Those planning on coming to one of my regional trainings (so far Portland is confirmed for mid-August) are reminded that they get all my ebooks at no charge plus free lifetime membership to this blog if you attend one of the (three day) workshops. Tina is organizing them on the West Coast.
Plus you can get graduate credit for attending the workshop through Portland State University. All you have to do is read the blog and write a reflection paper for the credits, which is such an easy way to get graduate credits.
I prefer that those attending who are new to TPRS have read at least one of those books before the training. Why? Because unlike the big presenters my workshops are more about coaching and largely depend on a prepared group of attendees who have not only read one book but who have watched some of the videos available here. As soon as you sign up for the conference you will be given that free lifetime membership to these pages.
And it would be good if people come with a mindset that differs radically from the one that people typically bring to workshops:
Expect to work on your feet. You will see demos then you will work and be coached in an atmosphere of trust. It will be kind of like the feeling at summer camp, just playing and hanging out with your friends. There won’t be any of those circling circles. And everyone will learn to teach in different ways, but the clay from which we all we all work will the same. The clay is, of course, the CI model, which is so strong and supple that after the workshops you will find that:
1. You will return from the workshop and be whom you are in your classroom but with the TPRS skills that will make teaching fun again.
2. You will be able to promote equity in schools in the U.S. since you will quickly find that this kind of teaching involves the vast majority if not all the students in the classroom, even the ones previously labeled as “not cut out for a language” by many of our colleagues.
3. You literally won’t have to plan.
4. You will assess your students in a formative way that is easy and more accurate than what you used to do, freeing up lots of time.
4. You will discover a way to authentically connect with the magic of childhood ideas and play.
There is a BIG misconception that teaching using comprehensible input is “something to learn”. It’s not. It’s more about unlearning.