Lance has sent over TWENTY videos for us to watch. As with Alisa’s video and any and all video we can get to talking about here (there are many on the hard link above) this is a learning opportunity. It could be the equivalent experience of terms of learning gains about CI to an entire summer conference, if not more. Lance puts himself out there. He doesn’t edit and shows both the good and the bad and the in-between. He will add shorter 2 min. vids as we go through into the spring.
This thread could prove to be the equivalent of a graduate course for the people on the blog who dive into these videos like I plan on doing. (And don’t forget you can get Portland State University graduate credits by reading this blog as per: https://benslavic.com/blog/ci-810-comprehensible-input-for-language-acquisition/)
Those who have articles jammed in the queue, I again apologize but I want us to focus on these videos for awhile. Maybe we can figure out a way to discuss one video a day. I guess we should all limit discussion to Video #01 first, and then go one by one. They are fairly short. The more comments we make the more we learn.
Lance explains:
Hey Ben –
I am in a good position to record a little bit of each class I teach, and would like to chronicle my entire experience this year. Why? I originally wanted to model some routines and MGMT strategies for people new to CI, but after that first day it looks like I might be capturing all the things that can go WRONG when teaching! Upon reflecting, these videos might illustrate real-world “troubleshooting” that seems to be an overlooked area of CI training, which means they’ll still be super helpful for beginners. I’ll keep making them each week.
I apologize for the subtitle speed on this first video. I teach 7th grade Exploratory (8 weeks of Spanish, then Latin, then French). For the record, I haven’t even BEGUN to come close to my Spanish proficiency limit due to the need for constant Crowd Control.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxlEdumlZ-b0dDRRVUg3VTJKR1k&usp=sharing
My situation is pretty grim in terms of MGMT, let alone preparing to teach French (of which I know very little) in May. The kids have been running the show all year, and I’m their 3rd teacher. I’ll take unsolicited advice anytime, but I am aware of the following things I’m in control of, and am asking for a few things specifically from the PLC below these two:
– I wasn’t been able to redirect kids quickly because I actually didn’t know all 140 names after the first week in December. That was on me.
– Circling with Balls might not work 1/3 way through the year. Has anyone stepped into a class and had success like that? At the start of the year it rocks, but once the kids are comfortable with each other and have created their own classroom dynamic, the strategy seems to flop. Those kids we target in September already have power, and the rest of the kids sense it.
Advice from PLC:
1) Because at least 5 kids each class won’t shut the Eff up, I am finding that I can’t speak slowly enough in between disruptions, which Effs with comprehension and flow. This also means that class isn’t really compelling because we’re not using much language. Yes, there was ZERO management and accountability from September to December, but I fear that the effort needed to reel in those 5 or so kids from each class in will lose the “buy-in” of others. Is there even a solution here? Get through this year and start fresh?
2) I pose the question: “Can students with behavior issues succeed in a CI class?” I feel the need to remove students (using Bryce’s Think Sheets) so I can teach everyone else who “agrees” to learn Spanish (i.e. I’ve renamed Bob Patrick’s Daily Engagement Assessments to Daily Engagement Agreements…students are agreeing to do the things that allow them AND OTHERS to learn a language). When I remove them, however, they miss out on the language experience. I suppose if the behavior is that severe, they don’t care about learning anything and it might be waaaaay out of my control. The problem is that they aren’t in a position to be compelled by what we’re talking about when I spend so much time dealing with discipline issues. One of my students, for example, has a track record of 5 suspensions this year…so far. One student’s district accommodation plan states that teachers should “ignore inappropriate behavior.” My reaction to that is whaaaaaaaat thaaaaaaa….!? Aside from that odd wrench in the admin/guidance department, clearly, that can’t happen in a CI environment at the expense of everyone else. You’ll see what I mean when you watch that video.
3) Is there anything people would like to see on these clips? Any other suggestions on how to make the chronicle serve its best purpose?
4) Anything else?
This is a tough gig, but I remain hopeful. As always, Ben, thanks for maintaining the PLC.