A repost from 2010:
It is an incredible thing to hear, just before class as the kids are quieting down, their genius, fun, humor in the form of their discussion, which all kind of fades out if you are going to start a grammar class or something ridiculous like that. Why not keep that fun, that human language beauty and laughter, going for the whole class? It wasn’t possible before, but it is now.
When we start in the target language with a kind of expectant smirk on our faces that they can and will provide humor into the class, beauty and interest are immediately there and the fun that they brought in from their highly personalized hallway discussions continues! Why not teach for life, for fun, for all that stories offer, for all that personalized CI offers, instead of, as each class begins and our lives go by, for boredom? Why do that?