I got this link from John Piazza. It describes the hubris that we find at the college level. It talks about “elite professionals” whose intelligence so vastly outshines the rest of us (4%ers) that we need to listen to them and try to do what they do if we are to save our schools. As […]
I got this from Michele: Hi Ben, A visitor to my site shared this paper by Val Thornber, and I think you might find it most interesting: http://www.all-languages.org.uk/uploads/files/PP%20Presentations/LW2012/val%20thornber.pdf Michele
Anyone looking for a rommate in a suite up in Breckenridge just comment below. A few folks are looking. Just use the comment fields below to communicate. There may be a similar link for finding roommates on the iflt site: http://ifltconference.org/.
In March we agreed to have our weekends free of new posts. People expressed a need for a break and to be able to go back through the archives here. But in April I forgot and kept posting non-stop through the weekend. However, especially here in the summer, we need to respect our decision, which is
Try typing on a keyboard with complete awareness of how you are spelling each word. Think about each letter as it is typed. Isn’t that what traditional teachers do? They tell the kids to think about each word. Now compare that with how we type usually, when we have mastered the craft of typing. The
Robert has some excellent docs about the importance of German that he sent to Andrew. He said I could offer them to the group. Those interested send me an email address and I will forward them to you.
The following is from group member Andrew Graff. It’s something that, if we can get some serious responses with substance to them by Friday, would help him greatly in a pretty big meeting coming up for him. It would be a shame to not use the combined brain power of this group to give answers
Here is another question for the group: We have some gaps in our department and are in need of a French teacher for level 3 and up. Currenly I am teaching level 1 and 2 French plus level 2 and 4 Spanish. “Un secret…” (full disclosure, just being honest)…I am not as fluent in French
I got this from a group member. Group responses are welcome: I have a question about SAT test in languages. Our school does not have AP classes, so the only kind of standardized tests kids take in languages are the SAT Spanish or French. Since I have no interest in tests I really have no
People in or around Charleston, SC are asked to contact Hayne Painter, who is in Summerville, if you want to compare notes and possibly work together. Here is Hayne’s email address: hpainter@me.com
I read that most human perception is visual (like 93%). I also kind of have a feeling that sound – that is, the melodic quality of sound – is more important, more perceived, than the words that the sound carries. I may be wrong on that, however. For example, when I think of a song, the first thing that
If your truth is connected to making them conjugate verbs and memorize lists, they sense that somewhere in what you are presenting to them, on some level somewhere, they are being shamed. Yes, doing those activities in your classroom is shaming. Why? Because it destroys what real language is. It scatters what real language is.
