So here is my plan for the harder days in winter: When class starts, before we go to SSR (see category for how that works), I just stand in front of the class and look at them and wait for them to settle down. Let’s say that this is a third year class which has […]
What will I change to protect myself through the coming winter in those classes where the plane is not yet flying happily through the CI skies because of certain kids in my class whom I haven’t been able to get rid of and who won’t change, continuing to resist me in the invisible world, polluting
Permit me to say this: we make a serious error when we push the CI on a class that has significant elements of resistance in it. We cannot ignore negative vibes coming from us from kids because we are convinced that CI is the best way to teach them. Maybe it isn’t. If they are
In the past here, we have talked only about winning the CI battle, and taking the CI straight to the class, and to everyone else in the building, ramming it at them like a strong ground game in football. However, I am not sure if we have ever sufficiently discussed in these pages how doing
We sometimes speed down the CI highway without noticing the warning signs posted by the side of the road. What warning signs? They are signs warning us to slow down because the culture of the school doesn’t want CI instruction. Teachers in the room next to us teaching give us warning, either verbally or through
That thread on when to write prompted Chris (Roberts/Ohio) to ask a few questions but the annoying security rule thing blocked my answers so I am posting my response to him here so just ignore it. And Chris by the way I wanted to add that I do believe in writing in the first two
In DPS each fall we have to declare two “Student Growth Objectives”. Our administrator reads them and if approved, and if the April exit tests show that we met our goal, we get money. The thinking at the district level is that this kind of financial incentive will cause our scores to go up. In
I think of working for money as necessary but not a very exciting pursuit, necessary to keep things moving around on the planet, but certainly not worth all the attention we give to it. Choosing a career in money, seeking to work just to make money, would be to choose a career that ultimately isn’t
We had a thread here recently about talking to the kids about why we teach this way. I remember saying that I personally prefer to avoid lengthy discussions about the theory of CI. Rather, this from Melissa today is a great example of something we should tell them. I’ll put it in the Beginning the
We water the garden of writing with big buckets of listening. We plant the garden of writing in soil that has been richly composted with plenty of reading. The writing plants grow slowly at first, but if they are left alone (i.e. little to no error correction, focus on concepts of errors, not specific errors), they emerge to be
The Garden Of Writing Needs Plenty of Water and Good Soil Read More »
A repost: Each year, when I plant my flower garden, I first prepare the soil. I turn it over and pour into it the tons of the training I have received from my teacher, Susan. The soil thus tilled just keeps getting more and more rich and fertile. Each year, I look forward to planting the soil.
Robert has a nice addition to the articles here on RT: RT in the language classroom is … a way to get more reps and help students see the text as a movie in their heads (a mark of a good reader). Here are some things to remember: 1. RT is an occasional activity –
