Role of Circling in PQA

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11 thoughts on “Role of Circling in PQA”

  1. The talking/fun/spontaneous part of PQA is the most powerful. When I try to force a story it’s never as good as the days where I just show up and throw a verb on the board.
    After 3 full weeks I am having students answer one question: Your 1 wish. It breaks my heart to read kids writing I wish my family would come back together/I wish my parents would get married again.
    I gave the kids a heartfelt wink as I put their questionnaire down and moved on to the next. I chose the ones that would lend them selves to “go” and “wants to go” (with that damn infinitive–just when the kids know ve (sees) I need to teach va (goes) and then quiere ir (wants to go)). While continuing to focus on form I had to add the subjunctive form vaya (to go) to the board without ever mentioning it. It was necessary and real. The kids understood because they were laughing.
    A plug to your DVDs, I was at lunch talking in French with a colleague from Colombia. My department chair (Mexican) said she didn’t know I spoke French and was impressed. She asked where I learned. I said through TPRS training, reading Pauvre Anne, and not from a textbook. How good was my French actually? Good enough to be understood and to ask for clarification when I needed it. “Bon mere?” is all you need to ask “What does that mean?” So Good mother is Mother-in-Law, eh?
    This stuff really works.
    I watched Linda Li’s Chinese DVD at Fluency Fast in preparation for my trip to China last summer. Yesterday I needed to keep my Yearbook 1 class busy while my Editors were preparing to show them the cover and theme of the book. I started with “Stand up” in Chinese and I’ll be damned it Timmy Jeng turned to the class and said, he just said Stand Up in Chinese. The class shut up and stood up. I winked at Timmy, pointed to rule number 1 (he is in my Spanish class too) and he understood he wasn’t supposed to talk. I was able to keep them occupied for 10 minutes with the word “hamburger” “big” “pizza” “wants” and the question marker “ma”. I didn’t know I could circle in Chinese, but I can. The best part is that they think I speak Chinese now–hell, I think I speak Chinese now. It’s amazing how long you can spend on 4 words.

  2. The bombshell quote of the NTPRS conference for me was from Michael Miller:
    “The better I get at PQA the less I ever have to do stories”
    It was also my challenge!

    1. Skip years ago I walked in on Michael’s class in Colorado Springs (Susan Gross was still teaching then in the same school – Cheyenne Mountain Middle School). Michael didn’t even know I was coming (neither did I), but without preparation to be observed he just hung out in German with the kids for the whole class. He was the king of PQA that day. His kids were jumping under desks on command (first one to hit the floor got points), stuff like that. PQA is also a place where those who are intimidated by storytelling can hang out. PQA is good.

  3. …it’s never as good as the days where I just show up and throw a verb on the board….
    Yes. And we probably both work with that one verb and little else during the entire class. We don’t flit around from flower to flower, we stay on that verb and it is the rebar in the concrete that holds the CI together. For more on this concept of not trying to present more than just a few structures/words, search the word “rebar” on this site.

  4. Ben, I think your blog post needs a more inspired title, something like “Reclaiming Awesome.” Good stuff.
    I try to stay aware of my students feelings, how strong their drive is to be with their friends, the intensity of their relationships. Kids say things in extreme, and probably mean it: “I love her SO MUCH” or I CAN’T WAIT to hang out” etc. It’s a little window into their natural love for each other. It’s a model for me as a teacher.
    Maybe even this should be part of teacher education classes (imagine). Recovering some of that excitement we used to have about each other, recovering that awesome feeling about being close.

  5. Teachers and kids talking about cool things. Lots of trust and good will in the air. That can only come about from talking about the kids, making them the subject of the the class, the language being second, merely a delivery vehicle for the information being shared and laughed about.

  6. I’m brand new at this and don’t know what PQA is? I think it stands for personal question and answer? Can someone give me an example of how to use it in class? Thanks
    Joanna

  7. Ben Lev,
    I LOVE your title “Reclaiming Awesome”
    It’s making me smile right now, thinking about it adopting for myself this year!
    Thanks
    Julie

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