I object to the way they do reading in TPRS. They do the same things described in the previous post on auditory input here of getting the kids focused consciously on individual words chosen from high frequency lists. How? It is by a subtle repetition of targets in awkwardly written texts which only attract the attention of […]
If the research shows us that acquisition occurs when the students are focused on meaning, and not on individual words, which raises Monitor activity and hence blocks the natural unconscious flow of input that alone results in authentic acquisition, then we must strive in our instruction to make the meaning of what we are saying
This post is from 2009: There is a Carla Bruni song – Quelqu’un M’a Dit: There is this expression in the song: à portée de main/within reach It kept popping up in my mind after listening to the song. I put some shopping bags in my car and there it was. I walked around the side of my
One of our PLC members is being asked to teach a Dual Credit class. Here is her question: There seems to be a big push for Dual Credit over AP these days. In your opinion, can students acquire this content using CI/TPRS in 16 weeks with 9-12 graders (mixed classes)? This is taken from the
It’s hard to express. A little kid growing up feels stupid in school because he can’t memorize all that stuff like the really fast processors, becomes an adult, tries teaching, tries to accomplish through his brightest students what he couldn’t in school , burns out after 24 miserable years trying to do it in the
In my own opinion, TPRS has been in a tailspin for a long time, with the targeting and the circling and all the too-early reading options all being presented as gospel. It was getting very “traditional” and always the new people were told that they had to attend a conference in order to learn how to
I have long dreamed of a documentary on how comprehensible input instruction informs and supports the practices of teachers. This summer in Portland – only a few weeks away – I have arranged to do impromptu interviews with attendees of the Cascadia CI conference throughout the week. But I need some questions to ask. Does
Tina just left the Comprehensible Iowa conference. She said that the people there were wonderful and kind and easygoing, vs. this stereotype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV7ZcVFSWWU One such Iowan, a member of our PLC for ten years and one whom we admire for his straightforwardness and honesty about teaching, Jim Tripp, is saying good things about NT. It
More thoughts during this nice time of recent reflection in the soft month of June: Honestly, I always have tried to understand why I have been so angry at traditional teachers. After all, I was one of them myself for 24 years and I got away with not aligning with the research and the standards because
So as we move forward into the 2017-2018 academic year let’s focus primarily on what we can do to keep our mental health strong. To me this means figuring out ways to do far less planning than we have in the past. We will also study and go narrower and deeper on the great new idea of making
In the vein of defending the right of textbook teachers to not align with the research and standards since they are doing the very best they can, and in the spirit of free and open dialogue, I must apologize to Neal and Robert. When they correctly called me out on the Pooh cartoon, I responded
