In the new POST-COVID model of education, teachers must learn how to identify people with narcissistic traits and deal with them so that we have a lot more AUTHORITY and command a lot more RESPECT than we have in the past as teachers. I highly recommend a book by Dr. Christine Northrup called Dodging Energy Vampires. […]

Morning Ramble: I had a motorcycle when I was younger. I had it long enough to know that – no blame – cars were not trained in SEEING motorcycles, esp. at intersections. I sold it after too many close calls. So it is with kids of color in language classrooms. We have to learn to

Sean said: …we, as teachers, need to know how and where to direct Tanisha so that her voice is given value…. This is the task, indeed! First, we have to know how to teach the class so that Tanisha is included and not excluded bc of interstitial racism. (I know the term is institutional, but

When we create small ten-minute pockets during class for the kids to read whatever they want, called Free Voluntary Reading as per Krashen, we are putting far too much emphasis on that kind of reading. Why? Because the research wasn’t done in classrooms, where there are so many distractions, and where the kids are encountering

I got this question: Ben – I understood that you don’t think it is a good idea to give extended readings to students at the very beginning (novice low, 1). Can you explain further the reasons why? I responded: The reason, and this is only my viewpoint, is that kids read at different speeds and

APCI stands for Activity Pack Comprehensible Input instruction. It’s the application of CI to worksheets to learn lists of words. That’s what’s happened to the CI movement. We need a revolution. TPRS has failed, gone off the rails, gone splat. WE NEED TO STAND UP FOR THE RESEARCH. WE NEED TO REPRESENT THE RESEARCH IN

In my opinion, those who think that they are going make it through the entire online thing using APCI, won’t.

This is from Kate: Hey Ben – Here is something I kept. I have no idea where it came from. It is typed yes, really on a typewriter from back in the day.  I have no idea who wrote it. But it fits today as I am sure it did then. Father Spirit, Master of

People who embrace the Star – a fine example of NTCI – can’t believe how much it makes their jobs easier. They say, once they have studied and implemented it, “This aligns perfectly with the Communication Standard and the research, and the kids are so engaged!” Some people reject the Star with questions like “It

As we crawl under the barbed wire of Covid, keeping ourselves going, knowing we’ll make it, even – in an odd way – thanking Trump for how his darkness has galvanized us in growing sisterly and brotherly love, I have been reflecting on how much good is coming out of the crisis. One of the

Hello, I am your grade book and I wanted to congratulate you on another year in service to me. Oh, I know, I know. You thought you were working on behalf of the kids. Hah, hah! That’s funny! We all know that you can’t serve two masters. Serve me! Let’s take for example that pesky Javiar Lugo! He

This is just a follow up to our little spat – or to be more accurate the one Sean and I had with those three guys a few weeks ago. After some deep reflection, I banned all three from the PLC. As I look back, I know I made the right decision, a decision against