The New PQA

5 thoughts on “The New PQA”

1. chill

   January 25, 2012 at 12:07 pm

   I picked a few structures off the list that you and Paul came up with. Il a l’air, il vient de and il est en train de. Since exams are finally over and a kid broke his shoulder snowboarding, I got a lot of miles out of those structures – 80 minutes over two days. Thanks, guys!

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2. Melinda Smith

   January 25, 2012 at 1:33 pm

   Ben, which conferences will you be presenting this summer?

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3. Andrea

   January 25, 2012 at 4:22 pm

   Ben,

   I’m glad that you blogged about PQA today. I love PQA! In my opinion, it’s the magic behind CI. This year I am acknowledging that I am not a very good story teller; and instead of trying to suffer through forced stories (I’ll practice those skills during the summer), I am relishing in PQA. In one of my classes, we spent at least six weeks discussing the likes and dislikes of the students without it becoming too mundane or dull. I feel like the class united during that time; several students earned nicknames and we laughed together a lot.

   It was not easy for me to do this at first. I finally understand the importance of going SLOW – too slow for my own comfort. Just because I am bored doesn’t mean that the kids are bored. I think our knee-jerk reaction is to speed up; and that’s where we lose the kids. I like to “sit” in PQA for as long as I feel that it’s not forced. The kids can tell when it’s forced. And sometimes I might not even get to a story. I’ll never forget attending my first TPRS workshop and hearing Susan Gross’s voice saying that it doesn’t matter if you ever get to a story; and that CI + P is the key.

   Even if I don’t get to a story, I still work from a script or a TPRS curriculum; and sometimes I don’t care if there are structures in the reading or readings that I don’t get to. I will provide a quick translation during the class reading. I don’t think we give our brains enough credit for what they can absorb on their own while we read.

   I just try to make conversation with the kids with a particular reading in mind; and I PQA the most important vocabulary and structures. PQA lets me be creative in the questions that I ask and the statements I make. For example, today I insisted a boy in class is a shepherd and owns 100 sheep. Of course I got blank stares of confusion, but then I explained that he likes to count sheep to go to sleep (it was previously established that he likes to sleep). I went out on a limb and the kids liked it so I went with it and we went on to describe the sheep; and the boy left class as “le berger.”

   PQA has really made me slow down because I write so much on the board to keep it comprehensible to the kids. I was frightened at first by the silence when I turned my back to write on the board. Now I enjoy it because I know in my heart that the kids are anticipating total comprehension. I hope that makes sense.

   Thanks again for everything that everyone does here. I read often, but rarely post. Thanks again!

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   1. Ben Slavic

      January 25, 2012 at 6:19 pm

      …I don’t think we give our brains enough credit for what they can absorb on their own while we read….

      I have this thought every day. I did some reading classes today and couldn’t believe the level of engagement. But then, whenever I do PQA, I say to myself, “All I want to do is this.” Then, I say the same thing in stories, and the same thing in readings.

      Ain’t it great?

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   2. Ben Slavic

      January 25, 2012 at 6:23 pm

      Le Berger is so happy. Why shouldn’t he be? He walked into a secondary school classroom and, instead of being met with bullshit he’s not really into, you started talking about HIM. You stayed with it. The result was magical. Wonderful!

      And post more! You are doing some awesome work.

      And just one word of caution – avoid too many new Point and Pause invaders into the flow of the CI. They can only take so much new stuff. Even if you have bright and engaged kids. Focus on the word you are teaching, at least one repetition of it in every single utterance. I’m preaching to the choir here.

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