Robert got the restricted rule on a comment to “Don’t Tread on Us”. In that article, Kate received, I suppose, a well meaning email after an observation in which the administrator told her:
…the objective is for students to vocalize that vocabulary….
I’m sorry, I know it’s the Christmas Season and all, but that guy is dumb ass. That’s not the objective.
Anyway, here are Robert’s more civil thoughts on that article. I also really like what Annemarie said about it as well. Here is Robert:
When I read stories like this, it makes me extremely glad that I work with administrators who actually “get it”. The difference between this encounter and my observation is striking.
I’m not sure how useful and beneficial this will be, but here are some reactions.
My first reaction is that it may be impossible to educate this administrator. The hubris of thinking that she can make the kind of evaluation contained in her e-mail after only five minutes is astonishing. While a great deal can be determined in five minutes, not everything can be, and the amount of student output is one of them.
My second reaction is that this supervisor does not understand the difference between a goal and an objective. The goal of foreign language instruction is to help students communicate in another language. But as we all know, goals must be broken down into identifiable and achievable objectives. My goal might be to run a marathon, but I won’t achieve that goal if I simply put on my running shoes and take off without previous training. In fact, doing that will set me back because it will create needless problems that will prevent me from doing what I ought to be doing. My daily training objective will be to increase my distance gradually. In the same way, my daily teaching objective is to get students to increase their communicative ability gradually. We begin with understanding and communicating that understanding (or lack thereof) in an effective manner. Then we work on responses that gradually increase in length and complexity – much like gradually increasing the distance that I run each day. This administrator is asking Kate to force students to run a marathon before they are ready.
Now my devious nature kicks in. Take your administrator at her word: Encourage, but do not require, students to give you longer answers. Now the question is simply one of methodology. How do we encourage students to answer in longer utterances? By modeling them and then giving them opportunity to respond. So, when you are circling, always repeat the full sentence:
-Teacher: Class, does Joe have one or two sisters?
-Class: Two
-Yes, Joe has two sisters. Who else has two sisters?
-[Class members raise hands or otherwise indicate they have two sisters]
-Oh, I see that Carol has two sisters; Ben has two sisters; Alice has two sisters. Does Eric have two sisters?
-No.
-No, Eric does not have two sisters. Eric has one brother. Class, who has a brother?
-Eric (has a brother)
-Right. Eric has a brother. He does not have two sisters; he has one brother.
See how much I have encouraged my students to answer with complete sentences by showing them how it’s done?
Now my evil nature kicks in. This probably lies outside the realm of possibility, but a great encounter with this supervisor would go something like this: First, get the supervisor to agree that educators (use the broad term “educator”, not just “teacher”) ought to model the behavior they expect from students. Then,
– (Teacher) When is the next faculty meeting?
– (Administrator) Wednesday.
– The next faculty meeting is on Wednesday. Is that correct?
– Yes
– I’m sorry. Could you use complete sentences?
– What?
– Could you use complete sentences? Tell me in a complete sentence when the next faculty meeting is.
– What are you talking about?
– You just said that we as educators need to model the behavior we expect from our students, so I’m asking you to do that. Use only complete sentences.
– But no one talks that way.
– My point exactly. My students need to use the language the way people really use language, not according to some false construct.
/End of evil fantasy
Seriously, this administrator needs to reflect on how languages are acquired and that we work from the simple to the complex. This does not and cannot happen in a short span of time when it comes to language acquisition. Furthermore, by encouraging but not requiring complete sentences, Kate is differentiating her instruction. Students who are ready for longer utterances will produce them; those who are not ready will not. This is true differentiation.