Reminding myself the power of CI

The end of February marks a different time of year for myself and my students.  By this time, the traditional TPRS and overall "enchantment" of school has worn off. The kids are burnt out.  I am burnt out.  It is tough to continue our pace and enthusiasm.  Thus, this time of year I find myself needing some reminding of the power of CI.
In my graduate class (LAST ONE!!!!) I have to facilitate a session to teach other teachers how to do what I do tonight.  While looking for some videos of student retells (which, bummer, I couldn't find), I stumbled upon Carol Gabb teaching ESL to her baseball guys.  I was instantly reminded of the power of what we do, and the possibilities to create real and lasting change in peoples' lives with CI and languages. 
If you're needing a reminder of the possibilities and power of what we do, check it out.  And, thanks Carol,   you've really inspired me!

Movitation and SLA

I'm in the middle of (or should currently be) conducting a literature review for my last (official!) grad course.  I decided to add on to my current lit review on SLA in the secondary classroom.  Initially I examined the research on best practices in promoting SLA.  Guess what I found?  TPRS/CI is the way to go. Duh! :)
But this time I wanted to see how student motivation played a factor in the classroom.  I believe that students who do not succeed in others' classrooms, sometimes succeed in mine (and vice versa) due to motivation-related factors. 
Why did I write this blog post?  Well I wanted to share two things that I am finding:
1) Anxiety and motivation are very closely related.  As anxiety increases in students, motivation decreases along with achievement.
2) Much of the research on the topic of motivation (and subsequently anxiety) in the SLA process is coming from Asia because of reforms in language teaching mandated by the government.  Specifically, Japan has initiated several major reforms at the high school level which aims to replace the grammar-translation approach to teaching.  Go Japan! 

Japan's progress makes me salivate; and the correlation between anxiety, motivation and achievement seems so obvious, but if it were so obvious to others (eh hum, administrators?) then the research wouldn't be needed.

Student Motivation

I recently go added to the #LangChat distribution list.  It has been pretty great so far to hear what is going on in that realm.  (Side note: I call it "that realm" because I don't really even know how to use hash tags!) But they recently sent out an interesting topic of how to motivate students to start and stay with world languages.  Obviously, as a language teacher, I think learning other languages is very important, but the best way to maintain students in our programs once they start is to capture their hearts and imaginations. 
I also think it's important to help them see that they indeed can acquire and use another language; that it is not some elite skill reserved for the 4% of "smart" students. 

If you're interested in knowing more, here's the link!  Also, they have a really neat FREE e-book recently out.  I would search for and download that too. 

Hope everyone's second semester is off to a wonderful start!

A visit to a guru...

A couple of weeks ago I had the awesome opportunity to see Ben Slavic in action again.  I had seen him in a couple of workshops at NTPRS 2011, but this was even better than that.  Seeing Ben interacting with his kids was a real treat.  Seeing him made what he writes about in his blog and what he does in workshops really come to life. 
I learned so much from just that afternoon.  I was rejuvenated and it re-instilled my faith in CI (this year has been particularly challenging, hence the lack of posts - if you don't have anything nice to say, don't put it on the internet!).  I was so inspired by the power of the reading class we saw, that I went and attempted to re-create the same lesson in my own class the next day. 
I couldn't have worked out better because we were working on some of the same vocabulary.  We did the Anna Matava story "Don't Drink the Water" and I changed it to "He Shouldn't Drink the Water" to match the structures we were working with via our Realidades curriculum.  My students responded great.  They loved the reading being on the screen, the chance to just read and hear the Spanish then go back and translate.  Reading is really powerful stuff.  I need to focus on incorporating more reading next semester.
I am so thankful that I live in an area where CI is doing great things, where there are teachers embracing the method (even if it is not in my own school), where I can get support from internet acquaintances and complete strangers, where students are the priority.  Thank you Ben and Diana for having me.  It was a powerful afternoon, and just what I needed to see.

Universal Design for Learning

Hi all!  This still isn't the update I want to post (I do appreciate the words of encouragement and support everyone has been giving me this year!), but this provides some insight as to how I have been spending my semester outside my classroom... as a graduate student.  The good news is I'll be done in July.

Anyway, here is a link to a website I created supporting TPRS/CI with the universal design for learning  concept.  If you're not familiar with UDL, that's what the site is supposed to familiarize you with.

I thought it might interest some of you, so here you go!

https://sites.google.com/site/udlbasics/

Quick update on the first 3 weeks.

There have definitely been some ups and downs with the start of a new school year.  This, of course, is to be expected. 
Re-cap of important events, in no perticular order:

• PLC meeting with tough discussions about the assessments we have created
• SBG fall out
• First year students excitement to hear they will be reading a novel
• Throwing more reading at my third years as per what Ben Slavic recommended
• Third years haven't completely lost their ability to be silly
• My PLC facilitator came in to watch me teach
• Started my second year of graduate school
• Reflected upon my teaching

Just a short update.  Boy, the beginning of a school year goes quickly!

The TCI Train Isn't Slowing Down.

Today was my first day back at school with all my teacher colleagues.  I was really excited to see everyone again, but I was surprised with the curiosity and eagerness to learn more about TPRS/CI from a few of my colleagues.
I should back up and say that I ruffled some feathers last year doing my own thing with TPRS/CI.  It was not a pleasant experience, but I have come to believe that change doesn't happen without discomfort.  I was inspired by Michele Whaley at NTPRS this year for her session on the Alaskan TPRS Miracle.   I'm not hoping for anything like a miracle or as large-scaled as what she accomplished; but I do hope to be the change I wish to see in the world language classroom, and by doing that, I hope to inspire others to get uncomfortable with me and try TPRS/CI. 
This morning the TCI Train pulled into my school and a few of my colleagues really took notice.  After arriving at work this morning a couple colleagues shared with me the exciting news (well, exciting to me anyways...) that a colleague that left our school for Denver Public was going to be using TPRS/CI as well.  This woman was inspired by the power of the method, and she was able to share that inspiration with a couple of my colleagues without fear of backlash, which was great.  After we talked a little about what our former-colleague said, it was suggested that I do a little presentation on TPRS/CI for the department in order to educate them on the method and maybe share with them some TPRS/CI activities that they can use.  Obviously I was excited.  Nothing is set in stone, but it feels good to come back to positive attitudes and open minds.  One teacher is even entertaining the idea of TPRS/CI this year!
I cannot wait to see what the rest of this year has in store for me!

Processing NTPRS for Success in a New Year

The title makes it sound relatively easy, but as I try to re-read my notes I feel daunted.  I am extremely excited to go into my second year of TPRS and third year of teaching, but I need to focus myself in order to improve my skills for my students.  I feel daunted now because of the copious amounts of knowledge that was shared with me at NTPRS.  It was an invaluable experience because now I know that I am no longer alone.  Last year I clung on to the internet (Laurie's blog, Ben's blog, moreTPRS listserv, etc) in order to feel not alone, but there's something new this year with actually meeting people who are doing this.  I am forever grateful for the TPRS army (credit to mme. Hayles).

My take-aways from NTPRS:

1. SLOW - Thank you Linda Li & Bryce Hedstrom (& Ben Slavic for his recent post on research regarding this)
2. The brain craves novelty - Thank you Carol Gaab & Kristy Placido
1.  Jibjab
2. Stories worth retelling (credit to Bryce Hedstrom)
3. Use news stories and culture stories
4. Use props like my dog uses toys.  Circulate them as the kids loose interest.  Not every story has to have a bunch of props.
3. You don't have to be creative on your feet immediately, write down each sentence of a story on note card with possibilities for each thing (10-15 note cards/story) - Thank you Michelle (not sure of the last name, but she was a French teacher and fantastic coach!)
4. There are other people who are more isolated than me doing this - Thanks roomie Kristin Duncan
5. Organize and Manage the Board - Thank you Carol Gaab & Susan Gross
1. TL and L1 in different colors
2. Don't over-fill the board - have the structures up there and then enrichment vocabulary, not everything needs to be written down
6. Give sts jobs in order to personalize the class - 
1. See Ben Slavic's post (members only)
7. Contrast Grammar in order to fulfill the curriculum - Thank you Susan Gross & Betsy Paskvan! (This was my big break-through in the coaching room too)

My professional goals for August:

1. Check-in with colleagues to see how they are doing (esp. Charlotte, Vicki, Carrie and Laura)
2. Focus on SLOW and personalized input (TPR and Circle with balls)
3. Use Scott Benedict’s textbook to TPRS to help align myself with the curriculum/vocab again and to model to my colleagues that it can be done without abandoning the safety of a textbook.  Focus on having characters DO what the student objectives are for each chapter.
4. Begin using standards-based grading with my sts.
5. Video one class and submit it to Ben.

Lastly, I made slides to print out to help me accomplish my goals in my classroom.  I made them available here.  They're similar to the ones at NTPRS in the coaching rooms. 

NTPRS 2011 Notes

I got back from NTPRS on Friday night.  I was sad to leave the people but oh so happy to be back with my family and dry heat.  As I have told many people, my "cup" (brain!) has been overflowing since Monday with all the good ideas and support my fellow TPRSers offered at the conference.  I have been hoping to get some down time to process it all, but it doesn't look like that will happen for at least another week because the Mr. and I are leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow morning, so I've got my work cut out for me. 

Anyhow, I wanted to share my notes from my google docs.  It's almost all of my notes except for the ones scrawled on the back of my notebook.  Enjoy!

NTPRS 2011 - Tuesday

Well, it has been quite the conference already.  I've just gotten into my pajamas after day two of NTPRS 2011, and I am exhausted, but in a good way.  I am exhausted after being truly inspired, awestruck, humbled, energized, eager, and studious among other things.  These are all great things from my perspective, so let me explain a little more about how I've arrived here today.
Sunday was a day for travel and meeting and mingling.  I got up at a decent time to make the flight from CO to MO.  It went relatively well -- no unexpected problems.  When I arrived in STL, my bag was quickly available and the shuttle was conveniently waiting for me outside the baggage doors, so it was on to the hotel.  At the hotel is where I was met with the first inconvenience -- my room wasn't ready yet.  I had to wait an hour or so, but it was no big deal.  I got checked in once it was ready and then met my roommate after a couple minutes of being in the room.  I don't think I could have arranged a better roommate situation.  After talking for entirely too long, we headed down to the mixer BBQ where we met some really great people and sweated a lot.  We finally headed back up to our room after three hours outside and then chatted for a long time about our experiences. 
On Monday we began in the beginners group, which was to last 1.5 consecutive days.  After meeting Donna Tatum-Johns and Katya, learning a bit of Russian, and listening to an engaging talk by THE Dr. Stephen Krashen, we decided that the beginner track wasn't for us despite that we have only TPRSed for a year.  We went to our first "advanced" workshop with Carol Gaab (AMAZING) then finished the day with Michelle Whaley (INSPIRING!) before going to Dave and Buster's with some wonderful teachers.  We came home and crashed (not without talking passionately for far too long for sleep's sake...). 
Today was another fantastic day.  Another great day to be a TPRSer.  We started with the infamous Susie Gross and Betsy for some Contrastive Grammar, which was amazingly helpful.  Then we moved to Michael Miller and Barb Watson's Personalization workshop, and saw some pretty powerful stuff which made me excited to see my kids again.  We ate lunch at the Classroom Management table and met some great people and even snagged a ticket for tonight's excursion to  downtown STL.  Then we went to Ben Slavic's Beginning of the Year Personalization workshops, which was also very powerful. Then we went to the arch and out to dinner with another group of wonderful TPRSers.  Now we're wrapping things up before going to bed.  I hope to write more about each session, but at least share my notes on Google Docs, so keep checking back... if you're out there. :)

My last thoughts...It's been really refreshing to have a wonderfully inspirational, supportive and positive group to talk with, debate with, and learn from.  The stories that others share inspire me to continue to be the change I wish to see in the World Language classroom.  I am so grateful that I've been able to attend NTPRS 2011.

"Must be nice to have the summer off."

It's no lie that most teachers get the summer "off".  But it's delusional to think that all teachers do in the summer is sip on iced tea and go to the pool.  Although I cannot speak for every teacher, this effective teacher tries to take some time for myself and continue to work on school-related things. 
Now I realize I may be preaching to the choir, but I feel slighted when people say "Must be nice to have the summer off." I worked hard for this thank you very much.  Just in the past two weeks in addition to finishing up my last graduate class of this year (much of which involved curriculum mapping/planning), I've spent at least 4 8-hour days working on bettering my craft for the upcoming school year. 
I'm working on aligning my curriculum to the new Colorado Academic Standards and to the new national standards from ACTFL.  I've done this through moving towards a standards-based grading system, which is something that has always interested me (although now that I'm writing this I realize I need to actually do research about its effectiveness).  I have planned out when assessments need to be and begun writing them.  But I need to step up my game on my third year class.  I guess I'm stuck as to how to best facilitate language acquisition with them.  I hope to get this resolved next week.
Next week I will be in St. Louis for the National TPRS conference.  It will be 5 wonderful days of learning, networking and reflection.  I hope to learn a lot and to be able to better facilitate language acquisition.
But now, I'm going to read Pyramid Response to Intervention by Buffum, Mattos and Weber.  This was a book assigned on my summer reading list by my administration.  I'm interested to see what this book has to say, how research-based it is (I look at just about everything with a critical eye), and how I can better serve all of my students.
So to all of the nay-sayers who think teachers have summers off (among other things), I hope you realize that not all of us are parked by the pool sipping iced teas for the entire summer.

"Is there anyone else that teaches like you?"

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.

An epiphany about being overwhelmed...

The beginning of a new semester seems to bring a certain amount of overwhelming emotion: anxiety, excitement, fear, worry, tiredness, etc.  Now that our first week back is over, I'm feeling much more confident and relaxed. 

We started out just doing PQA, to get students interested and to review. After all, PQA is the best and easiest thing ever.  The students are interested because we're talking about them all the time, but just using different structures.  It's easy to review and introduce using PQA. 

I was really starting to feel overwhelmed though as I was looking at my vocab lists from last year.  Since this is my first year with TPRS, I started paring down my lists into the 2000 most frequent words in the language.  It's really difficult to do because of the fear of my colleagues thinking poorly of me for teaching fewer words.  It's overwhelming to look at a list of 500 words and think "I have to teach all of these". 

But while driving home, I realized that during last semester, and even at the end I felt wonderful for doing this thing.  I know my students knew the "vocab" better than they ever had, and that they had tasted true success in Spanish. I know that it works better for me to teach fewer things, way more in depth than a ton of things not at all.

Long term acquisition

That is my goal. In my opinion to teaching, that's my job. It's my job to teach kids Spanish for the long haul. As I've been evaluating my TPRS approach this year, I have read much research on how language acquisition occurs in L1 and L2 learners. All of the research has supported a CI/TPRS approach. Many articles even condemn the traditional grammar approach. So my question is "Why do many teachers still use the traditional grammar approach?"

Realistically, there are many reasons; It was the way we teachers of WL were taught most likely, so it is the way they teach. It is too difficult, time consuming, exhausting to teach with, let alone learn, a CI approach. Many teachers have spent 1000's of man hours developing their worksheets and lessons, so that they do not want to "throw it all away" and start new. They are skeptical of a new method. It's difficult to develop and grade tests based around CI techniques. They don't know there is another option. The district/school curriculum is textbook driven, therefore they have to use the text. They haven't read research on the topic to understand what methods are proven.

There are thousands of other reasons. They are all understandable.

The most alarming reason, in my opinion, is that teachers largely haven't checked out the method that they use. They do not question the way they teach, but simply accept it as the way to do things.

I'm glad that I've had my eyes opened to the world of CI. I'm determined to educate myself so that I may educate my students. I wish I knew of a way to promote the reading of *credible* research throughout my colleagues. I would hope that through reading, their eyes could be opened too. But then again, maybe they need to see it to believe it. Hopefully my students will be that light.