As we continue laying the theoretical groundwork for the first CI class we teach this year, and we’ll get to the nuts and bolts of that soon, we again make the point that organizing CI instruction in terms of choosing certain verbs to teach in a certain order, usually an order based on frequency of occurrence, might be a waste of time and unnecessarily limit and stunt the spontaneity of our instruction, which is where the fun, and therefore the real learning, reside. Apologies are made in advance for those whom I offend with that statement.
Our planning time may not be best used by planning what verbs to teach (just pick one!) but rather on how to pick the most powerful strategies to do in class in what order for maximum effectiveness. That right there takes a good bit of planning time, especially when one is new to the skills and strategies involved in TPRS. I think that when new people work on their CI instruction they move a lot faster into the method than when they plan what to teach. They teach the language!
If Dr. Krashen is right, and we all have to own what that phrase means for ourselves because if we don’t our careers might stall, when we craft and groom a curriculum based on frequency lists and “what to teach when”, we perhaps begin to resemble traditional teachers, who always seem to need to be teaching something from some sort of official overarching edict from someone who has no research to back their list up. My overarching list is a bunch of verbs. Verbs like me and I like verbs and my students like verbs. If we had a grammar parade, I would want to be in the verb marching band. I would play the piccolo.
Trying to predict the order of acquisition by planning our order of instruction seems to me to be an accepted part of the profession, but in language acquisition may limit the spontaneous depth and breadth of our instruction, which should be based more on whim and serendipity. I would rather be playing the piccolo in the verb marching band than in my classroom planning my class for that year with a nervous feeling in my stomach.
CI teachers who can’t seem to get to the “fun” level in their instruction may be too worried about what they teach when. It’s the old “get ‘er done” mentality that has ruined so many teachers’ lives. Maybe try not “gettin’ ‘er done”. Just grab an instrument and start marching. Relax. Just breathe. It will all happen if you just allow yourself to slow down and trust in what we have here. We have A LOT here. Let’s let it work for us, instead of having to be perfect all the time. That’s what I think.