Andrew’s blog entry made me think about next year again. The most effective CI that I do – and crucial to getting the year off on the right foot – is the Circling with Balls cards:
https://benslavic.com/documents/Workshop-Handouts-1009.doc
I said about a month ago here that I might just try to possibly go completely through the entire year with only the cards, to just spin and spin and, of course, spin it all into stories, but to base the whole year on the cards, just to keep all of the CI personalized all of the time.
But I was on a bike ride today and I was listening to this song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-4KTdxEmtk&feature=related
Now, let’s make no mistake about this. If I’m a girl and I’m sitting in class, and my teacher just spent about ten class periods backwards teaching via PQA each expression in that song – without mentioning that it is a song – and then one day I walk into class and I totally unexpectedly hear the song and am blown away by
– the stunning fact that I can understand it.
– the great, uplifting power of the music and words.
– the equal rights piece (“…keep your treasures, I’m worth more than that, bars, even of gold, are still bars, I want the same rights as you, with respect each day…”.)
then I am going to want to come to this class because it’s about me and because I understand everything and because the content reaches my heart.
So, hmmm, next year, what? Gotta have the Circling with Balls to start the personalization and establish the rules as described elsewhere on this site, but hey, what about that music that cuts right through to their teenage hearts (and mine)?
The answer is simple, of course – do ’em both. One day the cards, the next day the backwards establishment via PQA of the song structures. Done. I’ll add this to the “Beginning the Year” category.
However I start the year, one thing is certain – next year I am going to focus less on the method, and choose stuff that grabs the kids, and try to get to higher and higher and higher levels of personalization with them instead of focusing on stuff that may not be that interesting to them.
Related:
https://benslavic.com/blog/2010/09/27/asking-personalized-questions-about-a-song/