(originally posted 4/23/10)

This week I have been cleaning, really really cleaning, out my house in preparation for a move.   It’s not the kind of change we often volunteer for because we know how much needs to be done.   Change is not for the faint of heart.  j

In order to get to a new place, I have had to empty out the old one…or at least get it ready to empty out.   I had to dig deep into the deep dark places that I have resisted looking at and have become good at avoiding.

I had hoped to move earlier, but this delay has had it’s benefits.  I’ve been able to sort through some things, many things actually, and determine their value to me.   (Is this really important enough to take up space in a new place?)

It has become a question that I am asking myself about my teaching as well.   Change is a process and the fact that I started a CI journey ten years ago does not mean that I have arrived at the end of it.    So I have looked at a few things to get rid of….and as usual….a few new ideas have crept in to take their place.

Ideas to Let Go Of….

• Language must be learned academically.
• Memorizing the rules and the exceptions to the rules is the PRIMARY prerequisite for success. (i.e. Only “bright” students can learn a language because memorizing rules and vocabulary is required.)
• The amount of homework assigned and completed has a direct correlation to the ability of the student to be successful.
• The older students are, the less desire and ability they have to be independent learners.
• Students and parents do not see an immediate benefit to studying languages and cultures because they are uneducated or inexperienced.
• Students have been taught by parents and by society to understand that education is a vital and important investment in themselves and their futures.
• Students who do not invest themselves in school work are making an irrevocably bad decision and should be blamed for their own failures.
• Students should be expected to rise above a negative situation outside of the classroom. Those who do not have their priorities “messed up.”

Ideas to Try Out…

• Language is acquired through an intellectual, social and/or emotional interaction via Comprehensible Input.
• Rules can be identified and utilized when students have a) enough language or b) a natural interest.
• ANY student can acquire a language.
• The main reason to memorize rules/exceptions is to perform well on tests required by an external system.
• Many students who are high school age or younger do not achieve large gains in language acquisition by completing regularly scheduled homework activities.
• All human beings are naturally independent learners.  Our students teach themselves all the time.    Students who are interested and motivated will continue acquiring language outside of the classroom experience.
• Students and parents who experience success will be motivated to continue with language study.
• Students who compare and contrast their personal experiences with the cultural and personal experiences of others are very interested in these topics.
• MANY children are not raised to see any value in an education.    Some have received no instruction about schooling, others are influenced by their caregivers’ negative experiences and still others are directly instructed that education, particularly past the secondary level has little to no value.     They have also been raised to believe that teachers value education because they want to keep their jobs.  Their suspicion of schools, and of us, is understandable given these circumstances.
• Students often lack the maturity to prioritize more than two items at any given time.   The item with the most immediate value often is perceived as the item having the most value.

with love,
Laurie

P.S.  Look for more thoughts later on this week…these need to be taken apart….
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