John Bracey on controlling blurting during Look and Discuss classes. Bold words mine:
Here’s my L&D procedure with student artwork in class:
1) Have the first, or only, drawing projected on the board as students walk into the room. (This usually gives kids time to get used to the artwork and talk about it in English before the bell rings).
2) Remind the students of the rules of L&D. A) We talk about the pictures in LATIN ONLY. B) It’s okay to laugh at funny pictures, but not okay to comment in English. C) We NEVER talk about the quality of the artwork.
3a) When a student blurts something negative…I stop dead and laser point to the “Goodwill Attitude” classroom rule and look sadly at the student. (The slower and more deliberate the body language, the better).
3b) When a students blurts something benign in English…I do the same thing only point to “No English during Latin time” rule.
3c) When EVERYONE starts blurting…I say very calmly, “Timeout. Our artist has done some really amazing work, and I am as anxious as your are to talk about it. Let’s have this conversation in Latin and Latin only. If this becomes an English conversation, it is my responsibility to change activities. I personally would love to spend class talking, laughing and having a good time in Latin. Wouldn’t you? Let’s try this again.”
4a) If civility has been restored, we have a good old time talking about pictures and laughing.
4b) If the mass blurting continues, I fall back on the the following activity: 1) Read a paragraph of a class story aloud and have them write the whole thing down as a dictation. 2) Project the paragraph on the board and let them correct their spelling. 3) Have them translate that paragraph into English silently and hand in their translations for a “quiz grade”. (I never actually grade this. However, I will count this as a “homework assignment” and put it into my grade book to keep administrators off my back.)
5) Try again next time. I make it point NOT to mention the previous L&D experience whether it was positive or negative. I want them to have a fresh chance to enjoy how much fun the conversations can be without all of that English and negativity ruining it.
The Problem with CI
Jeffrey Sachs was asked what the difference between people in Norway and in the U.S. was. He responded that people in Norway are happy and
