(If you are new to vPQA and missed that discussion last winter, this post may seem obtuse, so if you want a powerful new strategy for next year you may have to read some of the posts in the vPQA category.) Carol Hill just presented on vPQA in New Jersey a few days ago and […]
When making a Haiku Deck to share on the PLC, please try to include points 3, 4, 7, and 9 below. Also don’t forget to include some Debate slides and questions (given to you by your Debate Captain). Those are our trademark goals for each HD slide show that we make. Think of those four
Some information on Haiku Deck: 1. A two minute video: 2. Getting started with Haiku Deck: I don’t want to put too much of a point on it, but the fact is that many of us can’t keep up with all the new ideas in using the textbook to teach foreign languages. Oops, that wasn’t
Don has a question about the current movement in our community towards deskless CI classrooms: Hi Ben, I am going to get rid of the desks in my classroom next year and I am going to use chairs instead. (I first heard about this from Sabrina last year at iFLT, and I know a number
Chris also shares on VanPatten: So I asked Bill VanPatten for a metaphor and this is what I got: Chris, I use the metaphor of a grocery checkout. The cash register computer is the mind/brain. The bar codes on the product is the input. And the red light scanner is the input processor. The scanner
Carol Hill, who just this morning presented on vPQA at her Tri-State gathering this morning, shares: Grammar Is Not a Skill, or, What Does It Really Mean to Know a Language? “I remember well that Jody once cautioned us to beware ACTFL since traditional teachers can and will interpret the position statements on the three
How many times over the years have we all heard this from someone in our building? It is nauseating. Nathaniel addresses this idea in a whimsical and funny way, offering us a little comic relief before most of us will have to hear it again in August: “There is more than one way to teach,
Eric has written what I consider to be a very important paragraph on the use of translation in CI classes: “When we talk about FL classrooms, there is less exposure to the L2. All the more reason to translate – we don’t have the luxury of time it takes for kids to arrive at the
The old way in foreign language instruction, the Orc way, the way of dominance by ugliness in foreign language instruction – and what they do with those textbooks and computer programs is pretty ugly with not even a shred of hope of being beautiful and uplifting to kids – is raising its head and is
[ed. note: if you have recently joined this group and are new to CI, you will find this post extreme. Just don’t read it. There are many other posts – thousands of them – that can help you become a better CI teacher, lots of videos, some great primers, etc. Sometimes we get a little
Everything John sends us if of the highest quality. This article is no exception: Ben, This article discusses underlying causes of addiction. Many studies have found that people do not turn to drugs when they have a community. For some students, our classroom may be the only community they have. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-addicti_b_6506936.html
