We work so hard. We slug. Especially in those years learning how to do the CI. We should be gentle on ourselves. I remember for the past ten years I would aggressively try to fill each class with only CI. But, lately, I have become aware of how hard that is to do in a […]
We have a store in Denver called R.E.I. which sells all kinds of camping stuff, mountaineering equipment, etc. I was near the section that sells hiking shoes when a lady came in and asked the salesperson for a pair of high heels. The salesperson said they didn’t have any. The customer pitched a fit. The
Ray makes a subtle point about the assessment idiocy in this note below: This year two brothers arrived to my elementary school from Mexico. They had years of English classes at their school in Mexico before arriving to my school in the Chicagoland area. Of course, their English language proficiency was not nearly as good
This is from Drew in response to Grant and Nathan’s desire to know more about the grading system he helped develop based on “10 learning scales for foreign language to measure kids based on their ability to use language, not to conjugate.” When I start presenting the scales at training sessions I always start out
An insight into the doodling thing is to engage the doodlers in either a private or classroom discussion, but tell them that they have to “check in” with you visually from time to time. Like every thirty seconds or so. To not do so would be to convey the same quality of disrespect that would happen when
How do we know when to start stories? One indicator is the kids’ boredom with one word images or with anything that doesn’t have action in it. Static images can only be done for so many weeks. Then we have to get things going with some good, simple story scripts. We can only ask a certain number of times if
An update on the tape strips to Therese and the Maine Group: I am still too undiciplined during stories to properly use the tape strips. Sometimes I do it but I usually forget and the board is typically a mess. This is of concern to me because I know how organized boards like Linda Li’s help
There is one fundamental concept that we who follow Stephen Krashen’s ideas should embrace. It is the idea that we are doing real language teaching when we speak from our hearts in the pure TL to our kids in such a way that they understand and want to hear more. Real language teaching is the interplay
Unlike more pure subjects like physics and mathematics, foreign language education, with its myriad intangibles, is not easy to measure. Yet we, Tarot fools, stride confidently along the edge of the cliff, confident that the data we use to measure gains in our students is accurate. Where does this cavalier trust in data come from?
I got this from a colleague who had asked me about using CI with the textbook: Ben, Thanks so much for the advice! The problem with not using the textbook (Realidades) is that our district has common assessments, so everyone has to give the same tests… which come from the book. I have tried to
Marc commented on the prezi.com post today: Marc Sheffner 11.05.10 at 7:14 PM “Thanks for posting this, Ben. It helps me address a dilemma/problem I’m facing with regard to PQA. (I don’t understand what prezi.com is or how to use it; I don’t use any IT in my language classes, it just gets in the
An email from Elissa that should get some varied responses: Hi Ben! I have a bunch of questions, and promise I’ll call you sometime on your commute but in the meantime I’m wondering what your thoughts on doodling are. I’m trying to prohibit it– I can’t have eye contact when a kid is focused on
