Dirk sent this:
So even though I am in a school setting where I have some classes that are too small for good CI, I am still trying many new things and doing my best in class to make it meaningful and understandable CI Spanish.
I have 2 classes of about 30 8th graders who have great potential. With them I am getting some really good moments and, like Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now says, “It hit me like a diamond bullet right in the forehead” yesterday. The only things that really matter in this game are:
1. You gotta go slow and point and wait if you want to be good at this. I mean really slow. I mean count to 7 in your head after any question to the group. Make a face and make it seem very dramatic but wait. Same with choral reading. Slow them down. Nobody goes ahead of the green laser.
2. The kids in their heart of hearts and mind of minds really get only a tiny percentage of what we put put out there. I have paid much closer attention to the words they ask me with ¿Qué quiere decir? this year and adjusted accordingly. Simple.
I have only tried to do CI TPRS for the past couple years but even 15 great minutes yesterday makes me want to get better. It shows me how far I have to go. I had two bursts of about 15 minutes of circling that were so crisp with no background noise and good choral answers yesterday. I had given a dictation and we were reading it. I asked questions in Spanish to the group, going so freaking slow and pointing and waiting. And everyone was getting it and answering. It was a simple story from somewhere with about 8-10 new words for them and a few cognates.
There were so many scheduling problems and building issues that many kids moved in and out of classes the first two weeks here. Circling with balls was interrupted as a result and didn’t have the legs it usually does. I find that kids at this school are more comfortable with me talking about what they do or what funny drawings do than who they are. That is just part of the demographic.
I am again using lots of drawing – on my part for nearly every word I give them from the required list – and on their part to demonstrate understanding of little stories. I also am using their drawings. I put up a six box paper (see that sub plan idea somewhere on the blog) that they have drawn from when I was out. I then try to “guess” the story out loud, writing the words I am saying in Spanish on the drawing itself. They get personalized input through funny pictures and CI as I talk about them. Call it an embedded drawing? It works. They focus better. And the lower quality the art, the more it is open to interpretation. Is that a person talking on the phone or a baby and an umblical cord?
From Discount School Supply I purchased a couple of sets of generic family action figures about 6 inches tall. These go up on my drawing pad under the document camera and I can draw in any backgrounds or places these figures travel. Of course the kids name and describe what the figure wants likes needs, etc. By nature they are funny and no one associates them with a celebrity or movie. That is important in drawings and visuals. One shot of Justin B might take everyone off track talking about how much they like or hate him in English. But a weird generic face can become whoever they want through asking and circling like a one word image.
I have not had a lot of energy to write about stuff that I am doing as I was very frustrated with the start of this year but I am still reading the blog religiously and admire all the great minds doing the same who take the time to share ideas. Thank you to everyone.