The shift from the “old blog” to this new one is still in process, and I am still trying to make the PLC more interactive. I’m asking for your patience on this. Those who were on the old blog know that it is in the daily interaction with each other that we do a lot

I got this question: Ben: So I was sharing your Zoom course (ed. note: The Ultimate CI Books/Star Sequence approach) with someone who works with the curriculum in our district.  I mentioned that it is not planned, no prep, just using student input to “teach” the language.  They were a bit shocked and asked how

This article is about an old friend – Eugene Williams. He is pictured at the bottom of this article. Eugene was one of my assistant track coaches at Myrtle Beach (SC) High School. He mainly coached the sprinters, having run the 200 and 400 meters himself at Myrtle Beach High about twenty years earlier. The

A new Ultimate CI Book 1 class begins on March 20. There are currently 15 spots available in this class. When you sign up, here’s what you get: Twelve hours of Ultimate CI training over six weekends. Free digital copy of the book. Free one-year membership to our Professional Learning Community. Free drop-in coaching on

Some of us have been following the process of being observed that Danielle has been going through lately. Here’s an update: Last week, she had the pre-observation with her principal. It was probably not unlike many of us have experienced where the template the principal wants to follow is generic and applies to all subjects

It is my opinion that the word “planning” is just embarrassingly overused in our profession. Why, if we all gained fluency in our first language without a shred of planning, have we bought into the Big Lie of our profession? Why does everybody think that we need to plan so much? There is something f—ed

Here’s a possible start in finding some common turf between ELA and CI instruction. Way overdue: There are many terms used to describe ESL/ELL and EFL instruction. For now let’s just use the acronym ELA English Language Acquisition to make it simple. In my experience, certainly in Denver Public Schools, the chasm between ELA training

Q. When you write in the board do you do write the English first? A. Yes and the Spanish below it. Then you draw a thick line under the Spanish to separate the new expressions from each other and then you use the Jesus rule to underline the Spanish real slowly. This is a big problem

This is a reminder for Group 4, Class 3. Prepare this from the Book 1 Syllabus: Class 3 – Saturday – 2.20.21 (12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time) – Demo and Coaching.  Review pp. 17-66 Watch one of the videos from the “seven videos” list. This class will demo and discuss all phases of the

Over the years there certainly have been hundreds of posts here on the PLC about how CI interfaces with the reading piece. However, after studying the problem (reading is a problem in the CI community – I won’t go into why here) for years and years, the only reading product out there that I really

For those using the Ultimate CI Book 1, the following eight steps can be used for when you get observed. So if you have a formal observation coming up this spring, I recommend watching these two videos, which address not just the classroom observation but what to say in the pre-observation meeting. Then, after watching