I’ve done five podcasts so far. I think they are pretty good. They mainly discuss the importance of community-building and the equity piece in CI classrooms. In later podcasts I will address other general topics related to CI, as opposed to the specifics of how to make CI work in our classrooms, which are already […]
It was reported yesterday that the University of Memphis is now offering faculty $3K for ‘infusing’ equity, social justice into their curriculums. Other schools mentioned in the Yahoo! News article are the University of Nebraska and the University of Arkansas. Hmmm. That’s not a bad deal! $3K for teaching in accordance with the research as
Let’s not have another 2021. I mean not just in society in general, but also in our classrooms. How? Let’s stop making language gains our primary focus. Let’s make the kids our primary focus. When we focus on language gains, we invariably end up favoring the few. This divides classes. Instead, we should focus on
Here is an updated version of the syllabus for the first class for those attending the new April 2nd training on the Ultimate CI Book 1. Note that the six-week training is $189.95, but is free to patrons: Class 1 – Saturday – 04.02.22 (12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time) Read the section in the
I really do believe that people who are language teachers have been handed – or rather had dumped on them – a unique set of challenges. Before, a few years ago, change was not obligatory, but now it is. Not to say that others in other professions aren’t in the same situation. It’s all gnarly
The focus here has always been on good teaching. However, the protection of our mental health and our own personal happiness (so related to our jobs!) are of the greatest importance. Sometimes I teach old-style grammar. Some get it and some don’t. I don’t care. I am not always in the mood to do a
Is the fear that many teachers have, when they consider the possibility of changing to the new CI paradigm, accurate? Is it really fear of change that makes them drag their feet into the new CI paradigm? What is keeping new teachers from embracing CI with more immediacy and vigor? Why has the movement stalled?
I defend the right of teachers to teach as they think best, except when it is at the expense of children. The confidence of children, their well-being, their mental health and their self-image as capable life-long language learners, all of these things depend on whether the teacher uses CI or not. The fact is that
I listened to a podcast about CI. The speaker was saying that there are many CI “fanatics” out there talking about how comprehensible input is the only way to teach a language. He explained that there are many other ways to teach a language that work perfectly well, and that CI is only one of
Noam Chomsky has said: “…[Language] is acquired by virtually everyone, effortlessly, rapidly, in a uniform manner, merely by living in a community under minimal conditions of interaction, exposure, and care.” The message here is ever so simple! People acquire languages by being in community with people who speak the language. Put simply, they hang out
Merely Focusing on the CI Skills and Activities is Not Enough Read More »
Sean Lawler once wrote here: “We all have our moments during class where we speak in English at length about whatever comes up . We do so because sometimes topics that come up are just too interesting to not talk about in English.” I really like this. I see the extended us of English as
I don’t know if the terms “teacher abuse” is a term, but it’s a thing. It usually is due to a narcissist type of administrator, or some whack job of a department chair or colleague. I used to stay in those schools even though I knew that “something was wrong”. In one case, I stayed
