I have to share one of the best moments in my (short) career. Not only did I have a great day creating compelling, contextual and comprehensible stories, but my fourth period said something that made me believe in TPRS/CI all over again. They asked me about what teacher to take for second year Spanish. I told them that I didn't have a favorite, each one was great in their own way, and each one would teach them a lot. Before letting up, they asked, "Does anyone teach like you?" Throughout this year, I have explained to them that there are a few ways to teach languages based on the goal in mind. They know my goal for them is fluency. They got the answer they weren't hoping for: no.
And guess what? THEY COMPLAINED! They said, "But we like this class." Read: we feel successful in here. We feel valued in here. We feel confident in here. One girl, whom I've had the pleasure of teaching Spanish 1 to twice said to me, "So next year is going to be difficult." But I was sure to let them know that they could come back to me for 3rd year. And I hope they do. And I hope they tell their friends about me. And I hope this TPRS/CI spreads like wildfire.
Oh, and on another note a boy asked about past tense. Not in a grudgingly way. Not in a "oh goodness I have to memorize another tense." In a curious sense. With a sense that he wants to be able to communicate in the language. It even sparked the thought that maybe I could start the past tense a little bit this year... but maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't want to rock the boat too much.
I am sold. If fluency is our goal. This is our method.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
A Saturday of Professional Development
Today I spent my day in then annual technology conference put on by my district. It was thought-provoking, inspiring, overwhelming and exciting. Each session lasted about an hour and was jam-packed with information that I'm trying to process, but I'm inspired to write about this day so I'll attempt to do both in one sitting.
Getting started:
This was an exceptional presentation by two younger teachers. It really addressed my overwhelming feeling about taking on more technology.
Collaborative writing:
This presentation was exploding with great uses for google's platform of presentations, documents, groups, sites, etc.
Flipping your classroom:
Karl Fisch always does a great job of provoking thoughts. Today he picked my mind about what I can do outside of my classroom.
Gone global:
During this presentation the overwhelming feeling and guilt spread over me. I had signed up for the Peace Corps' World Wide Schools partnership this year, and typically of me, it was too much. We haven't done much with it because there just isn't enough time. Perhaps I can combine this idea with Karl's and have it as an outside of the classroom connection. I do realize that this is an extremely valuable undertaking, but I get anxious just thinking about attempting it.
Innovative Libraries:
I found myself asking, "What does technology literacy mean?" a lot during this presentation. Thankfully, our CIO answered - It is determining who a source is from, not where it is from in order to identify it's credibility.
I happily left the conference (we got out a half hour early!) with lots to process.
What I have come up with for next year is that:
1) I would like to explore with making my class more tech-friendly. I'm looking at developing my teacher page into something to use as more of a resource. If this is not possible, I'll try to look at google sites or a wiki.
2) I hope to increase the amount of time students have with comprehensible input through the use of technology, especially for my third year students (a 3-day/week class).
3) I want to use google docs/presentations more instead of Microsoft products myself and with my students (in order to stop supporting the "commercialism" of public schooling).
What a wonderfully thought-provoking Saturday. I just wish I actually had the time to sit down and process it all!
Getting started:
This was an exceptional presentation by two younger teachers. It really addressed my overwhelming feeling about taking on more technology.
Collaborative writing:
This presentation was exploding with great uses for google's platform of presentations, documents, groups, sites, etc.
Flipping your classroom:
Karl Fisch always does a great job of provoking thoughts. Today he picked my mind about what I can do outside of my classroom.
Gone global:
During this presentation the overwhelming feeling and guilt spread over me. I had signed up for the Peace Corps' World Wide Schools partnership this year, and typically of me, it was too much. We haven't done much with it because there just isn't enough time. Perhaps I can combine this idea with Karl's and have it as an outside of the classroom connection. I do realize that this is an extremely valuable undertaking, but I get anxious just thinking about attempting it.
Innovative Libraries:
I found myself asking, "What does technology literacy mean?" a lot during this presentation. Thankfully, our CIO answered - It is determining who a source is from, not where it is from in order to identify it's credibility.
I happily left the conference (we got out a half hour early!) with lots to process.
What I have come up with for next year is that:
1) I would like to explore with making my class more tech-friendly. I'm looking at developing my teacher page into something to use as more of a resource. If this is not possible, I'll try to look at google sites or a wiki.
2) I hope to increase the amount of time students have with comprehensible input through the use of technology, especially for my third year students (a 3-day/week class).
3) I want to use google docs/presentations more instead of Microsoft products myself and with my students (in order to stop supporting the "commercialism" of public schooling).
What a wonderfully thought-provoking Saturday. I just wish I actually had the time to sit down and process it all!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Real Progress DOES come from CCCI
I read the proof today! My district participates in PLCs, thus we have common assessments. Since I am the only TPRS in my school (and district) I feel pressure when it comes to common assessments because I worry they don't know how to "play" the game.
Before spring break, our essential learning (per the mandated curriculum) was the perfect tenses. I was feeling up-tight, under pressure and worn down, so I slipped back into the trap of "hammering grammar" (through CI). No, it wasn't a good thing. I stuck to what I had planned, what I had to say, and didn't give the students enough CCCI... in my first and second hour classes. In my fifth hour, however, I always seemed to be in a more laid-back, student-centered mode and my fifth period blew the assessment away. We had wonderful, student-centered, compelling, contextualized, comprehensible input... and they learned the perfects much better than my other classes.
As if that weren't enough, this class sometimes struggles more than my other classes because their background knowledge of the language has some gaps. I was so proud. It really set me straight.
I even changed my original lesson plan today because of what I had learned from them. Instead of using fill in the blank sentences with por and para, we talked about what we will do this weekend, when we are leaving for it, how we will get there, why we are going there, etc. The students were much more engaged in the conversation than in some sentences on the board. Much more worth our time.
CI wins again.
Before spring break, our essential learning (per the mandated curriculum) was the perfect tenses. I was feeling up-tight, under pressure and worn down, so I slipped back into the trap of "hammering grammar" (through CI). No, it wasn't a good thing. I stuck to what I had planned, what I had to say, and didn't give the students enough CCCI... in my first and second hour classes. In my fifth hour, however, I always seemed to be in a more laid-back, student-centered mode and my fifth period blew the assessment away. We had wonderful, student-centered, compelling, contextualized, comprehensible input... and they learned the perfects much better than my other classes.
As if that weren't enough, this class sometimes struggles more than my other classes because their background knowledge of the language has some gaps. I was so proud. It really set me straight.
I even changed my original lesson plan today because of what I had learned from them. Instead of using fill in the blank sentences with por and para, we talked about what we will do this weekend, when we are leaving for it, how we will get there, why we are going there, etc. The students were much more engaged in the conversation than in some sentences on the board. Much more worth our time.
CI wins again.
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