Most of us, me more than others, go into English a lot more than I would ever admit here. I go into English at the drop of a hat. Someone dropped a hat in my classroom just last week and I started speaking English. It’s just that way. And then we say that “some day” […]
Using too much English in the classroom is a situation that we all face. We need to get this one tied down for next year. It is hugely connected to classroom discipline and and gains in fluency yet we don’t really acknowledge that. We don’t realize what a snake English/L1 is in undermining the effects of
Krashen and TPRS. Both mean little in Babylon. If the story about Madame Curie is to teach us anything, it is to get us to finally initiate a dialogue based ideas that won’t create a firestorm of ignorance about what those two now almost meaningless terms – both associated with old white men* – actually mean.
Is comprehensible input a strong enough force to bring change to school cultures? I’m not asking if it is an effective force in general. Indeed, it is THE driving principle of language acquisition. Rather, I am asking if it can be effective in school language classrooms. Where am I going with this? As always, I’m
Chris, again, congratulations on attracting the attention of the big dog with your paper. A while back I had asked Krashen a simple question. I asked him how he would describe his own work. I wanted to hear what he would say is the simplest way to conceptualize his work. He wrote back: It’s not
Daniel sends his bio: My name is Daniel Durrett, and I am a Spanish and Bible teacher at a small to mid size Christian school in Paducah, Kentucky. My Spanish classes are all at the high school level, at least for this year. I teach levels one through three. A few years ago, I was
Here is another bio from Georgia from Cameron Paterson: Stratford Academy, Macon, GA; Mercer University, Macon, GA Latin & ancient Greek, levels I, II, III, IV, V, AP Latin students tend to be a highly motivated bunch, especially at the private school where I teach. So what brought me to comprehension based teaching is not
Here is Jayme’s bio: ¡Hola! My name is (Ms.) Jayme Trachsel. I teach Spanish to grades K-8 for South Lake, Michigan. South Lake is in St. Clair Shores just east of Detroit. I am a traveling teacher and work for two Catholic schools (doing technology at one) and at one public elementary. In the public
Here’s a question from Kevin Clemens: Hey Ben, I’ve been thinking a lot about the overall scope of my Latin program, and about what next year needs to look like for me. I’ve been left with the following question: Should I set aside the books? This is a question for everyone, but feedback from the
Here is the latest from Bob, very positive news: Hey Ben, quick note before I head to school. World Lang and Lit Ed chair contacted me yesterday–asking me to teach for them next year–adjunct course. Willing to let me create a hybrid where I am only there once a week, online, combo, whatever, and to
From Bob: Cool thing happened today. Our Language Arts Department took most of our sophomores to see a Shakespeare play today, so in my last period class we only had 15 instead of the usual 33. My student teacher was planning to teach the class anyway (why not, right). The 15 who were there went
Here is a letter Bob sent out to his Latin group and other groups, including our PLC: Dear friends, By now most of you have heard that I was honored this past week to be named the Teacher of the Year for the Southern region (SCOLT) which comes under the umbrella of ACTFL (The American
