If you go over the date to start your classes, say the date or season or month wrong. Tell them it’s the 36th of May when it’s the 26th of August. Bend their minds a little. When your students hear you say it is the 36th of the wrong month, their brains kick in to a higher […]
Q. I can’t get them to come up with cute answers and it is frustrating just standing there in front of them not knowing what to do asking questions. A. Well, first are you staying in bounds and making yourself comprehensible? Are you going slowly enough so that they all fully understand. Are you repeating
This is from Teri Wiechart: A workshop for CI Teachers on Coaching and Collaboration will be held on Saturday, September 28, from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Location: 14711 State Route 111 Defiance, Oh Teri adds: “Whatever the group needs, we will discuss and practice. CEU certificates are available for those who need it.” Teri
I have asked Deena, as a new PLC member, to send in frequent Reports from the Field this fall, since she describes so well what she is experiencing in implementing comprehensible input in her classroom from scratch, as it were. Here are the links to the first two excellent reports we received from her: https://benslavic.com/blog/report-from-the-field-deena-swenson/ https://benslavic.com/blog/report-from-the-field-deena-swenson-2/ Here
We are upgrading the PLC software this week. Among other updates, we are adding a forum for discussion that will allow more pointed communication between group members. It is unacceptable that questions, especially from new group members, get lost or unanswered because they scroll out too fast or because I can’t get to all of them in the
A repost: Q. I started CWB with my first years (2 classes/week) and because I didn’t have the hang of it, it lost steam. I changed to a bit of TPR to keep energy levels up but realize that I really need to complete CWB. How would you recommend I restart it? A. You don’t
An interesting drama is unfolding with one of our group members. It’s one of those stories kind of like Angie’s last year, where the rudeness of children shakes the novice teacher into reconsidering the field of teaching even when the teacher has great talent. In this case it is a teacher in her first year but
Our own PLC members Kristin Duncan and Chris Stoltz will be presenting on comprehension based teaching in Canada next month. Kristin reports: Hi Ben, The Second Languages and Intercultural Council (SLIC) Annual Conference is coming up on October 25 and 26 in Canmore, Alberta. Chris Stoltz and I will be both be presenting on TPRS
We’ve been having a conversation about Student Growth Objectives (SGOs) or Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) as they are called in some places. Below are my last six over the past three years – we have to turn in two per year. I met four objectives and failed to meet two. So really everything is in how you
I got a few questions from a group member: Q. TPRS in a Year! has been a fascinating read so far. Thank you so much for this great resource. I’m at the point now where I’d like to try some simple stories in my classes. I was thinking of adapting the textbook vocabulary and trying
After last week’s report from Deena I asked her to contribute with regular, possibly weekly, reports. I feel that other people can benefit greatly from these reports from Deena. Here is her second report: Good morning Ben, I started the week really concentrating on SLOW…I am thinking that I didn’t do that great of a job…lots
Ben, I’m on a prep now, but I cannot contain myself. Tears are welling up in my eyes. This is my first year using TPRS and CI, and I dived into Circling with Balls with all my 7th and 8th graders. They are COMPLETELY into it. I’ve shocked them AND myself by staying in Spanish
