Robert shared a unique image to help our kids think more critically about what is happening as they learn in our classes. He uses it with upper level students, and I suspect that he is right to do that, but here it is for those interested:
…one thing I do with my upper level students, since I know that many of them will not be returning to my class (seniors graduating, juniors setting priorities and making up classes). I created a handout about driving their “auto” to proficiency. We go through the process of “Autodidaxy” (self learning), and I emphasize the importance of the four wheels: -”autoacousia” (listening for yourself) -”autolexia” (reading for yourself) -”autographia” (writing for yourself) -”autologia” (speaking for yourself) The first two are the “drive wheels” because they drive acquisition, but the other two are also important because they can help guide where you go. I go over different ways to accomplish all four items without ever setting foot in another language classroom. I also encourage students to advocate for themselves when they do go to another classroom and talk once again about the theory and research behind what I do in the classroom. It’s my last little gift and push toward equipping them to be lifelong language learners….
I might add that the message here is often missed. Students might go all the way to a degree in law or medicine or anything else having been the recipients of information that they later spouted back to the instructor, thus building that 4.0 average and a ticket to the next level. But, it is possible that many of them not once embraced the responsibility for making what they have learned part of themselves, for making it real. This is a tragedy. Why do I know this? Because I graduated from Culver Military Academy (IN), Washington University in St. Louis*, and the University of Rochester** without every having once owned any of what I supposedly learned. I am not proud of that, but it is nonetheless true. I had no teachers like Robert to push me into real ownership of what I worked on. I dare say this is true for more than just one member of this community. This explains some of my passion for this work, by the way. I’m trying to balance out those early years by creating a real relationship with learning, by doing something real. Imagine how much I suffered before I found out that teaching a language doesn’t have to be bullshit suffering. CI enables me to enjoy my work. Thank you, CI. And thank you, again, Robert, for the depth and breadth of the knowledge that you so generously share with us and your ability to articulate it so well. All of us in this community have become better teachers because of the offerings of the Chevalier de l’Ouest in recent years. You are educating a lot of people, my brother, and the people are real teachers, not fake deliverers-of-instructional-services (Sizer). How about that?! Now, forget about school, get ready to again enjoy Germany and wherever else you are going this summer. You’ve earned a fantastic summer off – enjoy it!
- *with the exception of Dr. Isador Silver’s class on Montaigne
- ** with the exception of certain French poets and Le Petit Prince, but it could be argued that it was I, not the professor, who lit those fires that have kept me warm during the long winter that has been my career.
