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When Being Observed 3
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47 thoughts on “When Being Observed 3”
This is great, thanks for sharing, Kate! It’s nice seeing different lesson plan templates for TPRS lessons.
So with the English Patrol and the timer, is there a reward or punishment depending on how much class was spent in Spanish or English? Or is this just for your benefit to see how you’re doing?
I’ve been thinking about starting the Pagame system that is touted by many.
Thanks, Chris! I felt a lil’ nervous putting it out there but really want to refine my lessons for this week since we are being evaluated and you guys are the folks I trust the most so here it is =)
As for English Patrol and the Timer, I am doing it for the first time this school year and I use it exclusively just for the kids to see how they have improved over the year in terms of how much Spanish they are using. At the beginning of the year most classes started off only being able to go 2 or 3 minutes but are now averaging 25 minutes (out of a 30 minute daily class) without anyone resorting to English. It’s neither a competition nor a punishment — they have no idea how much time the other classes have logged. But they get super psyched to see the time creep up and up and up. One 4th Grade class hit 30 minutes last week and there was much jubilation. We are planning a small celebration ( a game or a short dance party) to mark the occasion. I’m all about keeping it simple =)
This is huge Kate. Very few can claim those numbers. Wow. I’m on it. I will assume you will allow me to list these two as jobs in the Jobs category to add to the other ones.
The only thing is I know that you have younger kids (what grades?) and I am wondering if this will work with high school kids.
Of course, use the jobs! BTW I totally stole this idea from some other genius teacher here…I forget who. It really does cut down on “side talking” so it is a great classroom management tool as well.
If someone asks permission to speak English I don’t count it- perhaps I should? If a kid is trying to express something and can’t circumlocute they are allowed to ask “como se dice_____?”. Maybe that should bring the clock back to zero?
I teach 3rd, 4th, 5th, and one section of 8th and it works really well with my 8th graders as well. Again, watching the numbers creep up over time has given them a sense of accomplishment and pride in their growing abilities (and focus on the task at hand). Can’t speak for high school– that’s a whooooooole other world =)
Personally, I like rewards better than punishments. I use a system where I have two charts on the wall for each one of my sections, labeled 10 – 1. Each room is divided into two groups. Whenever I catch somebody from one group speaking English when they shouldn’t (as in never, except to provide “cute” answers), I move a magnet down one step on the chart (let’s say from 10 to 9). At the end of the week, the group who is higher on the chart receives a prize (I have 5 price levels which were chosen by the students). Last week, it cost me 15 donuts. They also have a chance moving back up the ladder if they catch me speaking English.
I know this might sound a bit confusing. If you are interested and can’t figure out what I’m trying to describe, I can take a picture of it tomorrow and e-mail it to you.
Jody just explained something like this somewhere. Interesting idea even if it were done between classes.
I certainly agree with Brigitte that rewards work better than punishment. I work with older students, 15 and up (best not to know in some cases) and they all go for a chocolate cake when they’ve reached a goal that we’ve set and agreed on together. In younger classes I gave and took away points and got a lot of competition going on just saying boys vs girls.
Kate, beautiful job. You will be great. They better visit you!
Thank you, dear Carol =)
I agree with Carol. What massive preparation! I hope this goes very well for you. One little thing (I feel awkward mentioning it): The last question with “es justo” requires the present subj: coma instead of come. The kids will never notice it, but a Spanish-speaking observer may. Hope you don’t mind the correction.
Maybe if there was a pre-arranged sign just for permission to speak English, but another, perhaps better, way around that is to have the kid just run over to a big poster size sticky note on the wall and write the question there for the metacognition discussion at the end of class.
Jody the whole purpose of this site is to create a family atmosphere of trust and safety. The more of those two things we are able to generate, the more videos we get, the more we learn, the more we correct each other in a loving way, the more we are able to take correction from each other, etc.
You happen to be a super super gifted professional on all levels. We are very lucky to have you in the group. We will all make errors in what we say here, and some will be bc we need to learn and others bc they are inadvertent. Keep your thoughts coming and don’t stifle a one.
Let’s just get over this now. My prayer is that we can just have at each other in a spirit of learning more and knowing that we, indeed, are making this stuff up as we go along. That is why it is so exciting. Kind of like in the days of the Wright brothers and Mermoz and Saint-Ex.
No need to walk on eggshells when pointing things like this out. Bryce and I hopefully will come to blows going up a mountain on our bikes this summer. It’s good for us. Well, good for him. I would look like road kill after such a confrontation, but you get the idea.
Save the other stuff for the school buildings, where mistrust lives and breathes in just about every comment made between colleagues in those dark buildings, the buildings we all work in, even with me in an entirely CI based department. This is a different space.
Jody–if you don’t mind going into grammar mode, can you explain this to me? I know that the subjunctive would be used here if it were a statement: “Es justo que coma” but is the sense different as a question?
This is one of those sticky things that I am not fluent enough to know, and I figure you are a quicker resource than digging into my John Butt’s grammar manual.
thanks.
lori fiechter
I am definitely not the last word on grammar questions since I didn’t learn the language that way. However, I know what sounds right.
The idea of asking a question, “Is it fair that…?” connotes doubt about the answer. That tells me it needs “coma”, the subjunctive.
Other examples I know to be subjunctive:
¿Es justo que él pague toda la cuenta?
¿Es justo que ella haga tu trabajo?
¿Es justo que ellos puedan ir al cine y yo no?
Pardon my lack of grammareze. Just don’t know it very well.
Thanks so much, Jody. I think the reason is sounded different to me is because I was thinking of it in the past tense (because the story had already taken place.)
Sounding right is exactly what I needed!
I feel the same way Lori. I would have never caught that. I wish I had the time and money to go abroad some more to improve my fluency, I’m embarrassed to have conversations with native speakers.
I think this little conversation is a great example of why this type of teaching is the way to go, why this type of teaching results in lower dropout rates from language classes…………………grammar sucks! Simple as that. The minute you tell a kid “present subjunctive” it’s over. I’ve made the mistake of saying “subject pronoun” to a class, I will not be doing that again.
The unacceptable part is that when teachers use those terms, and then expect the kids to learn the language from that type of instruction, it is really a very very stupid thing to do. The kids don’t know what a subject pronoun is because they don’t WANT to know what one is. And if one doesn’t WANT to know something, then it is highly unlikely that they will know it enough to keep it in memory. They learn it to pass the test. They learn it to memorize, not acquire it. When are we going to just move on from this nonsense about subject pronouns in our country? The only way to really know them is to hear them so many times that one knows them that way, by sound identification and meaning, and not by a mere describing word.
I think there is a switch in students’ brains that automatically turns off the moment we use a grammatical term such as: subject pronoun, adjective, conjugate (ewww!), present tense, present tense indicative, imperfect, preterit, the list goes on and on.
I agree that it is a very stupid thing to do, to think that students are going to acquire language through that type of instruction. At my school, I teach all of the 7th graders and I have 1 class of 8th graders. Most of the 8th graders (that I had last year as 7th graders) have a different teacher. They are doing worksheets and grammar, I’ve had so many students come to me for help with “conjugating verbs” or “sentence structure, you know, like, putting sentences together” <–(their words), etc. I feel bad for these kids, they think that Spanish isn't for them because they can't grasp these grammatical concepts.
I hear you, Chris. Increasing fluency is key to being more effective in the classroom. It is certainly hard to do by yourself in a classroom with a bunch of kids who don’t speak Spanish. Duh. 🙂
My advice: Have fun!! More Spanish television and Spanish pleasure reading. You won’t learn all of the “bad” words, but your fluency will dramatically improve over time.
Is there a Spanish-speaking community where you live? Are there stores, where Spanish is spoken, in which you could shop? Are there community events you could start attending to get to know more native Spanish speakers? Are there Spanish radio stations? What other Spanish media is nearby–newspapers in print or online? Are there salsa dance classes or folkloric dance classes in your area? I find out about what is happening in the Latino community by watching tv in Spanish. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer and/or just have a good time.
That’s really how I did it. Many of us are lucky to live in cities where there are large numbers of Spanish speakers, so we really don’t need to go to another country to increase our fluency. The trick is finding out how to be in authentic relationship with Spanish speakers right where you live. If there aren’t Spanish speakers in your area, they are online. Now, there’s a huge opportunity!
Here’s another confession (very embarrassing) most Spanish television is too fast for me to understand a large portion of it. I catch about 65-75% of it, if I’m lucky. I have been wanting to do some Spanish pleasure reading, I just don’t know what books to get. I want to get the Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons in Spanish but other than that I don’t know what other books to get. Any recommendations? I’m not too worried about learning “bad” words, I feel I already know quite a few and that’s what my Oxford Spanish Dictionary is for 🙂
There is somewhat of a Spanish-speaking community near where I live but the problem is they are so scattered that there really isn’t a “latino neighborhood” with stores and restaurants like you would see with a Chinatown or anything like that. It’s kind of hard to find the Spanish-speakers around here. There is a store though called “La Reyna Tienda Mexicana” and another Guatemalan store that aren’t too far from where I live, but I don’t know what I would do after walking in. It would feel awkward being a random gringo walking into a Mexican store randomly starting a conversation. I can already imagine a joke about that, “A gringo walks into a Mexican store and….” Any suggestions on a conversation to start with them? There aren’t any Spanish radio stations, no nearby newspapers, no folkloric dance classes.
Luckily, I recently found out that about 15 minutes from where I live there is a church that has service in Spanish every Sunday. I’m planning on going every week to start getting at least an hour a week of immersion and chances to meet and befriend some people to start improving my fluency. How do I start some authentic relationships?
I recently read Juego del ángel and Sombra del viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafán. I highly recommend both books. I wasn’t getting all of it (maybe 75%), but I was amazed at how much I could get, how much I enjoyed reading in Spanish, how much I could figure out from context, and how much new language I learned from reading. Goes to show what Free Voluntary Reading can do for any of us!
I have noticed that Stephen Krashen seems to bring this up all the time – what reading can do for us as people and forget the teacher part for a moment.
He continues to tout bookmooch.com as a way of getting us reading, getting us to quit thinking about our own teaching all the time and just relax with a book.
There is something very important about that, one of his key current messages.
Thanks! I’ll have to look for those. As of right now, I’m getting Da Vinci Code and Angles & Demons in Spanish, Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal, Doce Cuentos Peregrinos, and La Ciudad de las Bestias.
Just saw this site. Review books for CI.
http://tidayink.blogspot.com/
Chris, it’s great to go abroad, but slow circling and plenty of PQA will improve your fluency. Guaranteed!
Ditto that, chill. Chris, your Spanish will take off just because you are using it so much with your students. Watch!
Good eye, Jody! No need to feel awkward– this is exactly why I shared the lesson plan. Thanks for helping me to refine it!!
I’ve been working on not using so much English in my class. My students have been good about catching me. But I like better the idea of how much time can we stay in the target language TOGETHER. That is powerful. I love it! Thanks for a terrific idea! And what a wonderfully well written lesson plan! Just what the admins look for.
Good luck Kate. I am sure your students and you will shine (and if there is a spot here or there–breathe and let it go). You’ve fretted the what if’s enough–JUST DO IT! You’ll be great.
“But I like better the idea of how much time can we stay in the target language TOGETHER. That is powerful”
Extremely powerful! I’m not sure about any of you here in this group, but I will admit (even though I don’t want to) that I’m not very good at staying in the TL. I’ve been pretty sure for about 2 years now that I some some ADD going on and it’s becoming apparent to me now because I’m starting to see just how easy it is for me to get off track and go on in English on some tangent. It’s absolutely impossible to enforce staying in TL with students when we (I) don’t stay in TL. I’m starting to think that 85%-90% of my classroom management problems come from this. Why should the students follow my rules when I don’t?
Thankfully I get a new group of students in a couple of weeks, I get to start all over and try again!
Me too, Chris. But I’m going to try again to make that change next year. I’ve tried and failed every year in my eleven years of teaching this way.
It’s too late to change a big norm like that (95%+ use of L2) now in March, but I plan to publish an article here in the next few weeks on this topic – changes for next year. We have a bunch of changes already, gathered over the year and categorized under Beginning the Year.
And we have that idea from Kate yesterday. That will be a fun one to try to get working. You are right Chris, I believe this:
…I’m starting to think that 85%-90% of my classroom management problems come from this. Why should the students follow my rules when I don’t?….
It makes me feel so much better to know that you struggle with this too. It makes me feel less crappy of a teacher. I feel incredibly guilty and bad that I do this, I feel that I’m not worthy of saying I do TPRS or CI teaching. So thank you for saying that you do this too.
Yes, I am determined to stop the hypocrisy next year of using English to scold them about using English. Same way with what you mention here about your ability to understand the language on Spanish TV shows.
There is no shame in that! You learned Spanish in classes where the teachers denied you the spoken language. How were you supposed to acquire it then?
The shame lies entirely with them, and not even with them, because they acted in ignorance. It’s a new world now in our profession, that’s all, and you and all the young teachers currently doing this are bringing it in on your own shoulders with each emotional day. You’re breaking old received ideas like porters’ vessels.
That you have done so much already, in spite of those teachers, is the part that is really impressive! You have the only things truly necessary to be a great teacher – a strong desire to teach, which you clearly have, and the knowledge that the only way you can get your students to where they want to be is to avoid the same pathetic bungling you witnessed as a student in those classrooms in your own education.
What do you think will be the result of your passion to get better at this right now? I think that one day it will be near fluency. You’ll just keep getting better at it and over the years soar to heights unimagined in both the language and in your teaching.
That is why so very few teachers who are native speakers can teach it using this method. They already know it. Where’s the challenge, where’s the adventure, in that?
I have the same problem…random spewage in English. But I think we do this because of an uncontrollable urge to connect with our students. This can’t be a bad thing, right? It doesn’t mean we are crappy teachers (although I fall into this mindset a lot). It means we are human beings trying to connect with other human beings.
That said, TCI is a way we can connect with the kids. It requires more discipline than I have ever mustered, so I try not to berate myself too much when I falter. I love the spirit of solidarity in teaching this way, the idea that we are a community of learners, attempting each day to stay in TL for one minute longer than yesterday. Animo compadre!
I have had this conversation with Joe Dziedzic for years now. Yes, we need to take every opportunity to connect with our kids. No, we don’t need to do that during time that could be spent doing CI. It is a good problem to have, but we (I should say I) need to just find other ways to have fun talking about stuff in English with my students. It’s a very delicate balance but the deciding factor with me is that L1 discussions just spin out of control and, over time, we have lost hours and hours of instructional time that could have been devoted to L2, and we have so few hours (maybe 125 per year) available anyway when they need well over 10.000 to get a handle on the language. My biggest goal next year is 95% use of TL in my classoom.
I agree with you. I love talking to my students in English about things, but not when that time should be spent on CI. Need to figure something out.
Good news, my observation today with those “Afraid of the Package” structures was phenomenal. My principal was extremely impressed and he said that my class was “total immersion” 🙂 He loves this whole TPRS thing. He loves that it’s comprehensible, entirely in TL and personalized. He really stressed the “personalized” aspect.
Kudos on picking an alive script and making the PQA work. Now watch the story take off. And the reading.
Ben, I took your “Too late now in March” as a challenge, and tried the timer idea with one class in which I am egregiously breaking the no-English rule. I started off by telling the kids that we’re getting observed tomorrow, and that I’d appreciate their support, and then chose a student to run a timer. I asked him to restart it any time either of us heard English, and to let me know any time we reached a multiple of five minutes. On the one hand, I was horrified how many times we had to start over. On the other, I was impressed by the concentration the kids showed on this Monday before spring break…the practice gave me a chance to have them process a bit and breathe. Every time we hit a five-minute milestone, I told them to stand up and give their neighbors high fives. They liked that, and it kept us moving a little bit.
Thanks for the reminder–I used the timer all the time last year in my classes. This year–with students who are used to chatting with one another constantly in English on group projects in their other classes–I had given up as I was fighting them constantly.
One PBL teacher suggested I make a “project” out of having the class (and me) stay in Spanish. So, I’m going to try that after Spring break, although I have no idea how to go about it yet.
Ah, yes, breathe….you are so right. Thank you for the calming, words! Now that all the fretting is over I really am just going to try and go with the flow. I will just relax have the usual fun with my kids that makes Spanish class the marvelous CI experience that it needs to be.Today is our hour-long interview (gasp!) and then either tomorrow or Friday will be the observations. I will keep you all posted. Thanks SO much for the support and help, everyone!!!
Can’t wait to hear how your observation goes, Kate! I am so impressed with your plan and what you are doing with your classes. Can I come visit sometime this spring? I love the timer idea. I’ve done counting, artist, and scribe with some of my elementary school classes, but not consistently. You’ve inspired me to keep it up and do it better. Everybody on this thread has inspired me to work on a game plan for drop-in observations. In my first year of teaching story-based, our admissions person (we’re an independent school) would bring folks by and they’d be astounded by what my students were doing. Now they always seem to catch me when I’m explaining an activity in English, or we’re doing something off-topic. Which means I must be doing too much of that and not enough PQA and CI. We need always to be at a point where we could easily launch into full-fledged story building to wow the observers. Going back to the timer idea– that will provide great motivation to my students, at all levels, really, since they’ll just be comparing against themselves as they get better and better at staying in Spanish. We may start at 2 minutes, but we’ll keep getting better and they’ll be motivated to encourage each other.
Thanks to all!
That timer idea is huge for the fall. Why talk about all this stuff here if we don’t put it into action as per the Net Theory and the Din and all that good CI stuff?
English rips through the nets we cast. We need to stop it. My game plan is to do it by a concerted effort of will that I am going to spend the whole summer getting psyched up about. I’m going to will it to happen – 95% use of TL.
I am working on an article that describes a schedule, a new daily schedule (the new “weekly schedule 2011” is pretty much in place and solid right now as per the category of that name).
This new daily schedule is actually written with the idea of staying in the TL all the time, and cutting down a lot on the clutter to make the class go by in real Flow, as per:
https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/12/10/uninterrupted-flow/
Re: daily/weekly schedule: I feel a real need for elementary school language teachers to share strategies about how to do this (with 95% TL) when we only see our classes twice a week for 30-40 minutes. Carol and Leslie and Karen and others have great ideas and great materials, but the reality is very different from what I see at conferences. I need a sequence of daily schedules that make up a monthly schedule. If I can lay that out, my life will be so much easier.
I get only one 45 minute slot a week. Yesterday we were cramming and I broke my GO SLOW resolve. I feel your pain at not being able to figure out how to get it all in.
But on the high side, I handed my cell phone to a student to be a timer and we got about 20 minutes total in the target language and played find the colored eggs. I figured that colored eggs practiced colors and find with a group of K-!s. My middle schoolers hid the eggs and gave clues in the TL. A decent time was had by all.
20 uninterrupted min. in Myskoke. That pretty much kicks ass.
Anny- YES please please please come by!!! And maybe I could swing by your school and hang out too?? It would be so good for refining my practice!
Kate-Absolutely! We’re on spring break now until 3/20, so let’s plan to exchange visits in April or May.
For Chris,
A fun book for you to read in Spanish (recommended by Susie) is “La Ciudad de las Bestias” by Isabel Allende.
We are reading it with my advanced Spanish kids and they are really enjoying it. I still find it very engaging.
Real good quality literature (my opinion).