It’s not complicated. All we need to do is include them. When we make our students feel like they belong in the group, they respond. Wouldn’t you?
So that is why we build community first each year. The students don’t notice it because we are using the target language to do so, but really when they all feel included, then the classroom management piece falls into place naturally, and the year is guaranteed.
All the talk about the research and intellectualizing this work is winding down now; those years are coming to a close. We have the research – why not stop talking about it so much and just put it into action? The era of research in our profession is pretty much over.
BVP is the last researcher we need to listen to but, having listened to him and done our due diligence on Krashen and Mason, etc. why not give it all up and roll up our sleeves and get to work applying it? It’s a new day, and it’s all about inclusion and social-emotional safety.
That’s why we have the town meetings. That’s why we do Card Talk and that’s why we teach in this new way now. It’s not about the Invisibles, like Donavan below. It’s about what Donavan does to knit lonely hearts together.
Don’t target the language. Include the kids as the precious and valued members of the group that they really are. When the kids are included, the language becomes ever so much easier for them to learn.
Related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLlWIfKO0sU