We Will Prevail

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12 thoughts on “We Will Prevail”

  1. I just keep reminding myself to look at each one of my students in the eyes in the beginning of every class. This helps ground me and remind me why I teach.

    1. This was the aspect of TPRS that first jarred me. I realized that I rarely really looked into my students’ eyes in my first couple years of teaching. I actually tell the students about it now. “I’m going to look at your eyes to see if you are understanding.” etc.

  2. It’s not about the method at all, is it Annemarie? The method we have found just happens to be the one that brings the highest levels of human communication is all. And what is human communication but language?

    1. Never before (using CI) had I noticed the paramount importance of eye contact, and the other general characteristics of interpersonal communication (immediacy, clarifying, body language, etc). I honestly think that it is more important that the difference between a 28 and an 18 on ACT score. I’m saying this more and more to other staff and admin… and how can they refute it? We all know it’s true. We can’t easily trust someone who can’t keep eye contact. And trust is a BIG deal, as Bob is often bringing up here.

      Re the political nature of some recent comments… did they offend? I read that they were “nasty” and “lack class”. I would like to have been able to judge that for myself, as a member of this PLC. I do agree that we should keep our eye on CI. But what about the other issues that are creeping into our lives and classrooms, that can effect the way our jobs are viewed/handled? Are those off limits here now? I’ve valued the sometimes political nature of our discussions. As a maturing adult, I’m learning how to disagree with someone’s politics and still be able to work together with them.

      But if you see necessary, I understand/accept your position Ben, as the PLC manager/inspirer (word?), to censor political content. We can always go to other venues to get those needs met.

  3. Jim I read one sentence from Chris’ comment and it clouded my reading of his overall strong message. I shouldn’t have handled it that way and I apologized to him privately.

    To answer your question, someone has to draw the line re: where it becomes too wide for our scope here. I will do that. And I’m going to keep our scope limited. Yes, we are all teachers and things like school shootings affect us. But I want to keep the discussion directly on on pedagogy and mental/emotional support of each other in comprehension based instruction.

    That’s as wide as I want to get here bc that is all I think we can handle on a daily basis and still keep the discussion worthwhile. Narrow and deep. Good point and thanks for bringing it up.

  4. Ben I trust your judgement implicitly. I belong to this PLC and not another because of you, your insight, your wisdom, your dedication. If I were to write something that did not contribute to your above-stated goals, I would hope that you would delete it. You are like the teacher in the CI classroom who gets to say, “C’est mon histoire!”

  5. Hey all– for the record, I think Ben’s idea to stay TPRS-focused is a good one, unless he wants to set up a specific “politics” tag or whatever (specific convos for politics). I’m here to learn TPRS as are I think the rest of us.

  6. A teacher blogger said today that we as teachers love our kids – they are more than mere students, more than clients – they are our kids. To echo Laurie, this teacher talked about the heart thing and the need to establish trust so they feel safe with us. Teachers are heroes as exhibited by the actions of the young women who gave their lives to shield their kids. I bet everyone on this blog would do the same. In the recent climate of “blame the teacher”, I hope the brave example of the teacher-heroes in Newtown, Connecticut will be remembered by all as the extreme example of what it means to be a selfless, dedicated, committed teaching professional. On a professional level and probably a personal one too, I am forever changed. It’s taken a few days for the numbness to wear off and Friday’s insanity just hit me like a ton of bricks. Grieving.

  7. Me too. I feel more emotional tonight than in a few days. I also received news today that a CIS colleague (College-in-the-Schools), from my U of M teaching cohort, passed away early this morning. I need some good news.

    Thanks for the PLC. I’ve been quiet this fall. My plate has been very full. I’ll try to be more present after Break. 2 days to go.

    Thanks, everyone.

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