This is the first in a short series of blog posts about PQA: A rebar (short for reinforcing bar) is a steel bar used in reinforced concrete structures to hold the concrete together. In that way, three rebar rods in a piece of concrete would be like the three structures we use to hold stories together. Now, […]
My interests these days (since January) in my classroom are: 1. PQA details – how to get maximum use out of the three structures. 2. What is the best way to plan a week – completely new stuff I have been developing since January. Videotape will help illustrate that new weekly schedule, but I will
Robert and Bryce recently made comments here about the idea that comprehension based teaching is not just another way to teach, but a vastly superior way. I would like to add to what they said here: The Denver Public Schools has a team of 25 (of our 93) foreign language teachers called the TCI group
Bryce – the Dunning-Kruger premise was so wonderful to read about. But, for me after a bit of reflection today, it only takes things so far. Can we really dismiss the failure of CI/TPRS to take hold by now in foreign language classrooms simply to the fact that many of our colleagues don’t get Krashen? It is not our colleagues’
At the end of the conversation with [the IB principal mentioned here a few days ago], he insisted that I talk to [a certain teacher], who felt slandered by some of the content connected to one of her students [described in that same blog]. This teacher actually came out of class to speak with me on the
In order to avoid the kind of conflict recently described here, I have decided to turn this blog into a members only site. A private membership format will bring us a higher degree of honesty, professional safety, freedom of speech, and will protect us from those who, in my opinion, don’t fully grasp comprehensible input and who, as
I thought I would repost this from November of 2009: Jody and I were talking today about Krashen. Aren’t we all trying to figure out, by studying his work, how to reach our kids at a more authentic level? Krashen is prodding us all to look at the ways in which we provide Comprehensible Input
I knew, of course, that the barking noise I heard on the other end of the phone that day had no possible legal bite, but I shut the blog down since I was leaving the country anyway. I needed some time to think. On my trip, I reflected on the level of anger expressed in
In December, on the day before I was going to India for winter break, I received a telephone call from the irate (only word to describe it) principal of a Denver area high school. He told me, along with some unprintable things, to “cease and desist” from [messing with peoples’ minds] on this blog. He
Sharon needs our responses: As a part-time high school Spanish teacher with just two classes, I am facing a difficult spring semester with two new Spanish 1 classes. One class is huge with 32 students, and the other has just 9 students. I’m hoping the community can offer some advice to handle the following situation.
Report from the Field and Question – Sharon Reiter Read More »
Yesterday was the first advanced (levels 2-AP) Susan Gross workshop I’ve attended. It was crisp and very sharp. I highly recommend this workshop. Any teachers who may be trying to break through the dilemna of how to properly teach using comprehensible input at the upper levels would benefit from this workshop. Over the next six
I got this link from Beniko Mason. In it, Sy Ying Lee implies that reading is vastly underutilized by most if not all of us. We have Krashen’s research, but we don’t use it, even though we know that it is so powerful – that is what I draw from this most important message. I
