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Mental Health
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42 thoughts on “Mental Health”
You so slammed the nail there, Ben. We DO sometimes lose the forest – we are trying to be principled in our practice but we get lost.
I love the posts here that ask questions for help in classrooms and school buildings, thereby forcing us to reflect or take perspective. I also love the videos and anecdotes, and of course, the emotion – the recognition of the incredible work it takes to do what we do – and the joy it can bring. And I learn so much from the research.
More of all that please!!
Ben, I haven’t even been a member of the PLC for a full year yet, so I have a less-comprehensive understanding of the history of what you’ve done here. I think putting the kabosh on SLA and theory talk entirely is like leaving the 4%er grammar kids behind…they some of need our attention, too!
I would still apreciate Pop-Up SLA in response to comments (e.g. “glad __ is working out for you, Lance, but check out Krashen/VanPatten/Swain/Longbow’s __ on why it might not work out long term, etc.), but I have a suggestion:
Once more than a few comments, questions, or disagreements arise, perhaps someone could take that discussion over to the Forum (is there an SLA or similar section?) by announcing it in a reply here on the blog. That way we don’t flood the recent comments with just theory discussion, but those who need to work things out via writing, or those interested can do so there. It also would breath new life into the less-used Forum feature.
Thanks Lance, for this excellent input. I don’t mean to squash SLA theory, but after all, if we are here then we kind of all agree on the WHAT and now want to figure out the HOW of putting it into action when half of us (and I’m in that half) are carrying around a lot of fear in the classroom over the change.
I’m pretty much over that now, thanks in large part to the badass people on this blog, but man it’s been a tough road to get to where I can say now I have lots of confidence with the CI right now these days as I roll happily to the end of the tunnel and the end of a life’s work.
(Just yesterday in a vertical articulation meeting one of our departments put as the skills that they want their kids to know the entire table of contents of a 1960’s style textbook. Like what they want their kids to be able to do at the end of their period of study in that department is to be able to “direct object pronouns”.)
We’re kind of past that silliness here, but I really do not see this site as a place to do SLA theory. It was never in my vision for this site. And what we do here impacts the one thing that most of us have little of – time. So it’s good we’re having this discussion, because when we start talking about saving or wasting people’s time, we are talking about a big ass deal.
All Carla did was to make a point about something Blaine did in a coaching session and look what we’ve done with it. The focus is wrong. What Blaine did in that clip is not that big of a deal. One person even thought I was attacking Blaine in my comments about that clip with Carla, which is about as far from my mind (just the opposite) as one can get. To think that I would ever attack Blaine is just wrong.
And Lance your idea for the Forum is a good one, to use it for SLA discussion. I have certainly dropped the ball on going there myself recently even though I firmly resolved to get in there for new people around the winter holidays. That’s not working. But I do feel that if we relegated SLA talk to the Forum, nobody would go there, esp. our SLA gurus.
No, what we need is a kind of invisible world agreement here that we severely cool it on the theory. And I say that as one who has been the great beneficiary of much of what Eric has written here, his genius level passion and energy for SLA. Eric gets it – he is just so full of great ideas that it is perfectly understandable that he writes that much. Heck, look at how much I write about stuff here that fires me up.
But this space, even though it’s a part of the limitless internet, is not big enough to contain too much passion, to many discussions, and I always want to guide the discussion from things that involve the mind to things that involve a proper balance between the mind and the heart. We must accommodate the factor of time mentioned above. One has to make choices in life and define priorities and clearly in this little shit show right now we have do that.
It’s so helpful for me to hear of others’ struggles because I’m usually struggling with the same thing.
Kinda related: I went to an “Improvisation for Creative Pedagogy” workshop run by Chicago’s Second City (incubator for SNL) on Saturday. Much of the principles behind improv are the same as those behind TCI. While many of the activities are more for upper levels or heritage kids, I’ll do my best to share the relevant stuff with you guys.
Today, for my mental health, we did all improv activities today.
Sean hearing your voice is a big deal to me. And this:
…while many of the [improv] activities are more for upper levels or heritage kids, I’ll do my best to share the relevant stuff with you guys….
is a breath of fresh air in the light of recent discussion here. What we need are IDEAS, not idle talk that doesn’t help us get better in the classroom.
Sean-
I read the book on comedy that Von Ray recommended at a workshop (Truth in Comedy; The Manual of Improvisation) – really loved it & understood a bit better about collaborative storytelling. Is the 2nd City Classroom Improv guide (http://www.amazon.com/Second-City-Guide-Improv-Classroom/dp/0787996505) worth reading in your opinion?
Alisa, I imagine the same people involved in writing that book, Second City Guide to Improv in the Classroom, were running the workshop I went to. My immediate reaction to your question is that no, I don’t we need to read the book. I think we get the principles of 1) affirming what people said, 2) approaching the conversation with a “Yes, and…” attitude instead of a “But… No” attitude, 3) the need for everyone in the group to both receive and give the focus of attention, 4) to not worry about being creative or intelligent, but to show that you’ve been listening to others, 5) do all we can to encourage output but not force it, and 6) the importance of the facilitator/teacher to keep the energy positive and moving forward.
I think it’s more in how to implement some of the specific activities they’ve detailed real nicely in a foreign language classroom. There are some activities that are similar to Philosophical Chairs… but yeah, I’ll spend some time thinking about what I can share that is relevant.
I’m interested in the activities you learned about. After I saw an improv troupe last school year, I tried something they (I think) called “Car” — it worked with upper levels.
I’m totally enjoying this blog. However, I agree with Ben that it needs to be more focused on ideas, strategies for the classroom.
I personally have not done anything new other than the invisible’s idea.
The kids have been bored because I’ve contrived the invisible’s idea into my typical ROA thing. My classes are more like reading classes… I’ve anchored myself and can’t get out.
I admit being a part of the SLA theory idle talk. In reality, I enjoy theory more than practicality and experimentation which is my downfall.
Maybe there can be an SLA post here and there but other posts should focus on what Ben has said up above (including comments).
Have you ever tried the Special Person interviews? That’s a great “excuse” to break out of your reading routine.
…I’m totally enjoying this blog. However, I agree with Ben that it needs to be more focused on ideas, strategies for the classroom. I personally have not done anything new other than the invisible’s idea…
Steven, there could be a good reason for that. In Ben’s Big CI Book there are 15 Skills, and 27 Strategies, all from years of discussion on this blog. The Invisibles are the newest addition at #28, and Ben focused on vetting that one for a bit. So, I’m not sure there’s a huge need to be more innovative with new ideas and strategies for the classroom right now with all that’s available. Instead, the focus on current ideas and strategies must include evaluating their effectiveness in the changing TPRS landscape. I find myself wondering, for example, what Circling with Balls (CWB) looks like now if we embrace the new “death to Circling” idea.
Still, I like the idea of focusing on what’s actually going on in our classrooms. The videos help, although anyone who’s tried to watch an hour long video knows it’s hard to do, and everyone recording their own classes knows it’s difficult to keep up. I would love to hear more about successes (so we can discuss how to repeat them), failures (so we can discuss what to avoid), and Troubleshooting (so we can discuss how to solve someone’s problem).
In the absence of SLA talk, however, the one thing missing is “why?” Why was that Quick Quiz a success on Tuesday? Why has the Invisibles taken off so well? I understand that the SLA battle is over and we’ll see less of that on the blog now, but it might have been important for when we need to make adjustments without violating principles key to the original idea’s success, or when we evaluate new ideas generating here on the blog or elsewhere. For me, SLA talk was giving me some knowledge to analyze what people were telling me to do, and/or defend my own practices. It will be a change to not see so much of that now.
Lance said:
… I find myself wondering, for example, what Circling with Balls (CWB) looks like now if we embrace the new “death to Circling” idea….
I haven’t done CWB for a few years now. Instead, I just start the year out with a Super Mini Story and lots of work on the Word Wall and lots of work with verbs, the latter thanks to Eric Herman. CWB, however, as designed, is about establishing the rules and personalizing the classroom and sending the message that the class will be about the students, and is not really about language gains.
That is because if in the first few weeks of the year we don’t establish the Classroom Rules RIGHT THEN, and personalize the classroom right off the bat as well, we will not have the two ingredients that I think most necessary in TPRS – classroom discipline and personalization.
So, CWB is no longer something I need. I miss my old sidekick, and would use it some more to start off the year, if I didn’t know the power of starting the year off with stories. Those reading this may want to check out the Pringles Man and Monsieur Positif videos here or on YouTube to see what we now know in the TPRS world that nothing comes close to stories for student engagement and language gains.
CWB I think is good if you’re brand new to this kind of teaching, but I personally have bid a fond farewell to my old CWB buddy who has faithfully helped me get through some many nervous first weeks.
I do thank Chris Stolz who is the one who first started to hold up the Return to Stories flag on this blog about two years ago.
I think the best combination is to start with a Story hook, like Stolz, but then do a little CWB each class. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, especially with the success you’ve had with the strategy over the years.
It’s great that there is a shift “back to the basics” to JUST stories, but over time I think we’ll start getting reports that the novelty has worn off. Isn’t that why the Skills and Strategies were developed in the first place? Isn’t that why people start doing Movie Talk—because story asking gets predictable and we have to keep class compelling (not just content, but activities)?
This week I’ve taken a break from stories or scripts. I felt like the students were bored due to the routine. I am also aware that I have not engaged my students as much via personalized information. It’s an area of growth for me as I start to think about Year 2 of TPRS/TCI.
This week Im doing movie talk and taking it easy.
Get an Interview Program going when you can. That eats up minutes and creates a connection.
Omg that’s what I said too! ??
Uh that ?? Was supposed to be a 🙂
I loved CWB for the first few weeks. It helped me a lot. Would I do it again? Yes but only because I know that I can improve on my execution of it rather than start right off with stories.
I’ve always seen CWB as a combo of personal interviews and mini-stories. I’ve taken that much more seriously this year. It’s probably 70% interview, 30% mini-story right now for me in Spanish 1 (half-way into the block semester). The “story” aspect is so simple with the first few students because they need the language first. So a story may just be a kid, say a kid who we’ve discussed “rides a motorcycle”, may just ride his motorcycle romantically in the country alone. Most of the info is true, one tiny detail “romantically” being made-up. Stories contain more and more plot as the year progresses and therefore take up more and more classtime. I took a hint from David Sceggel’s playbook and started simplifying class readings so you can see what it looks like by checking out the sample doc in the post.
http://www.trippsscripts.com/#!One-Single-Document/c1uxc/56c789260cf2c75daa86e7f3
Jim said, referring to CWB, that he would typically spin 30% of a story out of the card and keep the interview at 70%. This is a good balance. When we lose it with CWB, it is often because we give too much to the story and then we end up going too far afield. Keeping the real goal of CWB in mind – the establishment of the Classroom Rules and getting to know the kids early on in the year – Jim’s percentages look real good to me.
And notice carefully this sentence in what he wrote:
…a kid who we’ve discussed “rides a motorcycle”, may just ride his motorcycle romantically in the country alone. …
This is the “where/with whom formula” – such a winner! – in action.
Well you know how I picked most of that up right? Hint: “wink” 😉
Thought I’d share my daily “warmup readings” from this semester. I write them, but they can turn into pqa, reader’s theater, or sometimes just a little q&a and then we move on… Having these to anchor the block is good for my mental health . Like Jim, I keep them on a running doc.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nUsHWiLaXsph_cMpYue87CH6Fe3lQexYUer-fBBmOZo/edit
Thank you! I need this right now!
Woah…that is the sound of my mind getting blown. I LOVE this idea!
That’s great. I’m interested in the one document idea.
I’ve been adding a brief reading bit at the beginning of any class that won’t end up with a lot of reading happening otherwise. I think it’s been good for students who don’t notice the recurrence of older vocab in regular reading material — so I sometimes call it “review” and they understand they’re seeing familiar language that way.
Hmm… one document. I started daily reading warm-ups since late November. Overkill? Maybe. It keeps me grounded. Lately, I’ve been spinning off conversations related to the readings in a more relaxed way.
You are making SO MUCH progress in your first year!!! I always see this time of year, March-May/June, as the “Idea File” time. Looking back at what I wish I had done differently and making a list (like an actual, real list) of ideas to think about over summer, and maybe try in fall.
Thanks Tina. I’m starting to experiment myself. Today I re-arranged my seating, in a horse-shoe arrangement for story-asking with Ben’s 6 steps.
I was kinda nervous but I started to get the hang of it with my second LV1 class. My LV2 classes worked from a script in normal seating… it’s a class of 38 kids.
The 10 minute rule has been working good.
However, part of the struggle is staying in bounds and “in the moment”. I need to go slower and even go back to some circling in order to keep interest.
My first class was a a little puzzled. My second class was awesome.
My concerns are: low participation for the cute answers. I almost feel like I need to force them.
The stories do not *have* to be cute, just comprehensible. Cute is the icing on the cake. The cake is speaking slowly and staying in bounds.
Do you have a list of the HF words?
http://www.vistawide.com/spanish/top_100_spanish_words.htm (Spanish)
http://www.vistawide.com/french/top_100_french_words.htm (French)
They have lists of the top 25 verbs, top 25 nouns…lots of ideas.
It might help to think of each word as a coin getting dropped down a deep well. Wait to hear it go “plop” in their brains. (I did not make this up. I am not sure where I heard it. But it has been a huge metaphor for me.)
38 kids!!!!!!!!!!!
My biggest class is 36 and wow, it feels big. My second-biggest is 35. But I swear that 36th kid makes all the difference. I cannot imagine 38! Woah!!
You are a beast!! 🙂
Other ideas:
1. Make index cards of kids’ favorites, funniest, etc. Pull a couple out and just use them to TELL them cute stuff from the cards.
2. Send a character to the bathroom. Bathrooms are funny.
3. Say that a character does something romantically. This magic word can change the boringest of utterances into fun.
4. Actors can make even the most basic story fun.
5. Realize that your job is to speak slowly and clearly so they understand you. NOT to be Louis C.K. It is not the Comedy Club. It is French class. Go easy on yourself.
6. Props are fun. I have a collection of stick-on moustaches that make things infinitely more fun. Sometimes I use them as a unibrow.
Thanks Tina for the compliment and the ideas. I definitely need to go easy on myself. The bathroom idea is funny as is the romantically idea. Thanks! Now, that april is coming, it’s time to let my freak flag fly. The kids are already getting squirrely!
If I understand correctly, your entire running record (from the beginning of the year) of written material is all on one continuous document. Seriously brilliant in terms of organization, but also for easy reference of what to make sure you’re recycling, and for Ss when they open it up to be able to stroll down Memory Lane. I can imagine lots of ‘remember when’s.’
I don’t really share any files w/my lil students, but if/when I do, I wanna do it this way!
I agree Alisa… it is a brilliantly simple idea. Thanks David!
I also want to incorporate a photo or two for each kid we talk about and put those into The Doc, as well as illustrations we come up with for the stories, but poco a poco…
Two additional steps would be to create a Bookmark for each new story, and then a Link on the first page (i.e. your own table of contents to eliminate massive scrolling come June).
OMG THAT blew my mind more. Putting pictures and links in there. I could snap pictures as they are acting and put them in the doc.
Wow, I want to try that with all the info from our class.
I could type into the doc as I do the Quick Quiz at the end of the period. Hey, the kids would SEE the questions as I type them in besides just hearing me read them. Some kids like to take the quiz in complete sentences. They could see the proper spelling, accents, etc. as they write the sentences. And then as we correct together, I could type in the answers in complete sentences. And then the answers could be used in the next period, the next day, as a review/warm up. I love love love this.
I am not a lover of tech but this is so awesome it might et me to haul out my projector more than just once a week…
Tina, I ALWAYS use my projector. I know that many teachers just talk face to face with their kids like you in your horse-shoe deskless arrangement. Today I will pilot this arrangement for my 35 minute classes (very Thursday is a late start day).
I include a daily reading. Lately, I have been typing up the kids freewrites onto my powerpoint. They have little mistakes. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea but some kids have said “hey that’s my story!”. While others keep quiet. The quiet ones write the best it seems.
I have organized my powerpoints into weeks. My school is Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) school so every kid has a device. My computer projector and my powerpoint plus MT is about as tech as I get. For subs I use google classroom, usually they read and draw 4 scenes to a story. My school has laptops for loan as well.
Maybe a mistake on my part but I have directed my students to write FULL sentences since their semester final review for their warm up. I use the everyday question words. They answer five questions based on the reading.
I usually delete the answers before the next period. My favorites are questions will multiple answers. Ex: Where did Jean go? S: He went to Taco Bell. T: Yes he did. Where else? S: He went to Walmart S: He went home also.
I am not sure if it is a mistake exactly to have them write full sentences…but since output is not the key, input is, I would think it probably is not exactly crucial to make kids write full sentences. I tell mine that hey, writing in full sentences is great and it will help you see what you can do, and you might like the extra challenge. But it is optional. I kind of think that for kids who hate to write, this makes them like my class better. And honestly kids’ liking my class is really my ultimate goal. I tell them relaxed, happy brains learn (or acquire would be more precise but I still mostly say learn to them cause that is what they know you are supposed to be doing in skewl) better.
Horse-shoe desk-less arrangement went a little rough at first. My second period was so much better. We got through a whole story with Ben’s 6 steps. I had a story-writer use their laptop to type the story and share it with me via google docs. I also had a student do the 10 minute timer on their phone.
Sorry “i had a student”… this was more like volunteers stepped it up to write the story.
I wonder what was different between first and second period…were you doing different things because you had had practice? Or is it a different kind of class?
Thanks, Jim.
I started doing this the other day. It provides a single storage unit for all stories which can be easily accessed for review and continued story lines.