Ben Slavic

Anyone in that area might be interested: https://ciliftoff.wildapricot.org/event-2743556

Here is a photo – published before in these pages – of one of the happiest moments of my life. I was just hanging out in the French language with my Latino students on the west side of Denver in 2014. Krashen was in the room at the time. I was soiling my pants, but

This is from Sarah Downey: So,… I went to work today even though I have been sick since the 23rd and feel and look awful because today I get to teach all day. As my day unfolded, half way through my vice principal comes in to do an observation. Just my luck feeling really bad

Jen wrote this and it cuts to the chase big time: I am trying to spend the least amount of time possible thinking about, entering and scheming the grades. It is such an energy suck. But inevitably I get sidetracked by CI teachers who have these elaborate systems and who address every point in ACTFL

Jen sent this: https://www.npr.org/2017/11/13/563734736/priest-responds-to-gang-members-lethal-absence-of-hope-with-jobs-and-love

I’m not even sure who wrote this but here is a link to a little reader: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Starla-la-Destructora-3497772 Also Greg wrote one: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/El-chico-salvaje-A-short-story-FVR-SSR-e-book-for-CI-Spanish-teachers-3510365

I love this comment from Greg. It has a very in-your-face quality to it: In the USA most people have taken 2-4 years of a language in their lifetime, yet they show little proficiency and interest in other languages. Unfortunately, with the exception of teachers on this blog and those that actively go to conferences

We can avoid conflict by even saying to anyone, including our students, that we use CI. Steven suggested today that we call common assessments “surveys”. I think that is a brilliant idea. It softens everything. A few weeks ago Amy suggested that we call our auditory CI (stories, etc.) “listening activities”. This is equally brilliant.

Carly recently commented here on the subject of grading kids – find the text below. I find her statements to be powerful and true, except for one, the part about grading “behavior”. I would replace that sentence (in the third paragraph) with a recommendation that we learn to grade in our students what I call

Greg asked here on Sunday night: …one question that I have is, has anyone asked Beniko Mason what she thinks about TPRS? Has she seen what is being done with the Invisibles?… Greg she told me and Tina in the fall of that “the TPRS ship needs to be righted”, and gave me to understand

Good news from Greg: Hi Ben,  I finally published my first FVR/SSR book: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/El-chico-salvaje-A-short-story-FVR-SSR-e-book-for-CI-Spanish-teachers-3510365 This is the direction I think I am going to go in…..cheap FVR books in which teachers can print as many as they want for their classroom.     I originally wrote this story while still tied to a textbook. I’ve always

Anne Matava’s new book is out (by Teacher’s Discovery) a collection of 97 of her best story scripts from the past ten years. If you already have the old volumes (1, 2 and 3), you don’t need this new version. The hardback version is only available from Teacher’s Discovery. The electronic version is available from both