When we create small ten-minute pockets during class for the kids to read whatever they want, called Free Voluntary Reading as per Krashen, we are putting far too much emphasis on that kind of reading. Why? Because the research wasn’t done in classrooms, where there are so many distractions, and where the kids are encountering
I got this question: Ben – I understood that you don’t think it is a good idea to give extended readings to students at the very beginning (novice low, 1). Can you explain further the reasons why? I responded: The reason, and this is only my viewpoint, is that kids read at different speeds and
APCI stands for Activity Pack Comprehensible Input instruction. It’s the application of CI to worksheets to learn lists of words. That’s what’s happened to the CI movement. We need a revolution. TPRS has failed, gone off the rails, gone splat. WE NEED TO STAND UP FOR THE RESEARCH. WE NEED TO REPRESENT THE RESEARCH IN
In my opinion, those who think that they are going make it through the entire online thing using APCI, won’t.
This is from Kate: Hey Ben – Here is something I kept. I have no idea where it came from. It is typed yes, really on a typewriter from back in the day. I have no idea who wrote it. But it fits today as I am sure it did then. Father Spirit, Master of
People who embrace the Star – a fine example of NTCI – can’t believe how much it makes their jobs easier. They say, once they have studied and implemented it, “This aligns perfectly with the Communication Standard and the research, and the kids are so engaged!” Some people reject the Star with questions like “It
As we crawl under the barbed wire of Covid, keeping ourselves going, knowing we’ll make it, even – in an odd way – thanking Trump for how his darkness has galvanized us in growing sisterly and brotherly love, I have been reflecting on how much good is coming out of the crisis. One of the
Hello, I am your grade book and I wanted to congratulate you on another year in service to me. Oh, I know, I know. You thought you were working on behalf of the kids. Hah, hah! That’s funny! We all know that you can’t serve two masters. Serve me! Let’s take for example that pesky Javiar Lugo! He
This is just a follow up to our little spat – or to be more accurate the one Sean and I had with those three guys a few weeks ago. After some deep reflection, I banned all three from the PLC. As I look back, I know I made the right decision, a decision against
John Lewis has said that when you see something wrong, you not only need to say something about it, but you also need to DO something about it. Over my own lifetime in language education, I have seen and said a lot about the abject state of language instruction in the United States over the
The idea that CI will save the day and reform foreign language education in the U.S. got a bit of a makeover from Robert Harrell in an article he wrote here in 2016. As Robert implies below, he is not dissing the effectiveness of CI but rather he is questioning its ability to function in
The short paragraph below sums it ALL up. But what if we had a way to break through the dynamic she describes? I do, actually. Here’s what really happens, as per Kate: It is the blank and overwhelmed look on students’ faces that teachers trust. They know their students are not comprehending them and so
