Chris Stolz sent this. It is an article from a recent publication of the North Vancouver School District on TPRS (Community Report 2015, p. 4). The article is by Emma Sloan:
When it comes to teaching a familiar subject, the old saying “a change is as good as a rest” becomes more true as time goes by. The world we live in today, with its fascination and ever-increasing dependence on technology, has created learning styles and teaching methods everywhere that you can connect a mobile device. The way we’re wired and the way we learn has changed dramatically in 20 years, and that calls for changes in teaching practice. But change is no easy feat to master. It works best when the benefits outweigh the challenges.
After more than 20 years teaching with very traditional methods, Argyle Secondary Spanish teacher Steve Bruno was inspired to transform his practice. The results? An energetic and dynamic new method that keeps students engaged, contributing and learning what they really need to know.
“Students are learning differently than they were 28 years ago,” says Bruno, thinking back to his early days as a teacher. Thanks to the advances in technology, the world has become a smaller place, and students no longer want to learn about a language as much as they do how to acquire it.
Bruno was the first teacher at Argyle to switch over to a method known as Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling — TPRS for short. Similar to the way a child learns their first language, the TPRS method aims to encourage students to speak, read and write a foreign language by using a holistic approach that allows students to express themselves without worrying about grammar rules or memorizing lists of irrelevant vocabulary.
After observing other teachers using the method in their classrooms and during workshops, Bruno was astounded by the difference in both student engagement and written output. “As a teacher I was feeling a little stale, in part because of how students were responding,” says Bruno.
“I stumbled upon the workshop — it was the first time I had ever heard of it — and after trying it out myself, I saw what the kids were able to say and write in Spanish, and I was sold.”
Just as its name suggests, TPRS utilizes storytelling and story-asking to teach the material. “It varies, but a given story can take two to three classes to finish,” Bruno explains.
The stories aim to keep the students engaged and allow a certain degree of personalization, since the stories skew out in different directions depending on the suggestions the students offer. Students individualize the stories through volunteering to act, as well as contributing ideas for the characters. “The fun thing is that I’ve had students suggest everything from Barack Obama to the band AFI (A Fire Inside) and that’s what makes it so engaging. The students retain the material because they can associate with these references.”
While storytelling is the bread and butter of TPRS, Bruno uses a myriad of Spanish media to “expand students’ language skills.” In addition to storytelling, students prepare skits, read and translate novels, and practice their written comprehension by retelling short stories in the form of comics and paragraphs. Homework consists of constant review of the vocabulary, and tests are cumulative, ensuring that students succeed. It’s time for a change.