Unlock with PatreonThe Problem with CI
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The Words They Don’t Speak
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4 thoughts on “The Words They Don’t Speak”
This is a keeper. It’s really what being a teacher is all about.
I am really trying today, and will try tomorrow, during PQA not only to act like I care about their answers, but actually to care. I keep telling myself, “You care about what they did over the break. Don’t just act like it. FEEL it.”
I think we can be honest with ourselves by putting it this way: We may not care about every detail that our students have to offer, but we do care about them. Again, it is a move away from content, from the subject we are supposedly teaching, from the “what.” toward the human beings, the feelings, the “how,” namely what is unspoken but so much more important that any learning goal.
Part of the lack of respect we receive is that students just can’t comprehend that simply by being present in our classrooms, simply by sitting in their seats, even if they are not making any attempt to participate, they are absorbing A LOT of the language. It just can’t be that easy, there’s no mental struggle, no humiliation, no ranking of students, no forced production or memorization of charts, and so it must not be valuable. Of course many of them get it, or they will get it eventually, years later. My students know I don’t give a crap about homework, grades, standardized tests, projects, intellectual showing-off, tricking them with a trick question on a quiz (unless it’s a joke we’re all in on), etc. But they do know that I care about them, about Latin, and about making sure that they show good will to each other. My goal is just to make that clearer and clearer in the work I do with them.
…but they do know that I care about them, about Latin, and about making sure that they show good will to each other….
And the key to that is simplicity. If they can be allowed to just sit in a simple class, where the teacher is relaxed and not burdened by disorgnization (that feeling of not being able to keep up with everything they have to do as teachers), then the CI is much more clear to the student, and so much more can be acquired.
Simplicity is the key to what we do. Rushing to the next activity is the worst thing we could do. Slowing down so that all is crystal clear as class rolls by in the target language is the best thing we can do. It is a challenge, since we were trained that teaching meant complexity and being nervous. But CI cannot survive in a complex classroom.
John you and I have been talking about this for about a year now. It’s a good thread. So much of what we want to really convey to our students is found in this single word.