Ultimate CI Training
The Zoom training on Book 1 of the Ultimate CI series begins this coming Monday, for those interested. Go to benslavic.com and click on "training courses". If you want to really access what is in these new books, the Zoom
Where Did Krashen Get His Ideas? Maybe From Simon Belasco?
Anyone into conspiracy theories will enjoy this post. It raises questions about whether Krashen's work is original. It also completely supports my NTCI concept vs. "targeted" CI. This entry is from 2007. One of my middle school students - "K" -
Krashen on the Grammar-Based Syllabus and Non-targeted Input
A repost from January of 2014. It's good to reflect on this topic from time. In 2013, Steve Krashen said (source below) that curriculum and instruction based on a grammar-based syllabus has the following problems: (a) the Natural Order problem - Krashen
Speech Output
A 2010 repost: I used to think that forcing and prodding the kids into early speech production too early was just a waste of time, but now I see it as harmful. The image is of a field with seeds just
Set Your Mind Right for Next Year
If you are new to all this, before you get too nervous about the changes that you wish to implement next year, I offer one important idea to hold on to - just take an image and work with it
A Little Silly
I was admiring the crisp New England weather last month when visiting Connecticut and Keri Biron told me that the winters could be pretty bone-chilling. So I do appreciate the nice 60 degrees with sun here in Denver today. While
Take a Weed Eater to the Roses
I got this email from a mother in Denver in 2010 - this is a repost. It broke my heart then and now again seven years it has the same effect. We need to get ourselves together and fight to end this
Trains
A repost from 2011: It’s like a locomotive. We shovel the language coal - the input - into their minds in class, but, once the speed is up, the train is perfectly capable of using its momentum to largely run down the
Get Out of the Way
I was once giving a year end diagnostic speaking test to a quiet level 2 student who listens really well in class. I really didn't know if he could say a word or a thousand words. It turned out to
It’s Not About Language Gains
We must remember to have empathy for our kids, for how hard it is for them to even live sometimes. I want to try to do three things when I teach kids who are hurting: their desire to be heard, to have