I’m just reposting this because I’m being observed in a formal setting this week on Wednesday and it makes me nervous to be observed. It’s a good reminder: When we get observed, we can’t shrink. The method requires that we be big. It doesn’t matter how we feel. We have to show up for our […]
I am hosting a learning lab on comprehsible input this Wednesday, February 01, 2012 from 1:30 p.m -4:15 p.m. Anyone in the Denver area is invited to visit. Here is the information: Where: Abraham Lincoln High School (Federal and Evans) Pre-brief – 1:30 – 1:50 (Room 226) French 1 – 1:57-2:42 (Room 228) French 1
A pretty good move to go to when class sucks is to just start going over Word Wall words. Go down the list and laser point to each word and the kids say each word in English. It’s just an escape move, really, with no huge pedagogical value for sure. My lists are here on the
This is just a note to myself I thought I’d share here: “Ben, if you are going to start some PQA or start a story, don’t bullshit around with all that “start-class-with-announcements-in-English-bullshit”. The kids don’t listen to it anyway. “Just start in with the CI. It sets a different tone. If it’s general PQA with no story targeted
Maybe we need to back off a little on our position on early output. Here is one reason why it can be a good thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ugZ6aDTDYM
I got this from Nina Barber, who won’t be able to attend iFLT this summer but had already booked a room at a neighboring timeshare and can’t get her money back. She is willing to rent it out to an iFLT attendee at a great price. The unit is a “studio”. It has a double
PQA – step 1 of TPRS – is the foundation of our fluency house not just in the form of rebar on each floor, but it is literally the foundation of steps 2 and 3, of the entire structure. To understand the rebar analogy, see the important PQA related blog posts here: https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/03/11/rebar-1/ https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/03/12/rebar-2/ https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/03/16/rebar-3/ https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/03/20/rebar-4/ https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/03/22/rebar-5/
I had an odd experience today. A teacher showed up from another school and wanted to see a story. So I chucked the reading class that I had planned and grabbed Vol. 1 of Anne’s book and opened it and did that story. It was good. At the end of class, the teacher said that
Here is a follow up from that teacher, our group member, who went through the rude boys thing last week: “I did the thing I dreaded today – the conference with the kid and his dad. I was the only female in the room and that SUCKED, along with the principal and the assistant principal.
I was visiting the ACTFL site and came across this interesting page at http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3328. Thought I’d share it here: Since their introduction in November, 1998, the ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners have helped language teachers, school administrators, parents, and students to understand the developmental path that second language learning takes when it occurs within
I just cut and pasted a comment from the thread on the DPS study: When I shut down this blog a year ago, which lasted until May, it was to take some time to think about how I couldn’t speak honestly on the internet, which eventually led to this blog becoming a PLC for members
I got this from a group member. We need a group discussion on this one. It’s serious. Hi Ben, I have a question that I have faced this year more than any other that I can remember. Usually I encourage students to make connections to French with English to help with meaning and pronunciation. For
