Barbara Bitgood

@bgoodb.bsky.social

167 Followers 372 Following

World language teacher (French), mom, crafter, concerned American

Two postcards promoting Jeromie Whalen's candidacy for the Massachusetts first congressional district. Under the heading Why I Support Jeromie, handwritten text says: Having taught with Jeromie, I know that he shows up to do the hard work. Let's get him elected to Congress! -Barbara
Painted wood holiday ornaments including a gnome in front of a fir tree, snowmen, a pair of golden bells, a decorated Christmas tree and Santa Claus.
Banner with word Bonjour on a rainbow background between rainbow and cloud clipart
A pink banner with an A+ and thumbs up emoji. Text on the banner says Advice from last year's students.
Worcester Peace tour. Walk your history. Actors bring to life the city's peacemaking past in this unique 1 mile tour down main street. Get inspired with local histories of courage and hope. Quock Walker Day. Tues, July 8. 6:00-7:30 pm. Worcester memorial (the Aud) to city hall plaza. Free and open to the public. An educational project of the center for nonviolent solutions. There is a QR code to scan.
Book cover for Stuart Turton's The Last Murder at the End of the World
Why I'm an AI using French teacher. Here are 5 reasons why I am strategically using AI as a language teacher. Resource gaps: Schools used to pay for textbooks and curriculum packages. Now I must develop all the content myself, with no additional planning time. AI creates activities to my specifications, freeing me focus on feedback and relationships. Differentiation: AI can quickly rewrite texts to meet students’ levels, suggest and design scaffolds, and provide extensions to existing activities, allowing me to better serve my students. Thought partner: I can ask AI to analyze to my lessons and activities, providing me with feedback or probing questions that I use to improve my practice. Drudgery: Once I have created a model of a task, AI can do the repetive grunt work. For example, making 6 plausible variations on a structured task so that students constantly have fresh practice. Brainstorming: When my creativity runs dry, AI can provide ideas to jumpstart my planning, lists of relevant vocabulary, and models of language use to share with students. Using AI saves me time that I reinvest in the irrepreducable activities of relationship building, coaching and feedback. Text by Barbara Bitgood (without the help of AI) Template by Karen Restrepo
Association for Creatine Deficiencies. Walk for Strength 2025. $45K raised so far. Every dollar counts. Cure creatine deficiencies.
No Kings but ya as queen! Mass 50501 at Boston Pride. June 14 11 am to 3 pm. Cartoon image of Lady Liberty robed in a pride flag and flicking a crown off Donald Trump's head
Cover of the book How to Hide an Empire: a history of the greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr. The cover art features an outline map of the mainland United States marked in red, surrounded by gray maps of U.S. territories such as Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, Philippines and Puerto Rico.
A dad and his son are outside on the sidewalk, smiling. The twelve year old boy is seated in a red medical stroller. The dad crouches next to the boy. Both wear a blue tee-shirt with the Walk for Strength logo.
A smiling baby wearing a gray had and red plaid shirt sits in a stroller
White yarn wound around a purple swift.
Four pink tulips in bloom.
A wooden spindle with white yarn wound around it. Unspun wool trails from the top.
White hyacinths
I was dismayed, but sadly not surprised, to see the federal Department of Education's announcement requiring schools to sign a certification against DEI in order to receive federal funds. I am reaching out as a parent of two children in the X public schools to ask that you work with the Massachusetts state attorney general, like-minded districts, and organizations such as the American Federation of Teachers (which is suing the administration) to resist this mandate. X should not be complicit in furthering the false narrative that DEI initiatives harm students of any race or ethnicity. I also hope that you will communicate openly with the X community about the impact of the DOE's actions and how X is responding. Thank you for your leadership in these challenging times
Poster with black text on white background that reads Hands off our neighbors. The poster includes a photo of a smiling woman in a headscarf, labeled Rumeysa Ozturk. Another photo of a dark haired man with moustache is labeled Mahmoud Khalil.
Android phone screen capture showing Emergency, Lockdown, Power off, and Restart buttons. The Lockdown button is highlighted.
Worcester rally on National strike day. Friday, March 14. Rally at Worcester City Hall from 12 to 3.
Yellow orchid flowers
LIAR!
The corner of a rug is pulled away from the underlying pad, revealing that each has a strip of hook and loop tape
Yellow orchids
A star and rainbow on black background with the text The More You Know.
A photo of a list of French expressions for talking about the city and what one does there.
Violet orchid blossoms
Photo of a smiling white man with short white hair and wearing a blue and white sports jersey, accompanied by captions: congratulations Jeff Allen. Beast games winner! February 13, 2025.
CCDS Day 2025 Our Hopes for a Treatment. Our hope is that a treatment for Xavier would allow him to bathe and use the toilet independently, so he could do more activities that typical teens can do.
(d) “Patriotic education” means a presentation of the history of America grounded in: (i) an accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of America’s founding and foundational principles; (ii) a clear examination of how the United States has admirably grown closer to its noble principles throughout its history; (iii) the concept that commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified; and
Press Release U.S. Department of Education Takes Action to Eliminate DEI January 23, 2025 | Office of Communications and Outreach (OCO) The U.S. Department of Education has taken action to eliminate harmful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including references to them in public-facing communication channels and its associated workforce.
ACTFL Statement of Support to World Language Educators January 28, 2025 In light of the recent wave of Executive Orders issued by the new Trump administration, it is more important than ever to reaffirm the critical role that world language educators serve in our multilingual communities, here and abroad. “ACTFL is monitoring current events, and we are committed to fulfilling our mission: providing vision, leadership, and support for quality teaching and learning of languages. We are working on plans now to support our community with guidance and resources,” said ACTFL President Milton Alan Turner. ACTFL Executive Director Lawrence M. Paska, PhD, CAE, agrees, “ACTFL is proud of its educator community and will continue advocacy and outreach to re-enforce the positive impact that language learning has as a foundation for education, workforce readiness, and active engagement in the world around us.” Language learning strengthens skills that are invaluable in any society: critical thinking, problem-solving, cross-cultural connections, and adaptability—among many others. These are the very qualities needed to address the global challenges of today and tomorrow. As the world becomes more interdependent, the demand for multilingual and culturally competent individuals will only grow. Your efforts as educators are essential in supporting the clear impact that language learning has in the achievement of all learners.