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Sample Class
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48 thoughts on “Sample Class”
We have about 24 hours to get a lesson plan to Angie. Let’s do it.
My first thought is that teaching those topics (weather, seasons, clothing) would be unimaginably boring WITH or WITHOUT comprehensible input. So the other candidates are pretty much at a disadvantage, because any hope of wowing the observers would come from some plan we put together for Angie right now. I call it a challenge.
We need a plan to make those topics less boring. Hmmm. Ideas? The only thing I can think of is how weather can’t be personalized but clothing can. So if Angie brought in some different weather related clothes and got some actors up (just thinking out loud here) she may be able to circle her way into a job.
She could put up like a sun (for summer) in one corner of the room, a big paper sun, and likewise for the other seasons in the other three corners of the room. Again, just thinking here. Then she could (using English) ask ONE KID to move to the corner of her favorite season. So one of the kids would probably go into the “summer” corner.
She then starts:
Step 1 PQA – she goes to the board and teaches (this is the establishes meaning part, the first part of PQA) the four seasons and ONE expression like “it’s warm” (summer), it’s cold (winter). I would stop there if it were me, since this is a demo lesson and teaching all four seasons with warm and cold expressions added in might overwhelm. We want the observing adults to groove on how they understand it all, and if she goes slowly enough and points enough they might. Use the observers as your barometer. Also I would have a poster of the classroom rules blown up and on the wall. Maybe the rigor poster as badges love rigor. jGR? No, too much at this point. So:
Classroom Rules: https://benslavic.com/Posters/classroom-rules.pdf
Rigor Poster: https://benslavic.com/Posters/rigor-poster-french.pdf
I think it would be ok from time to time during the lesson to break into English to clarify with your students exactly what you are doing, like we do in the first few weeks of class anyway. Just not much. Laser pointer totally needed for that part.
So only TWO MINUTES on that establishing meaning part. Here’s how to establish meaning: you say in English (have the targets on the board before the lesson starts):
1. Class, these are our expressions for today’s lesson. This expression “en hiver il fait froid” means “in winter it is cold” and this other one “en ete il fait chaud: means “in summer it is warm”.
2. Can anyone SHOW ME “en hiver il fait froid”? (Some kid does the shivering thing and Angie runs over and catches the name on the name tag and praises the kid for their GREAT IDEA and says something like “Class, that was excellent. James came up with a great gesture for cold.” Then everytime she uses the cold expression she looks at James with knowing approval so he can own his contribution to the class. Same thing with the warm one.
3. Once the expressions have been explained and a gesture provided, Angie says, with an air of anticipation and fun, “Class, close your eyes! SHOW ME WARM. COLD. Now point to winter! (They all point to that corner). Same thing with summer.
Believe it or not, that is a two minute thing that just happened.
Then she goes to the second part of PQA (after the two minute establishing meaning phase), which is the questioning part of PQA:
(she had each kid make a nametag with a favorite name they like to be called and they are wearing the name tags that she can see them)
“Class, Jessie prefers summer!”
(She goes to board and writes down prefers in both languages and then points to summer in both languages, slow as hell.)
Class, does Jessie prefer summer? (yes)
Class, does Jessie prefer summer or winter (she laser points to or puts her hand on summer)? (summer)
That’s correct class, Jessie prefers summer. (coaches them on the “ohhh!” response)
She may want to repeat: Class, does Jessie prefer summer or winter (she puts her hands out to her sides as if weighing the options)? (summer!)
Correct, class, Jessie prefers summer. (ohhh!)
Class, does Jessie prefer winter? (no)
Correct, class. You are very intelligent. Jessie doesn’t prefer – stops to explain the sound of “not” to the class – winter: he prefers summer.
Class, who (writes it down bc she won’t have the question words up) prefers summer? (Jessie)
That’s right class, Jessie prefers summer! (ohhh!)
That completes the circling. I wouldn’t do any more on those two expressions. Now it’s time to bring in the clothing. So she would bring a pair of sunglasses, etc. but only one article for each season, because where this idea fails is when there are too many new expressions. Already, we have two seasons, prefers, and now we will rinse and repeat the above with two articles of clothing and wears.
Also, before the lesson, I would ask a superstar to write down five or ten YES/NO questions about what happens, as it happens, and give it to me for the quiz. I would also have someone drawing on a white board or something that can be see by all, what happens in class. That, of course, is the artist. When to process the artist’s drawing (using Look and Discuss – see category) is explained below.
Then, since you must fill 85 minutes, you can if you want go the wealth of things we have listed in the Two Week Plan (see category) to fill in the rest of the class (before the quiz). I would use:
1. I would have them do a two or three sentence dictee. I would do that because the observers will be looking for it. Also for another reason: it gives you a chance to type onto the screen via the LCD or whatever the little “story” that you created with the volunteer kid. It would read something like:
Jessie prefers summer. In summer, it is warm. In summer, Jessie wears sunglasses.
Use ROA (see category) to process the reading. See, if you don’t give the dictee first, you have nothing to read because you can’t stop class and ask the observers to let you write up a story so it’s a little trick to get into a reading.
Once the dictee has been processes as per the dictee instructions (see category), Angie can just put up the just-created reading and start doing R and D with it. Both are major time eater uppers. When the other teachers are sweating bullets forty minutes in to their sample classes, Angie has it on cruise control, having moved from through these steps:
1. PQA (establishing meaning, questions about Jessie standing over there under the sun, or whatever season he chooses)
2. Kind of a story, where Angie explains that Jessie wears sunglasses in summer, or whatever. She can milk this for lots of reps by comparing Jessie and his sunglasses to any other kid or kids she may have asked to get up and stand in one of the other corners. But be careful, you want it all clear as a bell and since each new expression must be circled you get end up with no time to do the things below.
3. Dictee which becomes a
4. Reading of the story using ROA and/or R and D. Spin something new if the kids can hang with you.
5. You may want to throw in some Textivate or send the text into a voice recognition system somewhere on line (I can’t remember the one we use). This would be to get the “uses technology” box checked, Angie, but it may be hard to get it fired up during the lesson.
6. L and D of the artist’s drawing.
7. Timed Writing [credit: Bradley Donaldson]. Maybe just five minutes.
8. the Quick Quiz.
I’m sure others will add to this and make suggestions or point out where something may not work. It is very important that Angie not get locked into any kind of memorization of the above. Those are just suggestions. Really, she is reacting to what is happening in the class, like Greg said so well earlier today about the difference between being with the kids and doing a lesson and which is more important.
What if the kids know all this? If so, it is easily handled. Angie just moves faster, personalizes more kids, putting more kids in the corners. That would be a crappy thing, though, to ask a teacher to teach the kids something already taught. But the story format described above could work no matter what. Angie could have Jessie say some dialogue. “I love summer! I HATE winter” using the Susan Gross tap-on-the-shoulder technique. She could just kind of play off of the personalities of the different kids. She needs to know when to do that and when to stay with the base structures.
That is so exciting for you Angie! A block period is certainly a challenge, but it gives you time to stretch your wings and really be in the zone with the kids.
Ben offers some ideas that will work smoothly for your demo. I would also add the possibility of a 5-minute timed writing that you could also use as a formative assessment piece. Admins love writing and that could be used as an individual assessment as well.
Does anyone know how to type onto the screen while people are watching? In powerpoint you have to go into editing mode and it gets all tiny…
I do it in Word. You can quickly choose a font size. I say the sentence with the little door thing closed on the LCD so the kids have to write without help. During the time they are writing I write the correct version and slide open the door so they can make their corrections. Then I close it and say the next sentence, repeating that process sentence by sentence until the dictee is over. Then while some kid collects the dictees you sneak in some simple embedding of new words into the dictee that became a reading and slide it open for the reading. If you can’t sneak in the new words earlier because you are being observed, you can add them in as you read with the kids.
I love your ideas ben. I was thinking that instead of clothes I would circle activities in each season, like a CWB kind of thing. I like the idea of the paper seasons in the corners and having students stand near their favorite season, or one student as you said…why only one? I also thought about doing a reading after the PQA, something about a kid who goes out in spring to play baseball but it’s snowing. The next day it’s raining (because that’s the kind of spring we’ve had here in VT). It wouldn’t be a co-created story but it could be something to talk about, chorally translate, have them draw, retell, etc., and then do a quiz on. What do you think about that idea?
Doing 3 ring circus with clothing is super fun..perhaps you could incorporate this into the “establishing meaning” step?
Annemarie said:
…doing 3 ring circus with clothing….
I think this is something Uncle Rico would approve of. And Angie if you ever get in this demo to where you are too nervous to think straight, which would probably befall me just ’cause I hate being observed and I want so much to be liked, and because I think jobs are good things to have, then just instantly ask for there volunteers to go to there corners and do Three Ring Circus.
Here is my description of Three Ring Circus from TPRS in a Year! –
Skill #8: Three Ring Circus
The Three Ring Circus is easy and fun, and it is an effective tool for establishing meaning at any point of any class. It is especially effective at the beginning of the year, and is an excellent first or second day activity. It is not challenging for the students, and it gives some of them a chance to move their bodies and dispel tension that they might feel on the first day back.
To start, simply write three verbs in the imperative on the board in both the target language and in English. For example:
1. Raise your arm!
2. Jump!
3. Touch your nose!
After a minute or so of signing, ask (in English) that Student A stand up and go to a corner of the room (one of the three rings of the circus) and perform the actions you command.
The student at this point may balk, or at least give you a goofy look, and this is the signal for the fun to begin! Just encourage the child to continue the action as you command.
Get a lot of repetitions before going on to the second and third students, and then just go around to each āringā encouraging the kids. Keep all three rings going until you ask for a stop. By doing this, you are conveying to the students the idea that class will be fun and that you are in charge of the class.
It is a good idea to avoid any verbs that may be dangerous or may lead to a fall, like āturnā or āspinā or ārunā. Remember, as well, to choose only students who can do this without making a spectacle of themselves. If you make it clear that you are the one in charge during the first days of class it will set the tone for the year, and Three Ring Circus certainly puts you in the role of the āringmasterā.
Once things are clear, it is time to alter your commands. Do this in a very energetic way, as one would play Simon Says. The students must change their actions as you alter the commands, never going āout of boundsā with new verbs, only the ones you have already taught.
Make sure that if you use a new word (left, right, slowly, quickly, raise, lower, leg, hand, etc.) that you write it down on the board with its English translation so that it is clear to all the students.
This activity usually dies down naturally after five minutes or so, but it is an excellent warm up to classes, especially at the beginning of the year. When the circus is over, you can always ask circled questions of the students about the activities in the three rings, as described above in the section on circling. Three Ring Circus is truly an āoldie but a goodieā in TPRS!
…I would circle activities in each season, like a CWB kind of thing….
You know, this has the best of both Catharina’s and my suggestions. What I really like about it is that with each kid having a season, as it were, you can use that, as in CWB, as a platform for all sorts of comparing, etc. You could even get all the summer kids in one corner, etc. and get some competition going between the groups, if it arose naturally with enough visceral speech on your part. Emotion counts for a lot in fluency gains. Secondly, I like the safety that we all know resides in the CWB format.
The only reason I said only one was because two or ten or even more in one corner would lead to immediate chaos as they were no longer sitting in their restraining devices. Even two would see that as a chance to act out and that would be the end of your demo. Any time CI kids can get together where the rest of the kids are looking at them, you have to be careful. That’s why I say one and why I have Rule #7 up there on the Classroom Rules chart and why I have learned to enforce it with vigor whenever a story is going on. I am very aware of my actors all the time, even when they are behind me.
Could you do some variation on Jim Tripp’s story “Brrr” ?
Is there a boy? a girl? an animal? Correct. There is a boy. What is his name? Is he cold? wet? warm? hot? Correct. He is cold. Is he a little cold or very cold…Why is he cold? Oh it’s winter? or summer? or spring..? Correct. It is winter and he is very cold. Is it snowing? raining? Does the boy have a coat? …A little secret: The boy has a friend (a girl? a boy?). What does he say to his friend: I am cold? I am hot? Help me? What does he need? His friend gives him shorts? No? Maybe? What does his friend give him? a scarf? a poncho? blabla He puts … on his legs. But he is still cold. His friend gives him ….. He puts it on his ears. But he is still cold. His friend throws … at him. Now he is warm.
Ask tons of questions and circle the weather, the clothing, the seasons as you keep moving forward in the story. Write the words up on the board with the English and maybe a quick drawing. Point and pause to the words the supervisors want you to target. Bring some simple props, use your own coat,scarf or a student’s.
TPR massively before the story, and add gestures to all the verbs. Have the kids practice standing up, gesturing, then with eyes closed, and 3 verbs in a row.
I am really a little kids teacher. 85 minutes would be the end of me.
The BRRR story does it all!
I think you have plenty of great lesson plan ideas! Go Angie, go angie! š
Just one more way to do clothing, weather, and any thematic list for that matter: I do one-word images, like has been discussed before as “Reports of the Day.” All the words I want to introduce are projected as an image and labeled with the word in the L2. For example, I pick the structure “se viste con” for clothing and “hace ___” and “estĆ” ___” for weather. Then, I ask for a celebrity and we circle the structure, including the images in front: “Does Justin Beiber dress with pants or a skirt?” and for weather: “What is the weather like in _place_? Kids pick a whacky place and include some whacky options (like “tornado,” “rainbow,” etc.).
I’ve created PPTs for much of the traditional thematic vocabulary and I can go to these Reports as a warm-up or bailout strategy. I’ve even had kids ask for the reports on days when we don’t do them, which suggests a few like this activity. It’s definitely a low-priority activity to me, although it is a little reassuring because I can satisfy some of that pressure I feel to teach these words. It’s amazing how fast we can “cover” all the thematic vocabulary via CI. I reduced every thematic list to 1-2 questions kids usually practice and are expected to answer in a traditional course. It’s so obvious to me after I look at what is typically taught in a traditional program that the kids are given such little functional vocabulary (so few verbs!). Talk about the “wrong” content. I have shared these thematic PPTs on my website. Scroll down to Vocabulary #3:
http://www.edgartownschool.org/class200.html
I’ll try to include direct links here:
Date, Clothing, Weather, Food, Drink:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CIzsrEFuNVPs0Ea_FqLxUbjNXBh7i5p8xmiTu3_uAbc/edit?usp=sharing
Sports, Instruments, Time, Daily Routines, School Objects:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ObQBWcU5xEcY3h5Chc0XPhJI7K5tOVt1zc9P-fNtI6c/edit?usp=sharing
House, Family, Adjectives, Transportation, Places, Professions:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YT1c_Q_5VjWvyEyqU9X0Kze89nIOvmDQrJa5vLF2OVs/edit?usp=sharing
Ben’s outline looks good, but I think you need a couple of brain breaks in there.
Assuming that you will be teaching students who have had Spanish for at least this school year, you can work the activities into the brain break. Many sports are cognates, so you could say:
“La clase se levanta. Es el verano. La clase juega (al) bĆ©isbol. [Let them play a moment – maybe even create an imaginary game with base running, etc.] La class juega (al) vĆ³libol. [If you have the class arranged with desks facing one another, they can play imaginary volleyball.] La clase juega …”
Later you could do another brain break with winter sports. You could even do a little bit of circling when it is over: “ĀæJugĆ³ la clase (al) tenis? ĀæJugĆ³ la clase (al) bĆ©isbol o (al) fĆŗtbol? ĀæSe juega el bĆ©isbol en el verano o en el invierno? ĀæQuiĆ©n hace snow(board) en el invierno?”
Oo! I like the brain break ideas!
Catharina’s idea is more nuanced and flexible. I wrote my idea because that is what I would do, but it is a bit rigid in the now-you-do-this-now-you-do-that department. Catharina’s is more of a story approach, where you are moving structures into the narrative naturally depending on what is happening in the moment, which is real, not prescribed, CI.
Really, we need to know how much French the students have already. Assuming it is the end of the year, a story approach like Catharina’s, incorporating a basic order like the eight things I suggest, might be best. No sample class like this can work if Angie is trying to remember to do things in some mechanically memorized way.
Again, Angie, just pull from these ideas, following the basic plan from Catharina, as nothing can be set in stone and you must follow a natural flow that comes from what you see happening in class as it goes along and you respond, focusing on the kids and wrapping the CI around them and not them around the CI, as we said earlier today.
The first paragraph from Catharina contains the gold for you Angie. The stuff I said can be used to easily extend the time to 85 minutes. Also, always keep trying to teach to the people doing the hiring. If they learn some French and can stay with you, they can sit there for 85 minutes. If they can’t, it won’t be good.
If only the French teacher is there, they suck, because then she becomes the judge. In that case all you can do is just teach the kids and engage them in a way she can’t because she drives a 30 year old car and you drive a new car.
Angie, you are going to rock this. Trust your own true energy…I love this idea: “something about a kid who goes out in spring to play baseball but itās snowing. The next day itās raining (because thatās the kind of spring weāve had here in VT)” because it taps into local “legend” so to speak.
I agree that you will definitely need to build in brain breaks. Have the template for sure, so you have something to lean on. And then go with your gut read of the energy in the room. From that one very brief glimpse of your teaching back in October at Skip’s peer coaching session…it is clear to me that you are rooted in yourself, and that you have a gift for making everyone feel included, important, comfortable and successful…so let this guide you. I think despite the fact that “weather” as a thematic unit is pretty boring…you have lasered in on something here, bc of how cranky everyone has been here with all the snow, rain, slush , jokes about “is it really spring?” etc.
Have fun and they will have fun…and with all the great ideas–tech, writing, movement…you will dazzle the suits as well. Can’t wait to hear about it š
Jen said about Angie:
…from that one very brief glimpse of your teaching back in October at Skipās peer coaching sessionā¦it is clear to me that you are rooted in yourself, and that you have a gift for making everyone feel included, important, comfortable and successful….
As Uncle Rico said, “Right on!…Right on!” This makes me very happy to read, because when you have that gift of making everyone feel important, something not purchasable in textbook company catalogues, the rest (CI technique) is all gravy. Right on!
I think they need to let you know if the students will have any background in Spanish already. Teaching a first-ever class is very different from teaching people with background. Their request to include so many pieces of content sounds like way too much to me. Then again, if they are French students, maybe the high level of French-Spanish cognates would help you out.
Teaching Chinese makes me hyper-sensitive to beginners and affective filters. I don’t know if it’ll be needed for Spanish, but I share in case:
I start my exploratory classes with a short discussion in English aimed at lowering affective filters… I first say something like, “So, you’re going to be learning some Chinese! What do you think about that?” with a smile and a long pause. [Wish I could use the term ‘acquiring’ but I don’t go into that with grade 4.] Last time, two or three excited kids said, “Cool” and similar things, but I could see that at least half of the kids were afraid to say anything about how scared they were. So I after warmly acknowledging those “cool” type comments, I said, “I hear that some students feel concerned that Chinese will be very difficult, and that they’re afraid they might not do well. Are any of you feeling like that?” [In an older age group, I would make sure they didn’t feel they had to show their answer to that question.] So I transition with, “Would you like to know some things you can do in class that will help you get Chinese and have it be more enjoyable?” And heads nod. Then I share my classroom expectations poster (look, listen, respond, signal when unclear, respect, positive attitude) and briefly mention classroom jobs.
The feel of the room changed palpably after that. Seriously, I could see the anxiety levels going way lower on 4-5 kids. Then we proceed to a really positive first class. I explain that we’re going to have a conversation together, including all of us. They don’t need to repeat after me; just think about what it means, and respond with a head nod or head shake. When they feel ready to use some words, they can.
If I may venture a guess, I think Angie will be looking at first or second year kids (it doesn’t matter) who have received very little “unconscious flow instruction” (CI) where the focus was on the message and not the words. As long as Angie stays in the TL – I think it is Spanish, jen – we can be fairly assured that the kids have been knocking the language around in their conscious minds for a long time and will therefore be without a clue as to how to handle this new form of instruction (which is why I thought it would be good if Angie had that rigor poster in there or at least had a copy of it to refer to to explain to the kids how to listen and why they must listen in that way).
Diane said:
…I explain that weāre going to have a conversation together, including all of us. They donāt need to repeat after me; just think about what it means, and respond with a head nod or head shake. When they feel ready to use some words, they can….
Uncle Rico repeats, “Right on! Right on!”…
Who is Uncle Rico, Ben?
He’s Napoleon Dynamite’s uncle. I like the way he says “Right on!” I want to be able to say it that way.
I’m going to look him up! I thought it might be a new nickname…
Angie, I did not read completely all the suggestions above, so pardon any repetitions please.
-Remember to limit your vocab, even if you are being expected to teach all this thematic stuff. I’d pick 2 weather scenarios (it’s cold, it’s hot) and 2 clothing items (at least one of them a cognate) to TPR/pre-teach before the story, and then two structures (ex. has, gives).
-PQA the weather a bit, then bring in the clothing items (i.e. Do you need a coat when it’s cold? When it’s hot? etc). Then make sure “has” and “gives” are well understood, TPR/sign them if not. (I’m operating under the assumption that you’d do a Brrrr! type story, but these verbs could be changed easily if you do something like Ben or Jen say.
-Ask one student to come up front and sit in a chair. Talk about him being cold, really cold (make sure he is acting in sync to your words, and demand choral responses from class, going REALLY SLOW). Then talk about what he has (ex. He has sunglasses, but he needs a coat. Who has a coat? Does he have a coat? Does Sarah have a coat?)
-Then you can get to the action where so and so does or does not give him the coat. Or if they do, and the class is ready for it, you could add in “puts it on” (following the Brrr! script). But I would think you will not hit that point, if you’re going slowly and embellishing the simple stuff like “how” so and so gives him the coat, what color the coat is, If it’s a small or big coat, etc.
I always tend toward the simple “looks at, has, gives” format a la Linda Li when doing a demo, which this script parallels somewhat.
Suerte!
Jim
Jim said:
…ask one student to come up front and sit in a chair. Talk about him….
Uncle Rico likes!
Thanks everyone. I have my plan mostly complete and just had a great conversation with Laurie Clarq to go over it and tweak things. What an amazing community. I hope I get this job so I can really be in this with all of you!!!
If you don’t get this job it will be due to the fact that they lacked vision, the kind of vision it takes to see a potential rock star teacher. So if they say no, cut that loose within the first few seconds of losing that opportunity. I had to do that with an old friend, my car, got stolen Friday night. We learn to let go when life hands us that, and, guess what Angie, after what you have been through you WILL get a job. But you don’t get to decide when and with whom. But, in my own unasked for opinion about these things, it will be at the right time and with the right tribe.
My two bits: Your presence be a novelty to the students, Angie, so you should be able to sustain their attention during the CI sessions for longer periods of time that what you may already be familiar with… that has been my experience going in and teaching a demo lesson.
Hey Angie,
I won’t add to the wonderful advice/ideas above… I just wanted to tell you how much I learned from you while you were practicing during our peer coaching session on the Saturday after the fall conference with Laurie.
You were SO confident, gentle, SLOW, deliberate, thoughtful and calm.
You will do great! Please let us know how it goes!
Ćnimo!
Skip
Skip said:
…you were SO confident, gentle, SLOW, deliberate, thoughtful and calm….
Uncle Rico like that! Success with CI is precisely about those exact things. One of the biggest compliments I ever got was when Carol Gaab and Kristy Placido visited my classroom in Denver a few years ago and both starting calling me “Gentle Ben” after those classes. I asked them what they meant and they said that my style was so gentle with the kids, and on that day at least, SLOW. So it sounds as if Angie comes with her own CI style already. I suspect that that is true about many of our young teachers in this group, and may account for their being drawn to the method in the first place – that they crave a method that will in fact allow them to be as skip said, “deliberate, thoughtful and calm”. Why are those words important? Because deliberate, thoughtful and calm people are more human. More human, Jerry.
Well the class went really well today. I was impeccably planned in a way that set me free to really pay attention to the students and I actually forgot I was being observed and had fun! It felt like coming home after so many months away from the high school Spanish classroom. I had objectives and Interpersonal Skills Expectations posted, along with the question words. I used many of your suggestions: Did TPR with the seasons and activities (including some slides of stuff that happens in different seasons…they name the season), PQAed their activities in different seasons (fun! wish I’d had more time for that!) , had a “Note Taker” write sentences and used them for a Dictado, , did a reading on the screen of a little story I prepared (I read Spanish sentence by sentence, they translated), then had them read and translate in pairs the hard copy version. Ran out of time for R&D, so I just informally, orally gave them the 5-question T or F quiz I had made and they did great. Also had a couple of TPR and “stand in your favorite season” brain breaks in there. Met with the admins after and they were really friendly, principal said I was talented! I drove away thinking well, if the other person gets the job they are either a superstar or else that school does not want CI instruction, ’cause I nailed that!
Yay Angie!
Sweeeeeeet! Awesome to hear how well it went š
Badass! I love this:
…I actually forgot I was being observed and had fun!….
and this:
…principal said I was talented!….
Principals don’t say that. Has anyone heard a principal say they were talented? I sure haven’t. They don’t often think that way.
Good work Angie. We have all been waiting to hear. Now, having done your best, and it sounds like your best was most likely a lot better than anything else they saw given that you transitioned from one activity to the next so smoothly, just rest assured in the knowledge that you did your best and that’s all we can ever do. Congratulations!
Big smile.
Really great to read about how it went for you today. Whatever happens, you know you did well. Congratulations!
Woo-hoooo!!!!!
Of course! This is so great to hear. So much of what you report confirms a lot about you and your gift of connecting:
* I was impeccably planned in a way that set me free to really pay attention to the students
* I actually forgot I was being observed and had fun!
* fun! wish Iād had more time for that!
* I drove away thinking well, if the other person gets the job they are either a superstar or else that school does not want CI instruction, ’cause I nailed that.
Whatever the outcome, you infused that group with some energy that they likely have never seen or felt before. Congratulations! š
Congrats, Angie! Thanks for sharing how it went with us -I was excited myself at your job well done.
I love what Jen said above: “Whatever the outcome, you infused that group with some energy that they likely have never seen or felt before.”
I think that particular energy comes largely from being freed to fully pay attention to the students, being fully in the moment with one student at a time, his or her personality, energy, etc. Students can feel that connection with us and it turns into energy. Congrats on relaxing and enjoying enough to access that connection during your demo lesson.
This post and all comments are perfect timing for me. I just opened an email inviting me to give a demo lesson the first week of May for a middle school French job. The WL supervisor will be giving me a “curricular topic”, so I’ll have plenty of my own questions soon. Although I’m sure the comments here for Angie’s demo could be tweaked for just about any kind of demo.
Angie –
WOOO HOOOOOO!!!!
Wow, you got some awesome compliments!! that is GREAT! I am not surprised — ditto what Skip and Jen said about our peer coaching in October….if you were anywhere near that good, you bet your tuckus (sp?) that you’re talented!!!
And, congrats on uber-planning!!! and that you didn’t feel like you were being observed! That’s awesome!!
Buena suerte Chica! (but you’re right – if you’re not hired, it’s definitely for a reason…..and NOT that you didn’t ROCK IT!!!)l
Well done Angie!
Angie, congratulations. Quite an awesome accomplishment. Success. Priceless!
Congrats Angie!
Good to hear the news, Angie! I am looking for a new job as well and will certainly review this thread to prepare any demo lessons they might ask of me. I’m kinda surprised they wanted to observe you demo an entire 85 min lesson. They must be serious about hiring quality teachers. I just hope they understand that what they saw in you was quality, cuz we all know it was.
Well, I got the job! Without exaggeration I can say that I would not have gotten this job without the technical and emotional support of this community, so THANK YOU.
Lucky students !!!
Congrats!!!
Way to go, Angie! I hope administration, parents, and students realize that they have received a true gift. When do you start? Is this for the fall?
Congratulations, Angie! Where is your new job?
I just joined this blog in the fall and never read your bio or reports from the field from last year, so I went back and read them, and I see you live in Vermont. So do I!
I’m going to send you an email, so I hope the address on the member list is correct. I am thrilled to find another Vermonter here.
I have to comment again on this great and well-earned good fortune for Angie. There is a feeling of laughter that bubbles up sometimes when a person is really happy, and I am feeling that way right now. Without even knowing Angie, but knowing what she has gone through in the past two years, I am just bubbling over with happiness.
This is what we are all about in this community, really, isn’t it – helping each other through the peaks and valleys of this most demanding profession? That’s what it is for me. This success marks the end of a false start and the beginning of a real one.
May your career now take off, Angie, in the real way and not in the false way it began two years ago. I am so glad that they asked for an 85 min. sample class from you. I think doing that and nailing it will one day prove to be one of the keys to your future successes in the classroom because it built your confidence back. I firmly believe that if you can do something like that, you can do anything. Wowie!