Viola Davis in speaking about her profession said:
“I became an artist, and thank God I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life.”
I would add that we in the field of foreign language education have a chance at getting in on that concept of celebrating life with our students. We just can’t get too carried away with teaching the language and remember why we are in the classroom with those kids in the first place. In my opinion it’s not to teach them the language. That is second. It is to use language to help them celebrate what it means to live a life and in the process to help them celebrate theirs. That’s what comprehensible input can do for us professionally. It is not just a better way to teach, it is a way to teach that involves the whole person, addressing not just the intellectual development of the child but also the social side. Ironically, when we do that more and more in our classroom, when we help kids in that way – all the kids not just the white ones – they make great gains in the language. I am so thankful for Stephen Krashen helping me figure out a way to reach my students in ways that go beyond mere learning. Thank you, Stephen!