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Howard the Half Eaten Corn Dog
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7 thoughts on “Howard the Half Eaten Corn Dog”
This makes me think of the quote from Hafiz:
…What is real? That which lifts the corners of the mouth. Look there….
Looking at two half eaten corn dogs made by students in Tina’s and my classes, and thinking that they and not some curriculum from some textbook company would drive our instruction, makes me smile and have hope that some day we can figure out how to make second language education not as boring as it used to be when TPRS was locked onto the idea that stories had to have word targets.
I am literally smiling right now looking at them together there. Moustache looks much more sanguine about having been half eaten. I swear to you guys, this corn dog emerged without my guidance. I actually only realized his resemblance to Howard the prototype and obvious Beta version (ha ha Ben) when I pointed to him in class and called him Howard cause I had helped haul Howard around all summer to conferences and workshops. Then I was like, Oh my! We just hit upon a middle school archetype!
….we just hit upon a middle school archetype!….
Another middle school archetype is the name Bob.
And for those following this incredible tale, understand that Moustache did not actually have a bigote and it was one of those situations, as Tina told me, where she and her artists wanted the corn dog to have a moustache but the class itself most strenuously resisted. This is an example of “group mind”. Those who have experienced it know what I’m talking about. Group mind is a player in this work – it gets the class involved.
Yeah and it is also hard work to develop that group mind. I am finding that there are two BIG BIG skills I am looking for when deciding if the class is ready for stories:
A. They need to be willing to say “yes” (an old improv theatre maxim – you say YES to the other players’ suggestions, words, and actions. So the class needs to not fight over every little detail but let Profe Dos or Professeur Deux do their job. I am finding it helpful to train the class to look for a “close debate” signal from me (a wagging finger in one class, a sweeping arm gesture in another) that signals we are moving to close debate and letting Profe Dos do their job.
B. They need to develop the self-control to contain their excitement to blurt in L1. In stories with their OWI characters or their Invisibles, they are really, really invested. But they need to be able to control the rampacious blurting, to the extent possible for twelve-year-old humans.
The group mind is real and I have never felt it as strongly as I do now, starting the year in this happy way, training the kids from Day One that my only job is to channel their creative ideas into L2.
I like what we are doing here, Tina. For fifteen years it (TPRS or whatever you want to call it) was all confusion. From 2000-2008 I felt that I had to straighten my mind out, there was so much confusing information. Many people have felt the same way. Two recent comments spoke of “8 years of frustration” before finally accepting that there is no method other than to make yourself understood by your students. So easy and yet so hard, esp. with all the people who want to posture and proclaim their way as the best, because we all would rather be told how to do something than have to dig down deep and do it ourselves. No blame, it’s human nature. I don’t think that any of the presentations at the conferences did me much good. I even saw my own ideas presented in certain years as the strategies of someone else. All human nature. But the only thing that helped me in the end was to observe people like Blaine, Jason, Susie, etc. tell stories. And now I would add that this Invisibles idea is just a serendipitous thing that is really easy to do. So yes I think we have found a way to make it simple. Don’t tell any of the experts. This is the first thing in my 16 years of doing TPRS/CI that feels real.
SO. MUCH. SIMPLER.
So much more engaging.
so much more fun. (and not just for the students, for us, too!)
I asked my 6th graders this year (the only repeat students I have, because I have every single beginner group and just one year 2) what they thought about the changes in class since last year. They were all very positive about it and said “we love it because we get to be creative and there are no tests” (little do they know that their emotions that are clearly shown on their faces are all I need to assess)
I liked what I did up to this point. It showed desired results and the kids were happy then too. I got good feedback, especially from the kids, who moved on to traditional classes. “With you the language just stuck in my brain” This though, I love! Every class is completely different even though the activities are the same. Before the classes got redundant if you taught the same level more than once. Now I feel that we truly share responsibilities in class about what we learn, were before it was all on me. My classroom is filled with crazy characters that invite questions from other classes and my website has become a portal to show off the kids’ work to their friends and parents. Before it was just for resources.
Hoping to do it all justice at ETPRS this Thursday! Hoping to be a multiplier!