spanish I classroom — not a textbook publisher's idea of one.
Word lists stick better with context — food, family, and daily life across the Spanish-speaking world woven into every unit, not bolted on at the end.
Mini-projects, worksheets, and warm-ups that make entrepreneurship click for middle schoolers — built, tested, and rebuilt in a real classroom.
Every project starts from a constraint — a tiny budget, an odd customer, an awkward twist — because that's what makes the math and the pitch actually matter.
A pitch that sounds good isn't enough — every project ends with fixed costs, variable costs, and a price checked against a real break-even number.
Every project ends in front of the class, out loud — a pitch, a worksheet defended, a set of numbers explained. Grading rewards the presentation, not just the paper.
A few things picked up outside the classroom too — time in the school office, and a couple of small side projects — show up here now and then.
Warm-up phrase of the day, plus a quick flashcard review of last week's vocab.
New vocab set introduced, practiced out loud in pairs, then drilled with the flashcard tool.
Vocab Blitz — 30 seconds on the clock, see who can translate the most words before time runs out.
A real (or made-up) business gets picked apart — what's it selling, who's it for, why does it work?
Build day — the worksheet gets filled in, the twist gets applied, and the numbers get checked.
Quick quiz — a short check on the week's concepts, vocabulary, and the numbers behind them.
Eight units, built in order, each one reused and reviewed in the ones after it.
Hello, goodbye, please, thank you — the phrases used in the first five minutes of every class.
12 wordsThe objects and people in the room — so instructions can eventually be given in Spanish, not just about it.
12 wordsCounting comes before almost everything else — ages, dates, prices, and time all depend on it.
20 numbersTalking about who's at home — one of the first things students actually want to say in a new language.
6 wordsPractical vocabulary for prices, shopping, and money — buying, selling, spending, and saving.
6 wordsThe pattern behind most of Spanish I — once hablar clicks, five more verbs come nearly free.
6 verbs · full conjugationShort, useful, and easy to drill — often the fastest unit to feel confident in.
7 wordsCloses out the year's core list — and shows up again immediately in the practice section of the study guide.
10 words60 seconds, out loud, no notes — say what the business does, who it's for, and why it's better.
Deliverable: live 60-sec pitchThe full worksheet — business, customer, twist, problem, product, and price.
Deliverable: 6-field worksheetA random constraint gets applied — no social media, a $1 price cap, one day to sell. Adapt or fail.
Tool: Marketing Twist SpinnerFixed costs, variable costs, price — and the number of sales it actually takes to stop losing money.
Tool: Break-Even CalculatorThe final version goes in front of the class — classmates score it against a rubric before a grade is ever given.
Deliverable: peer rubric scoreYes — every unit assumes zero prior Spanish. The order matters: each one builds on the vocab from the ones before it.
Yes — they're free, no account needed, and work the same whether you're a student here or just found this page.
No — every project starts from a blank worksheet and a constraint, not from prior knowledge. That's the point of the format.
Use the Break-Even Calculator in Free Tools — it's the same formula worked out step by step in the free project pack PDF.
New guides and tools, published as they're actually ready — not on a content calendar.
Every vocab list and phrase from the year, in one printable guide — built for review before a quiz, not for skimming once.
Free PDF — ask in chat
Short, real-life notes on greetings, food, and customs across the Spanish-speaking world — the context behind the vocab lists.
Coming soon — free PDF
A handful of mini-business projects, worksheets included — for warm-ups, exit tickets, or a full class period.
Free PDF — ask in chat
The math behind whether a business idea actually works — fixed costs, variable costs, and finding the break-even point, worked example included.
Coming soon — free PDF
The same rubric classmates use on Pitch Day — four categories, plain language, no jargon — so students know exactly what's being scored before they present.
Coming soon — free PDF
The handful of tools that survived contact with a room of middle schoolers and a 47-minute period, and the ones that quietly didn't.
Free, no account needed. Built for Business and Spanish I, tested on real middle schoolers before they ever reached this page.
Card 1 of 14
Tap the card to flip it
Pick the correct conjugation for the subject shown. All regular -AR verbs — same pattern every time.
Click generate for a random micro-business scenario — a warm-up, exit ticket, or full mini-project.
Before any business is a good idea, the math has to work. Enter the numbers below to find the break-even point.
Stuck on an idea? Spin for a random business-and-twist combo to kickstart a pitch.
Spins so far: 0
Paste any paragraph below to see a plain-language snapshot of its writing style.
30 seconds. How many Spanish I words can you translate?
Best score: 0
If a link brought you here expecting a wish list, I appreciate the thought more than I can really say — but there's truly no need. My classroom already has what it needs to do good work.
Teaching your child is a privilege I don't take lightly, gift or no gift. If the class ever needs something specific, I'll ask for it directly — you'll hear it from me, not the other way around.
So truly — thank you for thinking of us.
— Mr. Cordier
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