I was sitting at the front of a workshop given by Blaine in Denver of 2004 . After the morning break, Blaine unveiled circling to us. For those who had been doing TPRS for awhile this was a revelation. We couldn’t believe this new riff in the method.
Now, if someone told me that I could have circling or jGR but not both, I would choose jGR. It doesn’t matter how good our technique is with comprehension based instruction – discipline precedes instruction.
If we are teaching secondary school kids who don’t see the value in what we offer, as oppposed to adults who want what we offer, then, as long as we have
- SLOW
- Staying in Bounds
- Checking for Understanding
for those kids, jGR is the clear choice.