Circling Sends Messages
By starting the first class of the year in the target language using circling, I send many messages to my students:
1. By slowly circling all the time in class, I send the message that slow circling will be the norm in my classroom all year. I also send the message that it is my job to make my message clear, and that all they have to do is sit back and listen and try.
2. By taking time to stop and laugh if something is funny, I send the message that we will laugh and enjoy each other in class.
3. By requiring that my students react every time I state something, I send the message that everything I say is totally fascinating to them, and that it is their job to make sure that I understand that they know that.
4. By clarifying meaning by writing but not speaking translations, I send the message that we will use English only in written form on the board as a basis for clarifying the meaning of words in class.
5. By featuring only the targeted words during class, I send the message that I know how hard it is for my students to keep the basic structures in their minds. The message sent is that I will not make my students feel as if they can’t learn by my going out of bounds when I teach.
6. By praising them at every turn, I am sending the message that they will not be criticized on even the smallest level in my class this year, and that any hostile or controlling personality they may have brought with them into my class as protection won’t be needed.
7. By making constant eye contact with each of my students, I send the message that I care if they are learning. By talking about them, doing so with joy and a sense of great interest, I send the message that they are very important to me.
8. By speaking French in such a simple and straightforward way on the first day of class, I build good will and ensure my students’ success, thus insuring myself against the “October Collapse”, which happens when the kids’ gas tanks of good will that were full in August are empty because the teacher has insisted on teaching a simple and joyful thing in a complex and boring way to the wrong part of their brains.