It is an incredible thing to hear, just before class as the students are quieting down, their genius, fun, humor in the form of their discussion, which all kind of fades out and disappears when the lesson for that day is one of mere analysis of the language. However, when we start a story, when […]
What if we can do PQA, but we don’t feel comfortable getting a story going? That’s easy. All we have to do is start circling the first sentence of our script (see the sample stories in TPRS in a Year! for how to do that), establish the problem, and get the actor up and going
I’ve pulled together this list of other TPRS bloggers. If you have a TPRS blog send it and we will add it. This list is also on Thomas’ site: Laurie Clarq: blog.heartsforteaching.com Jennifer B: www.profesoraloca.blogspot.com Bess Hayles: mmehayles.blogspot.com Robert Harrell: Michel Baker: mmbaker1.wordpress.com Stephen Valdés: matthewstephen.wordpress.com
Michele sent this from The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, pp 156-160: A thirteen-year-old girl is relating her day in French class. “What’s the point of grammar?” asked Achille . . . “You ought to know by know,” replied Madame Never-mind-that-I-am-paid-to-teach-you. .. ”The point is to make us speak and write well.” I
Tolstoy had that quote about how his school days were filled with endless mindless tasks and drudgery. I wish I could find that quote. But, when we genuinely like our kids, the sense of play is there and, with it, the foundation for real learning. The following email from Michele in Alaska illustrates the joy that kids
Michel has a pretty thought provoking blog entry about some basic premises in elementary TPRS: http://mmbaker1.wordpress.com/ Click on the blog for Feb. 7 although I really like what she wrote on Feb. 11 also about TPRS in general.
Robert has figured out something that has been bugging anyone who has tried to reference a url in a comment hon this blog, and we are glad for this information: Hi Ben, I just posted under “TPRS Blogs”, and it’s awaiting moderation. I think I’ve figured out why and how to avoid it in the future. If
I wrote the following yesterday as a comment to something Mike said, but want to make it a blog here so I can reference it later to see how true it is. For yesterday’s classes, not using English at all was a great shot in the arm, and perhaps a sleeper, not just for me, but
Apparently K. just got her first teaching job at the age of 15: I have more exciting news. I got an e-mail from another IB French teacher. She teaches 10th and 12th grade, and my teacher teaches 9th and 11th . She’s the one who has been watching our stories a lot lately and said
Chill sent me this yesterday: Ben: I recently caught up with a friend who was my mentor teacher when I student taught about 17 years ago. I shared my TPRS story and sent her to your blog. She was a totally dedicated professional and has been a dear friend. She still keeps up with AATF, etc.
Ben, It seems as if we always need ammunition to defend TPRS to the next group of skeptical parents, colleagues and administrators. The book Story Proof: The Science behind the Startling Power of Stories, by Kendall Haven is filled with information, ideas and ample ammunition for us storytellers. We know by experience and by our
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The lunch crowd at K’s school has been meeting regularly. Here is an update: Hey, Mr. Slavic, My reading lesson went great – my teacher wants to do reading like that from now on! It’s catching on – and she said that we could do a few stories on Fridays. I think this is because –
