I got this from a colleague. I love the honesty. I am asking for the group to respond, especially Bryce and those experienced TPRSers who have taught at the upper levels, unlike me. My hunch is that this colleague, who really needs our help right now, can in fact make TPRS work at the upper levels and that it is just a matter of time and confidence, as she says. We touched on this a few weeks ago, but we need to get some concrete stuff for her as soon as we can, and I don’t have the expertise.
Hi Ben,
First of all I want to thank you for your blog and the time that you invest in educating us about second language acquisition. This will be my third year teaching French and my third year using (or at least trying to use) TPRS almost exclusively. I am lucky because I have the program all to myself – levels I – IV. However, I don’t know what to do with my III’s and IV’s this year.
\I know that TPRS can be used at the upper levels, but I lack confidence and I still feel like I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. (This is the first year that I have levels III and IV.) I don’t want to but I fear that I am going to have to revert back to the book for the uppers…do you have any words of wisdom? I unfortunately wasn’t able to make it to St. Louis at the last minute this year – I was hoping to get revitalized. School starts today, and I feel like vomiting due to anxiety.
Also I have to map my curriculum this year and come up with nine-week assessments for each level if I want to continue using TPRS. I feel so discouraged and hate that I have to start the year this way. I need a life-line.