One of the biggest things that we miss in class, perhaps because we are teachers, is what the kids are seeing and experiencing as we focus on providing them with good comprehensible input. We have to be in control, yes, but we can’t be bullies about it. We can’t control everything and thus ruin it. […]

We should not quit a job because we have been given too much to do and we can’t handle it. We keep our jobs by simply doing less. We don’t coach that team. We don’t volunteer for that activity. We protect our balance and our mental health. We don’t stress so much about kids who

I once heard Mary Ann Williamson say that “you teach what you need to learn.” Well, I already know French, so what do I need to learn from my teaching? I need to learn to be in command of my classroom, for one thing. And I need to learn how to be a real teacher

(This post is dedicated to Sean Lawler and his wife Candice in Chicago, who have been helping to build the new Freedom Train in the Chicago Public Schools for a long time now.) I wrote the article below in all caps because I am animated by a sense of urgency that rivals the sense of

This is a repost to remind us that we do too much. A PLC member sent these and I can’t remember who it was to credit you so thank you whoever you are. We may want to rethink some of this when we look at our next paycheck: – Promethean board – managing our school

Q. So how do you really feel about Can Do statements, Ben? A. Thank you for asking! I think that they are about as useful as a screen door in a submarine because they favor the few. We can’t teach that way anymore. Therefore, in my view, the best use of time in a foreign

In the previous article, I stated that when an observer comes into my classroom, I try to remember to bring the child that the observer once was into the class, to find that child and teach that child some French. Of course this fits in with Bob Patrick’s comment here yesterday about welcoming the weary traveler

I hear comments about how teaching using CI can be exhausting. I don’t agree with that position. It’s about FLOW. (Search that category for more articles on this important TPRS/CI concept.) Flow is one of Krashen’s favorite words, judging by the things he’s said about it since about 2008. It was stressful learning how to

Deep down, I feel that it is best for our mental health to not have to plan, and I mean zero planning. The no-planning approach is also best for our students in terms of language gains when we don’t plan. THE PARTS IN RED AND GREEN BELOW PUT THE SCALPEL ON THE PART OF THE

In our email communication about Circling, Carla wrote this: “This week I have been watching a Spanish class by one of the experts… I was struck by how monotonous circling seemed even in the hands of an expert. It looked like what you described above. It would be great if I could wrap my mind around

Carla asked me about Circling recently. I don’t know what the TPRS/CI community is up to these days, but I gathered from what Carla said that they still circle. God bless them. I find that Circling does not work. It seems to work, but it doesn’t. It does, however, bore kids once they figure out

We are now moving at warp speed into a new way to educate and assess people. It is now more about communication, process, intuition and cooperation. It is no longer about isolation of the smart from the not so smart. Nor is it about how much knowledge can be poured into a kids’ head and then