Hi Ben,
Thank you for all the great videos posted in the PLC – I’ve already improved my classes tremendously because of them.
I’m writing to give an update from the field and to ask for some help troubleshooting a course plan.
I teach Spanish I, II and III at two separate community colleges in Washington State. I’m an adjunct, so I don’t have any real weight in terms of curriculum development. Because of this, my students have to buy a terrible book and use an extremely clunky online homework system that is both hard to use, and doesn’t always accept correct answers.
I’m sure the other teachers use the book religiously and teach grammar point by point as covered by the book. I have no control over how they teach, and my contract is quarter to quarter, so I can’t raise too many waves at this point. I love my colleagues as people, though. They are great people. I use the book sparingly, and I only use it because my students are forced to buy it.
Despite these less-than-ideal conditions, I have jumped head-first into TPRS/CI. I will never go back to a book-only approach. Ever.
My students love it (running start age through adults) because they forget they are hearing Spanish. They are really acquiring a ton of Spanish. Some of my students are even using object pronouns correctly after only 9 weeks of class, even though they don’t know the grammar term.
I also wanted to add that I learned Spanish through a modified version TPRS in the early 2000s, though I didn’t know it at the time. We did lots of TPR (with lists), tons of PQA, and read a proverbial boat-load of stories. I learned enough so that college Spanish was always my easiest subject, and I earned an MA in Spanish literature. It is likely that I never would have continued with Spanish if it weren’t for TPRS and a high school teacher that motivated his students with success in the language. TPRS works. But I don’t have to convince you of that.
One thing I struggle with is going too fast. I try to take them through too many stories in the time I have them (Spanish I lasts just 10 weeks). One of the main reasons I go through too many stories is that I have a class that is 130 minutes long that only meets twice a week. If I spend too much time on a story (consecutive time, not spread out over the course of three or four 50 min. classes) they get restless. I could easily go for four hours with TPRS/CI and not get bored, but I’m not sitting at a desk for all that time.
I’m curious to see if anyone has had experience teaching a 10-week course with long class periods. What’s the best plan of attack for this?
Sorry for the long email. I didn’t mean to write war and peace.
Best regards,
Andrew S.