In terms of getting better at the our comprehensible input instruction, I see four areas that need support and therefore should be the primary focus of this blog:
1. Emotional support (perhaps the most important, because of the incredible system pushback we all experience).
2. Support in classroom technique (how to do PQA, stories, etc. – the details).
3. Support in approaches to assessment (it is becoming increasingly clear that without proper assessment our overall product will suffer).
4. Support in classroom discipline (as per the dictum from Susan Gross that “discipline precedes instruction”).
Recently, I received an email from a colleague in Russia that is the most honest re: point #4 above. I have never seen anything so honest as to why she chose to quit teaching. It was becaue of classroom discipline. I received it last spring and it’s been in the queue all this while. I hope I can get to this email from this person so we all can read it. It is most poignant. Let’s get the video thing rolling more so that feels like a normal part of the blog, then I can get to this project. So much going on!