From John Bracey: Hi Ben, I thought it might be helpful to remind the PLC of the 10 Minute Rule, especially at this point in the year. Here is how I have been using it and why I think it is so powerful for keeping class in L2: I have found myself using the 10-minute […]
From Craig West: Hi Ben I was reading about how to incorporate social media in classroom. I was thinking why not have an Instagram for school? You could put up images and captions from all the stories you covered in class including the numbers and colors students can passively scroll through on their phones as
I’ve tweaked a few minor things on Reading Option A, the gold mine for doing story spin out activities during reading classes. Our group member Ryan Dickison in Utah is conducting a workshop in Utah next week on ROA. He says: “I love ROA! It’s a power house. I use it with every story we
Here is a nice multi- language grammar site (unfortunately without worksheets) that you can point people to if they feel that they are not being “sufficiently challenged” (gag me with a stick) in your classroom: https://francais.lingolia.com/en/grammar/tenses
This is my response to the idea put forth in the first article by the above title: OK I’m weighing in on the “student actor output during circling” thing. This is my official position until tomorrow, when I reserve the right to change my mind. (I never want to be guilty of having just one
On Encouraging Speech Output During Circling – 2 Read More »
This comment by Carla is longish but important to read in its entirety if you are following the current thread on this topic: I am an intermittent reader of Ben’s blog but my dear friend and colleague, Alisa, mentioned that people were discussing circling recently. She watched the video Haiyun took of me doing a
On Encouraging Speech Output During Circling – 1 Read More »
These are from Sandra Lin. Don’t skip them if you have any time at all to watch them. Sandra definitely needs the feedback and support. She says: “I am using this method to middle school students with a traditional Chinese book and a traditional cooperating teacher. Some problems come along. The learning environment discourage me to
The email below from our PLC member Kevin Taylor was sent to Diana Noonan in Denver but could apply to any of our communities and prompt us to act if we can possibly do so. It is a bridge building email. It shows that what we are doing is important beyond the classroom. I feel
Hi Ben! I wanted to share with you and the PLC that I had a wonderful visit from Lance Piantaggini yesterday. He spent the morning with me in my classroom, observing and participating in 2 block-length classes, then we went out for lunch and talked shop. It was SO MUCH FUN! I recommend to all
The most important element of our success with CI is not even CI: Maria Popova shares: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/04/18/antoine-de-saint-exupery-letter-to-a-hostage-smile/
Teaching this way requires vigilant self-reflection and relentless honesty. The growth is through the ups and downs of each class. A few days ago Craig West had a bad class and reported in on it here: https://benslavic.com/blog/advice-needed-7/ Then he thought about it and fixed it. THAT is where the gains and changes in our teaching will
John Piazza shares: Hi Ben, Not sure how many people know about this series. May come in handy for inviting our colleagues, administrators, etc, to think differently about acquisition/learning. The Black Box
