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A Comprensible Input Primer
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47 thoughts on “A Comprensible Input Primer”
Hi Ben and everyone,
Two things I wanted to share with the group:
1) a job opportunity within DPS for a French Teacher :
details can be found at:
https://jobs.dpsk12.org/DPSTSCandidate/AllJob/Details?req=TS13142589
2) I wanted to share a nice story .
Remember how I told you about this one boy in my French 1/2 class who has a case of selective mutism?
He has not spoken in school since Kindergarden. Talking about being observed by your principal without prior notice, it happened to me week 2 of school this year.
My principal walked into my class as the kids were drawing.
Whom did she go talk to, and asked why he wasn’t drawing and to no avail since he did not answer her naturally?? My kid with selective mutism. Let’s call him Peter for now (not his real name of course). I asked her if we could go and talk outside and I explained to her the situation.
She was laughing about it saying that of all the kids in the classroom she had to pick “the mute kid” (she said that verbatim). I got so upset but couldn’t say anything because I was so new and nervous, but now I think she was laughing about it because she must have felt guilty and uncomfortable as well.
Well guess what?
Peter talked to me yesterday!!! 2 short but most beautiful sentences I’ve heard in my lifetime. He said to me: ” Ms. Janczak, I wasn’t here yesterday. What do I need to do ?”
I had to contain myself . All I wanted to do was cry or laugh or just hold him in my arms . But I didn’t know how to react so I just held everything in and remained very normal and calm although inside I was exploding with all kinds of emotions.
I sent my principal, and the social worker an email telling them what had happened and the principal responded that it is amazing and wonderful.
I wanted to share that story with our group because I attribute this incredible story to CI . I think that I was able to reach him because of the way I teach, through CI.
CI allows us to open the windows of the souls we teach. CI is not a method, no it’s way more than that. It’s an olive branch, it’s being able to look at a human being in the eyes and say I care about you.
Awesome, Sabrina!
Wow!!!! CI plus an amazing and very loving teacher.
Sabrina, wow! It brings home to me the difference that a loving teacher can make. I got goose bumps when I read that!
Hugs,
Chill
On that French position in DPS that Sabrina mentioned, this is from the Italian teacher at the high school with the opening, which is called DCIS, the Denver Center for International Studies:
Hi, all,
I imagine all of you are tucked neatly into your positions at your current schools. However, if you know anyone who is not and is looking for a full-time French position, please check out the posting at the HR website at DCIS:
https://jobs.dpsk12.org/DPSTSCandidate/AllJob/Details?req=TS13142589
We have a great staff, fabulous kids, an exciting international curriculum and last year, our high school was cited as one of the best 300 schools in the nation by U.S. News and World report.
Thanks and let me (I am on the personnel subcommittee) or Stephen Parce, our principal, know if you have any ideas. Hope to see many of you tomorrow at CCFLT,
Sally
That is so awesome, Sabrina. It isn’t just the method; it’s you.
Sabrina,
This is amazing. So much credit goes to your warm and loving ways. Congratulations.
How wonderful!
<3
YAY!!! Sabrina, you rock!
That is inspiring and amazing!
How about this article from Dr. Krashen’s website? It includes a video of him doing a German demonstration:
http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html
I may have the “CI Primer” you are looking for. I have written a series of articles, of which the 1st and 3rd are especially relevant. The 1st argues for CI and against grammar. The 3rd talks about classroom research supporting CI and about the transition to this approach.
Introduction: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17B-Sl-v_2ugSxwdZXAIwg1hIJZZXVKMRmygP–UD-xY/edit?usp=sharing
1. What it Takes to Acquire a Second Language: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u0wyUflwLhVheUf6fKvI4IBp-qF4KLq-YSg0NOPcKgM/edit?usp=sharing
2. Time and Age Guidelines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OWPiFO2MGrf_gsvdt-fm-4wK0hrt67QcAXU94UOtSUg/edit?usp=sharing
3. Putting it into Practice: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SOiOEzjXfVCvZkdxFDjaBIHSOYrmRRxJw7mfPOBPhj8/edit?usp=sharing
4. Solutions for Acquiring English in Honduras: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cp0o1ODMmZVrxyiNyMtHwn16KFOwSCf-zNNeEB66Up4/edit?usp=sharing
This article was published in the newspaper “Honduras Weekly.” http://hondurasweekly.com/culture/item/17053-teaching-english-in-honduras
5. Current Foreign Language Classrooms Ignore Theory and Research: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-0TXZvCNKMZEhzSXZwMRUfvwlhMS9Z7Df4smAZMh2Pg/edit?usp=sharing
This article was published in the newspaper “Honduras Weekly.” http://hondurasweekly.com/culture/item/17086-treating-english-fever-in-honduras
Just FYI: I sent Ben a FAQ sheet for TCI. He should post it when he has a chance. This is not a final document. I just put a few things down to start the process. It needs for others to look at it and make suggestions, corrections, additions, deletions, etc.
Okay, here it is below:
*********
TCI FAQs
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about TCI
1. What do TCI, TPRS, TPR, etc. stand for?
TCI stands for Teaching with Comprehensible Input and means just that: the teacher uses messages in the target language that learners find compelling and understandable to help them acquire the language unconsciously. TPRS® stands for Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling. It is one excellent way of providing Comprehensible Input. TPR® is Total Physical Response and is another way of providing Comprehensible Input. Don’t confuse TPR and TPRS. The rest of the alphabet soup is best learned in context.
2. Isn’t TCI just another name for TPRS?
No. While TPRS is a prime example of TCI, Teaching with Comprehensible Input is more than that and includes anything the teacher uses, such as songs, pictures and films, to make certain the messages in the target language are both compelling and understandable to students. (The “Comprehensible” part of the name means comprehensible to the students, not just to the teacher.)
3. Speaking of “compelling”, isn’t this all about flying blue elephants?
While many classes enjoy the creative freedom that TCI offers and do come up with bizarre stories, “compelling” simply means that students get so involved in the content of the message that they forget they are speaking a foreign language. This may result in flying blue elephants, but it can equally easily result in a discussion of bullying in school, the upcoming football game, the school dance, or students’ families; in other words, “compelling” means it’s something the students truly want to talk about.
4. So what is Teaching with Comprehensible Input?
To help answer that, let’s see what it is not: it is not a grammar-driven curriculum; it is not a textbook-driven curriculum; it is not long lists of vocabulary words; it is not the teacher talking at students; it is not learning about a language; it is not immersion.
Teaching with Comprehensible Input is speaking with students in a way that every student understands what the teacher is saying all the time; it incorporates relevance by exploring topics to which students have a connection and that are connected to real life; it is student driven and student centered because students give input and direction to the flow of conversation; it is going “deep and narrow” with the language rather than “shallow and broad”; it is relational; it is aimed at acquisition of the language rather than learning about the language; it is contextualized.
5. But what about rigor? I hear many students and teachers say that TCI or TPRS is “easy”.
Teaching with Comprehensible Input, including TPRS, definitely seems easy to students and is certainly different from most of their classes. But we need to distinguish between rigorous and onerous or burdensome. Doing more work does not mean more rigor, it just means more work. Are 40 math problems that practice the same concept twice as rigorous as 20, or just more work?
According to the US Department of State, rigor includes a sustained focus, depth and integrity of inquiry, suspension of premature conclusions, and continual testing of hypotheses. Students in a TCI classroom are exposed to this kind of rigor. The Interpersonal Mode of Communication requires them to sustain focus for the full class period with no zoning out, side conversations, etc. The student-driven nature of the course means that they can explore deeply and fully in the target language the topics that truly interest them. As students are exposed to the language in a contextualized, meaningful fashion, they suspend conclusions about how the language functions rather than having those conclusions forced upon them at the outset as a set of “grammar rules”. The unconscious brain continuously tests the students’ hypotheses about what sounds correct in the language.
So why does all this seem easy? Imagine you have a travel trailer that you want to take on vacation. Since all you have is a small four-cylinder car, you hitch the trailer to it and take off. Your car will strain to pull it and probably break down as a result. Your neighbor comes along with his large V-8 pickup truck; you hitch the travel trailer to the pickup and take off. No strain; the pickup handles the load with ease. What’s the difference? Did you travel trailer suddenly become lighter? Is the work any easier? No. You simply got the right equipment for the job. That’s the difference between learning a language and acquiring a language. Learning accesses the conscious mind, which is not designed for languages. (It can handle only a light cognitive load.) TCI accesses the unconscious mind, which is powerfully designed to acquire languages (and can handle the heavy cognitive load). Learning or acquiring a language (whichever one you want to call it) is hard work, always has been, and always will be. It just seems easy when you use the right equipment.
6. Okay, but what was this about the “Interpersonal Mode of Communication”? What about the skills of reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, and culture?
The newest state World Language standards, the National Standards, ACTFL (American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages) and the College Board (AP courses and exams) all revolve around the Three Modes of Communication: Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational. Since the purpose of language is to communicate, this is rightly the emphasis. Presentational communication is when the “author” speaks or writes without the opportunity to interact with the audience and so must think in advance about how to present compellingly and understandably. Interpretive communication is when the recipient reads, hears, or sees a “text” without the author’s being present. The text must be understood without direct help from the author. Interpersonal communication is when two or more people exchange information and language with each other and have the opportunity to clarify, negotiate meaning, express lack of understanding, etc. This is really the core of both language acquisition and Teaching with Comprehensible Input. Interestingly enough, real-life communication incorporates all six of those skills in a holistic and organic way, rather than as a laboratory sample to be dissected.
7. That all sounds interesting, but can you back it up?
Good question. We should always be able to give a reason for what we do. Second Language Acquisition researchers disagree on many points, but the one thing that they all agree on is this: The single most important element in language acquisition is comprehensible input. As Wynne Wong from Ohio State University puts it: “A flood of input must precede a trickle of output.” TCI and TPRS are built around this one indisputable principle.
In addition, brain-based research indicates that the brain requires certain things; among these are meaning, repetition and novelty. We can see these at work in all sorts of ways. The need for meaning is why we see shapes in clouds, the face of a person on a tortilla, etc. Children exhibit the need for repetition when they watch the same film or read the same book over and over. The novelty aspect comes out when we remember that unusual event on our routine drive to work. How many times do you get there without remember how you did it? But see a plane land on the freeway, and you will remember it because it was novel. There is a lot more at work here, including chunking and automaticity, but that is for another discussion.
8. What does a TCI classroom look like, then?
As with any method, strategy or approach, TCI will look a little different for each teacher. Some common things to look for, though, include: the teacher speaks and encourages the students to speak the target language at least 90% of the time or more; the teacher and students engage in a conversation or dialogue in the target language; the teacher checks for comprehension regularly and often; the teacher encourages but does not force students to express themselves in the target language at all times; the teacher shelters vocabulary but not grammar; grammar is contextualized and embedded in the language; the teacher explores those topics and items that interest students as shown by their responses, reactions, and requests; the teacher incorporates rigor in the classroom by requiring sustained focus from students for the class period; the teacher and students develop a relationship with one another.
What you won’t see are lots of worksheets, lots of homework, and lots of mind-numbing drills.
A couple of other questions might be
– Classroom management
– Common Core State Standards
9. What about the Common Core State Standards?
Currently the CCSS have been developed only for English Language Arts and Math. At the same time, the concepts should be addressed across the curriculum. One of the emphases in the Common Core is depth of inquiry; as mentioned in the response about rigor, Teaching with Comprehensible Input allows for depth and integrity of inquiry in a way that the rote memorization of grammar rules does not. In fact, TCI aligns very well with the goals and aims of the Common Core State Standards, and even exceeds them.
10. Shouldn’t students be reading authentic non-fiction texts?
Of course they should, but these texts need to be appropriate for the stage of acquisition. This is not a question for just a TCI classroom but for every classroom. Just as English Language Learners need sheltered instruction in which the language is adapted to their stage of acquisition, foreign language learners also need sheltered, structured instruction in the new language, especially at the Novice levels (at least years one and two of a four-year high school sequence). Teachers who have had training in CLAD, BCLAD and SDAIE strategies will recognize many of the elements of a TCI classroom as the very same strategies they encountered in learning to modify instruction for English Language Learners. That’s because language acquisition follows the same course no matter what the language. Additionally, the scope and sequence of a Teaching with Comprehensible Input curriculum moves into the more challenging material as students acquire more language. Think of it this way: we don’t ask four-year-old children to read The Wall Street Journal in their native language; why would we place a similar burden on a second language learner?
Anyone want to tackle Classroom Management à la jGR?
Robert, this is an important document. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I love this quote from your first blog post:
‘But then, if we look at content and design, most language courses are not intended to teach proficiency in communication via the target language. If we look at content and design, most language courses are intended to teach linguistics so that “smart” students know a lot about the language without being able to use it for communication. ‘
I like this because it clearly differentiates the goals of both philosophies – it’s so clear. So my question is do we need to add Krashen, Gaab article, or jG?. If someone is looking for the answer to why TCI is not “dumbed down”, has Robert’s 10 point FAQ document ticked all the boxes. I think it’s pretty darn good. Very succinct.
I think we actually need a series of documents rather than trying to cram everything into a single one. The first one should be an introduction and therefore short, not too heavily theoretical, and easily readable (both in language and format). The FAQ format seems to me highly amenable to this purpose.
For people who want to know more about something, the other documents come into play. More on the theoretical basis of TCI? Then Krashen’s article and perhaps some other theoretical writings. More on what to include in a TCI classroom? Then Carol Gaab’s article. Ideas for Scope and Sequence? Then Trisha Schutzius’s Summary of my Scope and Sequence. Classroom Manaement, then something about jGR and its variants. For educating administrators, one of the Checklists for Observing a Comprehension-based Classroom. For people looking to see what distinguishes TCI, the comparison of teaching with TPRS and teaching with a pacing guide: https://benslavic.com/thoughts-on-pacing-guides.html (and perhaps other documents).
Of course, the idea is to provide people with enough material to answer their immediate questions while letting them know that there’s more. Eventually they would ideally go to a conference or workshop and pick up some of the books that are out there: Ben’s books, Ann’s and Jim’s stories, Blaine’s book Fluency … From there, they would begin practicing TCI and connect with other practitioners, either locally or online.
There is one other issue that needs to be addressed: copyright and licensing. My suggestion is that we put a copyright notice on everything and put it out as a PDF. (Harder to swipe because most people don’t by Adobe Reader Pro but use the free reader.) We license it under a Creative Commons license (or GNU) with Attribution and Share-Alike limits. That means people are free to copy and distribute the documents as long as they give proper attribution (e.g. don’t claim this is their own work) and make it available under the same license. Anyone who tries to pass this off as their own work is then subject to potential litigation and embarrassment when called out on it. We would need to clear this with Krashen, Gross and Gaab for their works, but I am happy to make anything I have written here freely available under this licensing. Ben can post the PDFs on his website under Resources. That makes everything readily available, and we can download or print the documents we need for the moment.
Just some ideas.
Oh yes, the FAQ sheet should be formatted so that it fits on no more than 4 pages. That’s two double-sided sheets of paper, about the maximum that people are willing to take unless already interested in the content.
I like the idea that members could customize the choice of which documents to give to whomever. Carol Sutton has emailed a request to Lisa Reyes to see what documents were made available to those in the supervisor’s strand at NTPRS. I believe she worked with Katya Paukova on the document.
Agreed. FAQ like Robert’s for the first thing to hand to someone because it so well addresses common complaints and misunderstandings; follow-up with the other things depending on who is asking (ex, another language teacher) and what they need to hear. Ex: my school is private so we can somewhat ignore the Common Core demands.
I think there is use for a longer document created somehow by someone someday. Maybe a book or a booklet that gets used in colleges and universities for training teachers. It seems like Bob Patrick and Robert Harrell already are well underway with such a thing.
Robert I received what is below from chill earlier today. I guess with the site changes it didn’t post but it is a good companion to what you have written above. It is a plan. So Diane and mb and you and chill are mixing the batter. That is a good thing because trying to update the membership is all I can handle probably until next weekend. So this thread right here, the one from today with the specific comments above here and what chill wrote below, look to be in my mind a great batter and we should get some good cakes out of them. Honestly I don’t know how you do it but the ten point draft you created above is just bad to the bone. So here is what chill says and I think we made great progress today and thank you I feel like we’re going to have one or more fine docs by the end of this academic week. I’m feeling it. We are very close to some sort of final product in fact and as chill says it must be ultra simple. Here is chill’s comment:
Hi, I am posting comments and some come up in real time and others seem to disappear? Is it me or is it a glitch? I have no problem organizing a document which I am convinced should focus on the theory and the reasons that now is the time we should be using this method – the success it is having, etc.
I suggest Robert explains rigor beautifully, so I would not insert jGR here. Brevity and clarity is what we need. If I divert my gaze to the left or right, I am overwhelmed with gems from Laurie, Jody, James, Jim Tripp that I would be tempted to include, but…no one will read that much. BTW anyone is free to take the basics and swap out what ever they deem necessary, but in a pinch, keeping it basic and simple is where it’s at! IMHO.
1. Krashen’s Net Hypothesis – unless people think it’s too inside language teacher jargon.
2. A combo of Robert’s latest blog and the Defense LI statement on time needed to acquire a language.
3. Our goal – it’s in Robert’s latest blog with a lovely tip of the cap to the traditional teachers who have success with a few students.
4. Carol Gaab’s article “Multistory Construction”
http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=2014
Anyone could take these foundational documents about the ins and outs – the whys of the method and could add anything that anyone needs. I think brevity is key and highlighting our goals and explaining the why of CI is the foundation of jGR, the ACTFL statement, the grading discussion, the elitism and all the rest would overwhelm the casual reader. Mes deux centimes. I can scan stuff, the question is does Robert have the time to edit his post?
Best,
Carol
I guess Robert had time to edit his post! Well done.
Here is a quick primer on Krashen’s work:
http://www.languageimpact.com/articles/rw/krashenbk.htm
I’ve used this to back up my meathod with admin and parents.
My favorite (i.e., brief) Krashen article is: http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/why_support/all.html (opens a .pdf)
Just a note to let everyone know that I sent the final version of the FAQ sheet to Ben this evening. In accordance with my earlier suggestion, it is marked with a copyright notice and licensed under Creative Commons.
I suggest that everyone who submits something for the PLC to use do this. Then, when PLC members hand it out to others, the credit is still there. Far too many times I have read a document only to find that someone else’s work had been lifted verbatim without attribution. That is simply dishonest. Most of us are more than willing to let people use our materials freely; they just need to acknowledge their sources. In addition, under the ShareAlike license, any derivative works must be made available on the same basis. You can still use them for commercial purposes, but you can’t keep people from using them and modifying them.
(Hope I don’t come across as too anal retentive on this.)
I agree. We are in an age when we think that internet means free. If we don’t follow the guidelines about copyright we become part of an increasing problem.
Many of the members of this PLC will in the future be providing valuable information that they themselves have authored to future teachers who today have never heard about TCI/TPRS or who may still be in high school. They should be so credited for those things.
So let’s be clear that Robert’s FAQ sheet – which will be made into a hard link here tomorrow for the group’s use and trust me this document is going to get a lot of use – was written by Robert and is marked with a copyright notice and licensed under Creative Commons. Keep that information (lower right in the document) there. Don’t hand it in to some administrator acting as if you wrote it.
In one egregious situation I found a lengthy comment I made on the moretprs list years ago suddenly appear in a widely read book on TPRS but I won’t go into the details here. I was shocked to say the least.
Absolutely Robert, that had to be said.
So excited for this document!!!! Thank you thank you thank you !!!!
I concur with Jen. I am so pumped about this document. Kuddos to Robert! Thank you so much. I am already primed to submit this to my AP before he observes me this year.
I can say that I will submit this document with Robert’s name and I will do so with honor. In fact, I would rather have his name on this genius piece of work because I know that is the real deal.
thanks a million.
Jeff
My comments weren’t directed so much at members of the PLC (though, of course, they still apply); they were intended more to remind everyone about what can happen when we hand things out to others. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people in our profession who are willing to present other people’s work as their own; we should make it more difficult for them to do so.
Robert – I love your primer! thank you so much!!!
But, where do you get the info that you stated that the College Board expects students taking the AP to have had 8 years of L2 instruction {sic}?
I want to share this, but want to be sure I know where all the statements come from.
Thank you!
~~MB
Where is the defense language institute article?
And what is Robert’s new website?
Robert’s FAQ document is absolutely perfect. I’d like to have it to hand out after my presentation at the annual TESOL France conference next month. I just don’t see where the pdf version is. I looked under Primer and didn’t see it there. Can someone point me in the right direction?
It will be up in the next few days, Judy. Thanks for patience everyone. Yes, it will be a much used document.
Great documents, Robert. Thank you for compiling them!
Yeah, I’m reading through this thread and finding myself humbled by all the great work you experienced teachers have done.
I’m thinking of my principal last year who gave me THE hardest time with my attempts to teach in CI… and I think that more than anything, she needed to understand how someone acquires a foreign language. She would say things like, “There is a lack of active learning in the class. Students are simply passively listening,” or, “Your questioning and discussion techniques are superficial. Students need to be communicating more in lengthy sentences,” and “Look at the Chinese teacher, she has students writing 1 page reports in Chinese, and they’re just level 1,” (those Chinese students were copying phrases from the textbook).
My impression is that many administrators love seeing students present to the class, or present fancy project-based videos to the class. They want to hear the students more than the teacher. Helping them understand how that isn’t the case in the foreign language classroom as much seems important to me.
I’m SO glad I do not teach under that principal this year! My current principal loves what she sees in my classroom. Which makes me wonder if having her read Robert’s CI Primer, and getting her feedback, would be helpful? Let me know and I will certainly talk with her about giving it a “Principal’s Perspective”.
¡Ciao!
seanmichaellawler@gmail.com
Yes this one sounds receptive. I’d try it. I also love the term “Principal’s Perspective”. Better than Primer. Any votes to change the hard link title?
Aye.
OK I just found out that we don’t have room for
Principals Perspective
So I now vote for
Principals
Your reaction?
When you say you don’t have room for “Principal’s Perspective”, I imagine you mean in the title of this document. Ok. I don’t see how just “Principals” is going to work. Perhaps just making the document look like the official document of the Ben Slavic Foreign Language Teachers’ Professional Learning Community… like it was more official than an ACTFL document… would help it carry legitimacy for principals and parents alike.
He means in the header for the drop-down menu.
If the full Principal’s Perspective doesn’t fit, then I suggest leaving “Primer”.
Sean’s suggestion about some thing that looks more “official” is something to consider. On the one hand, it would tend to carry more weight with those who are impressed with such things. On the other hand, it is simply playing the same game as all the Very Important People.
Well we need one word. I guess it’s Primer. I just want a word that conveys the importance of the document for clearing the air with principals. Trevor says we only get one word, so I guess we’ll leave it as Primer unless someone can think of another word.
Consider using the word “administrator” rather than principal. In many districts there are people other than principals who are evaluating teachers.
with love,
Laurie
Wow, this place has blown up with all kinds of goodies since I last logged on…loving the new look! I’m pretty much settled in in France now and finally have internet after one month of being here, so I’m VERY MUCH looking forward to getting caught up with the discussion!
First, I’m very lucky that all of the teachers I’m working with here are giving me, as an assistant, free rein as far as what I teach when I have the students on my own (unfortunately, I only get to work with them AT MOST once per week for 55 minutes…). I’m having a blast trying out Circling With Balls with kids that I’ve never had before, whereas last year when I started TCI it was with kids I already knew for the most part. Today I started CWB with a group of middle schoolers and I experienced the bliss and genius of CWB (many thanks, Ben!). I felt completely free to focus on connecting with the kids, making them feel safe and important, and building a good and lighthearted group vibe.* Basically, I was able to simultaneously teach children and be happy, without the help of drugs or alcohol (again, thanks Ben for all your work in providing access to the tools that make this paradox a reality).
Today, we talked about one boy, Téo, for the whole class period. We found out that he loves boxing (which is true), and that he likes to box with François Hollande every Wednesday at 5:13am at the boxing championship of Issoire (the town we’re in). Why does Téo like boxing with François Hollande? Because François Hollande stinks like a banana. And why does François Hollande stink like a banana? Because he hangs out with monkeys, of course.
Secondly, what is the “forum”?
Lastly, do any francophone members happen to have a list of key TCI/TPRS/etc. terms in French, or an explanation of TCI in French? If so, do you mind sharing? It’d be very helpful for me in talking with French speakers about what we do.
*Admittedly, at first I was so afraid losing “control” of my new students today that I reverted to nervously “teaching them the language” under the guise of CWB for the first half of class, but then a voice reminded me to slow down and be present with them. After that, I had my first experience of pure CWB. I felt the fun level and engagement go up to almost 100% and there was lots of smiling and laughter. Gotta remember that if I want my students to show up, I have to show up too…
Oops…I just found the post that explains the forum and I’ve clearly posted the above in the wrong place since it’s not directly related to Ben’s CI Primer post. I’ve got it now!
Dude we miss you and this is a great report. I am so happy after Durham that you are with new kids and it’s all a fresh start. This is very good news indeed!
Thanks Ben -I wouldn’t trade my time in Durham for anything, but I’m very grateful for a fresh start!!! And especially the opportunity to test drive such a big age range (middle school to a two year post-high school program) in one school year. I’m having a blast, thanks to everything I learned and continue to learn in this PLC.
I’m sitting here the day before another school year, thinking that I too need a short and sweet primer to sum up all of this great information that is CI. Yes, I’ve been trying to do CI for 2 years now, but I need a new, fresh and simple perspective to keep focused on. In a sense, I feel like I am planning “too little” to start the year, but I keep telling myself that I shouldn’t be planning much if I am following CI.