Andrew reminded us in a comment here that Nathan wrote about Robert’s new assessment initiative on Michele’s blog yesterday. I put that link here so that I can categorize it under “Assessment/Robert Harrell” just to keep everything related to this topic clear and accessible. This is an important link: http://mjtprs.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/chewing-on-the-actfl-modes/
I have received requests for the specific format that I personally use to test at the end of class. This is in response to the recent thread started here by Andrew Graff. Originally the idea of Susan Gross, this quiz plan works for me and is not being offered as some kind of “way it must be done”:
Andrew sent this: Hi Ben, I am enjoying the blog immensely and reaping tons of benefit from engaging with it. Before I commented more re: the assessment piece, I wanted to do some research [read: googling] about terminology, to make sure that I was not blathering on without dotting my i’s. (I feel very at
Elissa sent a few stories done by her elementary kids. Like with Angela, this shows the final product, not the process of creating it. The thing I like about it are the cards which teach reading at the same time. Elementary TPRS is not my area, of course, and I do feel it is quite
I think it odd that two of the hot beds for comprehension based instruction are two of the coldest places in the United States: Maine and Alaska. Michele Whaley in Alaska has spearheaded efforts there now for some years. She is a real force, traveling everywhere for trainings, doing all kinds of exchanges with Russia,
When I first started doing what Blaine describes below about waiting for cute answers, I made a lot of very fast strides forward in the method. It is a major concept for me and has never let me down in class: …I believe people who are the most effective at TPRS don’t tell stories. They ask
I don’t like to look all over when I am reminded of a quote – I just want to be able to find it. So I am initiating a new “Quotes Worth Remembering” category here. I want to put Kate’s recent quote in as the first one. If you read something that you want in there
I didn’t get that half time job at George Washington High School. I should say, I didn’t want it. It turns out that the department itself is great, a bunch of gifted young people firmly grounded in Krashen whose district scores are so high that the school has to leave them alone. It’s a long story, but I won’t be
Here is an email from Carol Hill: Dear Ben: I have a French 1 student on homebound instruction (concussion). She has not been in class since March. Just got this from her homebound French teacher. Thought I would share. Best, Carol “I’m very interested in the story telling methodology. Eileen is way ahead of most
For most of us Laurie needs no introduction – she is one of the leaders of using comprehension based methods in the classroom and has been a constant source of inspiration to me personally. She really fits my definition of what the term warrior means. For those who have yet to meet her, here is her
Germany is pretty much leading the world in the green movement. The French certainly aren’t going to lead Europe into anything having to do with comprehensible input, not with their love of analysis and wine. But in a recent comment from Martin in which he invited Robert and others to visit him if they are in Germany, it
I just got this from Angela; it certainly brings up more about a leitmotif that has been front and center here over the years: Hey Ben! Check out this article that I ran across: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7616618.html Here’s a line that really stuck out at me… “Our students do not reach professional fluency by listening – they
