I was talking with my colleagues and trying to explain what I wanted my classroom to look like.  Not the walls/decorations classroom….the real stuff happening in the classroom part.  

I want it to be in a state of quality interaction.

Not constant chaos…although if you don’t know Spanish it might look that way…

Not constant action…sometimes we need to give the brain time to process….

Not constant lecture….it’s too easy for students to “leave” the room…..

Not constant production….besides being poor pedagogical practice, I simply cannot monitor everyone at the same time…

Not constant input….I need to know how much is going in and how much is just flowing over their heads or around their bodies…

Not even constant interaction…..we have all seen areas in our lives where more effort  more does not always mean more results.

Instead…I am hoping to create quality interaction.

Much of the time the interaction will be between me and the class….sometimes between classmates and sometimes between the students’ brains and the language….but it should be visible, if not measurable.

I think that the two main differences between acquiring a first language as an infant, and acquiring a second language  later on are these:

• The ability to communicate is greater.    The older the student is the greater the ability he/she has, not only to communicate, but to see the purpose of communication.
• The ability to reason.  The older the student is, the greater the ability he/she has to think, to plan, to anticipate, to wonder, to put the mind, not just the brain, to work.
• The ability to read.  It provides not only another mode of input, but also another mode of interaction.

And what both “acquisition groups” have in common is that both, when acquiring a language, interact using the language. 

Now certainly there are students who will acquire without quality interaction…..but frankly, those students don’t need me for much anyway.  :o)  Academically at least.   But in order to create a safe place, an encouraging place, a challenging place, an appropriate place for my students to acquire language and to experience life, I need to focus on the quality of interactions in my classroom. 

Discussions that are choreographed so that each student is part of the conversation.

Conversations that are modulated for speed, clarity, accent, rhythm and direction for each member of the class.

Class activities that flow in and around every corner….not just from the front (or the screen) towards the back so that by the time they reach the back corners only the foam is left behind.

Behind every interaction, a purpose:  connect, connect, connect, connect.

Connect student with material, material with instruction, instruction with language, language with love.

Love, grace, honor, power, responsibility in every interaction.

Interaction.  Quality interaction.  That is what I am striving for……

With love,

Laurie