Ben, Here is a beginning of the year activity for level one classes.  It is my adaptation of your Circling with Balls activity. In the first few weeks of class we are getting to know one another.  I ask a few simple questions to each student.  I speak in Spanish and the students listen and […]

Remember, you’re there to learn about your students, not to show off how much you know about the language that you teach. So, when doing PQA, ask questions and give your full attention. Believe what you hear them tell you. Today, on the first day, Vanessa told me that she eats sharks. I circled it so

The Era of Testing is upon us. Hopefully, it implodes sooner than later. Laurie, in the recent standards discussion here, said this – I repeat it here so we can have it at our fingertips as a new category: 1.  In hundreds of years, not one human being has been able to create an evaluation

Another question about quick quizzes: Does the superstar write the quiz in English?  I’m assuming so. My response is that yes, they write the quiz in English and you just translate it on the spot. Also, make sure they are yes/no answers. Have the kid who writes the quiz clearly write yes or no in

I got this question about the quick quizzes: Hi Ben, After stories I know that you do the quick comprehension quizzes in order to record a grade.  If a student is absent do you somehow have them make up the quiz?  It seems like that would be hard since they would miss the story.  Or

John sent this: Ben, A recent article in the Wall Street Journal about what is called the “executive function” supports what we are trying to do in TPRS, and how important these skills are for kids’ success in life. It is called “learning how to focus on focus.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904716604576542593019231326.html Here’s a passage which really seems to

I’m back from Carolina and it was wonderful. I bobbleheaded in the Atlantic early morning water a lot on those superior beaches and just forgot about everything. I suggest we make relaxing a leitmotif this year in addition to talking about theory and practice of comprehension based instruction. I say we make one of our

I am glad we are trying to cobble together things about the upper levels and we now even have a category for it. I got this while I was away this weekend from a colleague who has been struggling with TPRS at the upper levels and thought I would share it here: What makes me

…the learner’s brain learns a new item not because the teacher has presented, explained, or translated it. The learner’s brain learns when the item is meaningful to that learner at that moment. A new word item may be meaningful to one learner but not to another at that moment….

In a comment to the post entitled “Then God bless you” John Piazza wrote this. I wanted to repeat it here: Why does it seem that last year was the worst year for so many teachers, and not just CI teachers? I have heard this from traditional teachers as well, teachers who would never have admitted any

I am going to start stories a little earlier this year. I don’t know why. I’ll keep on focusing on the kids and doing the personalization and norming of the classroom and all that, of course, until the classroom is entirely personalized and the rules are clear, but with September visions start dancing in my

Of course, one of the C words in the standards is Culture. Big deal. How can we teach the culture witout the language? Do it in English? That is lost time to CI. We don’t teach social studies, although some language teachers get away with that by talking about Diego and Maria in Argentina having breakfast