It's almost time for summer vacation...and you know what that means!! Yes, we are looking for places to go to improve our teaching. Maybe this sounds counterintuitive in this day and age when teacher-bashing is so popular, but trust me, it isn't.
What we must do is grow and strengthen ourselves with other like-minded colleagues. We need support, encouragement and love. Let's do this for each other!!!
There are many, many opportunities out there. I know that funds are limited. If you can't make it to a conference, then consider coffee with someone with a positive attitude and make a joint commitment to NOT COMPLAIN, but rather to encourage each other. You can share your best moments from this year and your goals for next year.
But if you CAN get to a workshop or conference, here are a few that will fill your mind and your soul:
or take a Spanish or Mandarin class through Fluency Fast in Denver.
If you can't leave town, consider a webinar !! (I'll do another post on those) But sitting down face to face with one another just can't be beat.
Michele Whaley and her great circle in Alaska does this on a regular basis, and I know that it has changed each teacher in many ways. We can do it to! All we need is a place that will let us sit down and share for a couple of hours.
I hope that these last days go smoothly, that there is something peaceful and fulfilling somewhere in your week, and that this summer you can find a heart-buddy to keep you going!
Please add any other workshops, presentations etc. that you know of below!1
I came across this site today: Estudiafeliz. If you teach Spanish, are learning Spanish or understand Spanish, check it out for a laugh!!
These would be great for the classroom!!!! If you don't teach Spanish, I'm sure that there are ways to use these by covering the phrases in your language. At the very least, what great ideas!!!!
You can never smile or laugh (about the right things) in the classroom. At any time of the year!!!!! So much of the humor that our students are exposed to is cruel. Imagine how we could change the world if we helped to teach them how to smile and laugh about the silly, sweet, clever and fleeting little things in life.
I believe that it is one of many ways to counteract the stresses that we all face...and some of us, and our students, more than others.
A former student posted this article on Facebook. It caught my eye...and once I started reading, it blew my mind. This is what I have been talking about!!!!
The article begins with the story of Lincoln High School in Walla Walla Washington, and its principal, Jim Sporleder. Lincoln is a school of tough kids, the ones that other schools kicked out. Sporleder felt that there must be a way to help these kids. He began to work with the Children's Resilience Initiative and found himself at a presentation by John Medina, author of Brain Rules. What he heard clicked and he knew that he had to find out more.
Severe and chronic trauma (such as living with an alcoholic parent,
or watching in terror as your mom gets beat up) causes toxic stress in
kids. Toxic stress damages kid’s brains. When trauma launches kids into
flight, fight or fright mode, they cannot learn. It is physiologically impossible.
Sporleder continued digging, aligning himself with others in the state,including Washington State's Family Policy Council. The council, and Sporleder along with it, became interested in the CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study).
This study shows staggering links between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and adult illness and trauma. According the the article, "The ACE Study measured 10 common types of childhood trauma. Five were
the usual suspects: emotional, sexual and physical abuse, and emotional
and physical neglect. Five were family problems: a parent addicted to
alcohol or other drugs, seeing a mother being abused, a family member in
prison, a family member diagnosed with a mental illness, and a parent
who’s disappeared through abandoning the family or divorce. (Although
the word “trauma” is more commonly used to describe physical injury, in
this milieu, it refers to any experience that causes toxic stress.)"
The study identified childhood toxic stress levels and assigned them a score. Then the scores were compared to adult illness and trauma. "The percentages climb to grim and astounding levels as the ACE score
climbs – people with an ACE score of 6, for example, have a 4,600
percent increase in the risk of becoming an IV drug user. Grow up with
an ACE score of 10, and you’re likely to find yourself homeless, in
prison for life, or end up dead by your own hand. People with high ACE
scores die, on average, 20 years earlier than those with low ACE scores."
This information was combined with research by another group who determined that "In a nutshell, toxic overdoses of stress hormones stunt the growth of some parts of the brain, and fry the circuits in others." The more the brain is stressed, the less it functions, especially developing brains.
So now what? Give up? Toxic childhood becomes a recipe for disaster? Not necessarily. When home and neighborhood are highly stressful, the school can become a safe zone. The problem is, the stress that is carried in must be taken into consideration. How? By acknowledging it, honoring the struggle and providing knowledge and skills to combat it.
This article really gave me hope. Hope because it's good to know that there is scientific evidence to support what I have always believed. Hope because there are people out there working to use this data to change schools. Hope because the changes that are happening are improving lives.
I've seen it happen on a smaller scale. What a joy to read about it on a larger one!! I'll be passing this around the building (and maybe highlighting the part that says that staff should believe it if it is going to work!) Check it out. Let's spread the word!
Over the weekend I spent some time just reading other people's blogs. It was wonderful. I highly recommend it. Just check the links here. Or, do what I do....Go to Michele's blog, read hers and then click on places to read from there. :o) Or start with Bryce's blog. Or Kerby's. Or Haiyun's. There is a TON of great stuff out there. Enjoy!!
Please join me at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C on MAY 10th. It is a one-day introductory TPRS workshop. We'll be acquiring language, immersing ourselves in the three steps, and addressing how teachers can use Comprehensible Input in their classrooms.
If you are in the area, or interesting in getting there, I'd LOVE the opportunity to spend the day with you!!
Bob wrote: I don’t put a lot of time into it, but I always do it in Latin. I teach Latin teachers how to do these things in Latin, too, because they are the things that we all do every day, and they provide one of the easiest ways to do CI and multiple repetitions. So, while it should take up as little time as possible, don’t miss the opportunity to do it in L2.
Sara wrote: I agree that the classroom organization doesn't help the students learn Spanish but, I believe an unorganized class does detract from the learning. With a solid system in place, I'm free to focus on the language and now how I want to handle bathroom passes.
And this is exactly what happens...once CI becomes a way of thinking, we start to view everything in the classroom through CI lenses. Then our focus can shift to how to align even the smallest details.
We want the systems to align with our instruction and our relationships. That is truly Backward Design. As Sara said, a solid system is golden. Teaching without one is a great deal of unnecessary work. It doesn't matter exactly what our system is.
Next question: What should a system do?
1. A system should make relationships strong and confusion minimal so that classroom time can be maximized for acquisition. (or in other words, what Sara said above)
2. A system can prove opportunities for interaction in the TL that lead to acquisition. (or in other words read Bob's statement above)
It doesn't matter if you pass papers left to right or front to back as long as 1. and 2. above are happening. It doesn't matter if you have kids carry a toilet seat to the bathroom or only sign out 3 times a marking period if it isn't interfering with 1. and 2. (tee hee unintended pun that I couldn't bring myself to delete)
Above all, it helps us to look at the systems that we have in place in order to see if they align with our Rules. If what we expect/demand of our students is outside of the Rules, then we will be seen as hypocrites. We may never be able to control whether or not our students respect us. That is a choice that they will make. We can, however, control whether or not our actions and words are honorable and making changes when necessary.
What can happen is that we get caught up in Rules and Systems (amongst other things) and forget that we are about Acquisition. You've heard the expression "Weighing the baby doesn't make him grow." Neither does buying him bigger clothes. It just makes him look nice when he fits into them. Sometimes our teacher-obsession with How To Set Up and Run A Classroom does just that: make the teacher look good because the behavior is under control. That is nice, good and necessary, but not the end goal. I hope that that makes sense.
A classroom system is how we organize the nuts and bolts of the actions that are NOT part of language acquisition.
A classroom system organizes things like:
*who goes to the bathroom, how often and for how long
*how papers are distributed and collected
*how grades are assigned and communicated
*how the set up and clean up of activities occur
*how the room is decorated
*how and when evaluations occur
*if and/or how participation is tallied.
etc.
You may not believe me, and it took me a long time to see this myself, but....
Not one of these things will help your students to acquire language. Not even the participation piece.
There is no right way to do any of them.
They should take up as little of your classroom time as possible.
Therefore, discussion about them on lists, blogs and at conferences should also take up as little of your time as possible.
That is really hard for many teachers. We like those sweet little systems.
with love,
and complete knowledge that I could labeled as a heretic,
Laurie
Rules are the first expectations that we communicate to our students.
Teachers who are new to TPRS, or struggling with TPRS often want to know
what Rules work best. We have been taught that Rules=Discipline.
Rules are not discipline. Rules are communication. They tell students
what we expect. From the rules students infer what we value. If there
are too many or they are too specific and we send the message that we
value control. If there are too few or the consequences for breaking
them are too spare, we communicate that we value the students'
admiration more than their cooperation.
What we should strive for are rules that set boundaries for the
relationships that we want in our classrooms. So the question is: What
boundaries are necessary for successful discipline and acquisition?
These are mine...
1. Pay attention when someone is communicating.
2. Ask questions when there is confusion.
3. Point out when there is a problem.
4. Make a situation better rather than worse.
5. Try not to offend or harm.
6. Join in.
7. Appreciate and honor.
8. Honor individuals.
9. Honor relationships.
10. When possible, do all of the above enthusiastically and creatively.
None of them specifically deal with language. Why? #8. If I make make a
rule that specifically states how much language can be used, or what
kind, then I have to make sure that it is appropriate for all my
students,every day, at every level, in every situation and then keep
track. I'll never pull that off.
I keep my rules in mind for behavior. I keep the language in mind for
the activity involved. Before we start, I'll let them know what I have
in mind for language. If I don't, eventually
rules # 2 and #3 come into effect and I have to address the issue.
When I have a rule that says "No English", I engage the natural and instinctive teenage reaction to rules: Break 'em.
When I ask students to say something again in Spanish rather than
English, they just do, if they can. If they can't then I realize that
they aren't ready for production of that structure at that moment. I
handle it in whatever way is best for that class at that moment and move
on.
Are you wondering if they just answer me in English all the time? Some
try. Most don't. Why would they? If they trust me, if we are
interacting in Spanish, if they are confident and capable, if they are
engaged...well then, they speak to me in Spanish because that is what we
do. Not because that is the rule.
Believe it or not. :o)
Does it happen instantly? No. But what we are focused on for the
majority of our instruction and interaction is INPUT. INPUT leads to
acquisition. Output has other functions. If I have a heavy-handed No
English Ever rule, then I give output another function: What to do to
make the teacher angry. Totally against all of my rules. :o)
Next question: So when might we "require" the TL from students instead of L1???
* When it is fun...like a silly signal response.
* When it is cultural, like after a sneeze.
* When it is easy, like thank you or yes.
* During lessons for acquisition.
We will get so so so much more L2 from students when we make it a
natural, comfortable and confident part of our interactions and
relationships than we will ever ever ever get from making it a rule.
The person who needs the rule is US. We are the ones who need to
remember to communicate and to interact with slow, clear,Comprehensible
Input in the TL.
In the last piece I wrote, "It is important we connect with the class
for at least a moment to them know that we are here, we are glad that
they are here, and that we will be making the decisions that direct what
happens in the room."
If I make a few changes, I can summarize what I believe about discipline:
"We must connect with the class in order to let each student know that
we are here, that we are glad that they are here, and that we will be
making the decisions that direct what happens in the room."
When all three of those are present, we are on the right path. When
even one of those is missing in a given moment, we are on a dangerous
detour. It is when we have been juggling one or two of those instead
of all three that we see our individual students and entire classes
slipping away. With some groups it is the only way to keep everyone safe
( I have several of these groups this year!!!!!!). At this time of
year it becomes very important. (I know that many of us are feeling
it.)
As Susie has often told us, "Discipline proceeds instruction."
At the beginning of the year, the beginning of the period, the beginning of the activity, the beginning of the conversation.
Connect first, then communicate: I'm here. I'm glad that you're here. I'm making the final decisions.
Of course there are many, many other things implied: I'm here because I
care. I'm here because I'm knowledgeable. I'm here because you matter.
I'm here because I want to be. I'm glad that you are in my world.
I'm glad that you came to class today. I'm glad that you're trying.
I'm glad that you trust me. I'm glad that you exist. I will listen to
you. I will take your thoughts and feelings into consideration. I will
pay attention to you. I will see the good things about you. I will
forgive the difficult things about you. I have faith in you. I have
faith in the adult you will be come. I will honor the child inside of
you. I can see great things in you. I will not let you hurt yourself. I
will not let you hurt others. I will not let others hurt you. I will
help you to learn to deal with problems. We all have struggles. We all
have feelings. Everyone matters. I am the adult and will do my best
to act like one at all times. I will remember that I may be the adult,
but I am not always right. I will try to model all of the behaviors
that I expect from you...especially forgiveness. I will be in charge. I
will take the responsibility. I will walk the walk.
But only three need to be said on a regular basis...and with our actions as well as our words:
I'm here. I'm glad that you are here. I'm making the final decisions about what is best for this class.
Transitions are tough for all human beings. Each one of us transitions
differently. It's no wonder that transitions in the classroom are a
struggle. As a teacher, it helps us to actively DECIDE whether a
compass or a GPS is needed in our classrooms.
Every class has students that walk in every day asking the age-old
question: What are we going to do today? They are not trying to be
obtuse. They need to know. They handle transition with preparation. If
you have a lot of those students, you are one of those students or your
administrators want evidence that you know about those students, the
GPS system is for you.
G.P.S. Get a Plan. Post a Plan. Show the Plan as needed.
Keep the plan simple. Date, Period, Plan of Activities. Label the
activities anything you want, in either or both languages depending on
your goals.
Keep the details of the plan in your head. You need to know how many
minutes,how many structures, where to PQA more and where to gesture
less. All they want to know is what is next.
Put the "voice" of the Plan up for the students. "Turn right now."
Get their attention. Point to the next step on the plan. Give them instructions and go.
But...teach the students and remind them that the plan is subject to change with just a little notice. 'Recalculating....."
I am a not a natural plan person. I love to make them, but can't follow
one happily. I'm always aching to go after a teachable moment, a great
response from a student or a spontaneous road trip with the language.
But I have students who occasionally need to know the plan. I also
became a much more skilled TPRSer by beginning with a plan and following
it as closely as I could in order to improve my skills. Sometimes an
activity is new to my students and they need to see the steps in
writing. So...I try to teach my students that from time to time I'll
put up a plan and we will follow it. For a reason. But most of the time
I am a "compass" teacher. I know in which direction I want to go. I
have enough knowledge to stay on a safe road or get off of a dangerous
one. I've had enough experiences with flat lessons and overheated
discussions to avoid them or fix them. If I'm tired,
emotionally-drained, overextended, had too little sleep or need to rely
on caffeine then I'd better pull out the GPS.
If we constantly remind ourselves and our students about the interactive
quality of our classroom, then we can decide with each class if we are
going to follow a GPS or a compass that day. Only three things are
needed: a goal,a class that knows how to interact, and a routine at the
beginning of every single period that requires them to find out from us
what is happening first.
At the beginning of each class it is important that we connect with the
class for at least a moment to them know that we are here, we are glad
that they are here, and that we will be making the decisions that direct
what happens in the room.
It really doesn't matter if you post a "do-now/bellringer", greet them
at the door with instructions, have a starting routine (FVR, a song,
PQA, calendar, etc.)or simply start with an attention-getting signal.
What matters is that you use that moment to hold hold up the Maestro
baton and give them clear direction. By starting each class with that
moment, you make each class member feel welcome and important and safe.
