David Maust has shared his work with us here in a recent post:
https://benslavic.com/blog/wp-admin/post.php?post=21810&action=edit
One specific thing that David brings to our discussion about how to get better at comprehension based instruction is his use of signing throughout the class, not just at the beginning of the class. You can see that here:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq8i4myDzPzPQnzv12TWGI7AauYNfjjDw
It’s more than important stuff. The signing piece in our work has been largely ignored, but the article and the video from David now become another subject of vital importance, like jGR, Three and Done, aligning with standards, jobs for kids, and all the other breakthrough topics of this past fall for those of us who seen those things in that light.
In my own experience, I don’t sign past the very first part of PQA, where it is traditionally done. David’s video shows how important it may be for all of us to look at signing all the way through the three steps, including the reading step!
My only concern for me is that I get so wrapped up in other ideas in class. But, looking at the video here by David, I don’t think I can afford to ignore the value of this vitally new (to me) information.
I am going to change the title of the first video to David Maust on Signing 1 and then this article will be called David Maust on Signing 2 and then the huge comments David makes as comments about the how and why of signing will become a third article – David Maust on Signing 3 just so that we can have this information together in one place, along with a new category called Signing/Gesturing David Maust.
Thank you David. One of the hardest things to convince people who want to be critical of what we do is that the kids are experiencing rigor in our classes – we know what is going on but many observors don’t. Because it looks to the untrained eye that our students are just sitting there (but in fact their brains are sweating profusely the entire class period), and so this idea that you have brought to us becomes a possible big addition to our own individual teaching techniques for more than one reason.