First, let me clarify that my Level 1 classes are actually in their second year of instruction.    They have spent  one wonderful year with my colleague Nancy in 8^th grade.     When they come to my room they are Year Two students in what we call High School Level  1.    These are heterogeneously grouped classes and this year I am team-teaching one wonderful class. (Another wonderful  colleague teaches the other Level 1 classes this year)   The class that  I am team-teaching has 22 students.  Eight of them are receiving some sort of resource room help or have IEPs.   Two have had no Spanish but are excellent French students (non TPRS),  one has had no Spanish but is a former German student in another district.  One was studying Spanish in another district (also non TPRS) .     Three of them could probably jump up to a Spanish 2 class and still excel.    The other nine fall somewhere in between.    The class consists of two seniors, one junior, two sophomores and seventeen freshmen.      A very diverse group.   :o)

 

Each time we do a reading activity it is a real challenge.    They are all over the board in ability and interest.       Embedded Readings have been a big help, but it is wonderful to have two teachers in the room so that we can work in smaller groups from time to time.   

 

This group of students is new to me, and we are only eight weeks into the school year.    We have worked hard to get a community atmosphere in here and clarify our expectations, systems and interactions.   

 

Now it’s time to add a little FVR to our mix.    Generally in Level 1 I start FVR  at a time when the students are already in a quiet place…..during a quiz.   :o)

 

Thursdays are quiz days and by now they are used to that routine.    We have also been working to get them familiar with how we give and use quizzes (to plan for the following week-in the grade book only if 80% of the class gets an 80% or above),the “Háblame” section at the end (we pose a question about their world and accept answers in English, Spanglish or Spanish  ),  how we collect quizzes (always face down) etc.

 

Starting this week,  students will  start quiz day by heading to  the table in the back where  we’ll have the  FVR books and magazines out (children’s books, comics, magazines, newspapers, Embedded Readings that have been typed up, instructional manuals, etc  in dishpans from the Dollar Store).   Each student will pick 2-3 items to bring back to their desk for after the quiz.    As soon as s/he finishes the quiz and turns it face down on the desk,s/he can open up any one of the reading materials and enjoy.  

When everyone has finished, and the last person done with the quiz has had 3 minutes or so to read,  we collect the quizzes and give them a few minutes to share with classmates the books that they were reading.

 

I really don’t care which reading materials they choose and often the most popular ones are children’s pop-up books. :o)    I can walk around,  help out with quizzes,  see how students are doing, answer a question about vocab in a book  and  “sub in” a book I think a student would like.   

 

Once we have done that  for several weeks,  I’ll give them a few Mondays with”The Book Circle.”    We sit in a circle with the desks and I ‘randomly” hand out 2-3 reading materials to each student.   I’ll start a song and that is the signal for silence and reading.   At the end of the song, the students get about one minute to share/talk about the book.   Then they must pass one or two books to the right.   They can pass the one that they were reading, or, if they want to stay with it,pass the ones that they receive from the student to their left!   It allows students who need change to change, and those who want to continue to continue.    Then I start up another song and off we go.    I’ll start with 3 short 2-3 minute songs and build to 4- or 5 longer songs.     Once they are familiar with the format we’ll do it once a month or so.    

 

I’ll let you know how this year’s group responds!!

 

With love,

Laurie

 

Here is an abbreviated version of Carol's post:

Hi Laurie,

 .. I have a question regarding my situation that may be similar to other teachers. ..

...I'm teaching ESL in High School for the first time. (I have already taught ESL in JHS using tprs for 2 years.) But my HS students have had 7-8 years of English. The level of my best class is B2-C1 in Europe, I guess Intermediate High or even Advanced Low.

I want to continue using tprs. I am finding some things fairly easy to adjust like circling .... Free writes work splendidly well, as well as class stories but I need to up the level....

Reading, however, is more difficult for me.... IN JHS, I used your embedded reading techniques and it's fantastic. But I'm finding it too time consuming since the readings MUCH longer... plus I have 6 new preps this year. I've been teaching backwards, finding vocab and having them use it first. But it's not falling into place like it should, there's no 'ahha' feeling. They are reading and understanding but it's flat....

Dear Carol,

First I want you to take a minute and focus on what is working well!

1. You are in a new school with new students and they are responding !!!!  Many teachers in this situation end up “treading water” for a long time.  It takes a while for students to settle in and to trust us.   It takes even longer at the high school level!!  I can also imagine that your students have had several ESL teachers so their walls are up and functioning big time!!!    The fact that you are winning them over is a fantastic and amazingly wonderful thing!!!!
2. You wrote, “They are reading and understanding.”  YES!!!!!
3. You wrote, “I am finding some things fairly easy to adjust like circling (I repeat back what they say and what I say, and 'or' works well especially if done with silly funny things) “
4. “Free writes work splendidly well, as well as class stories”

These are great accomplishments in a short period of time and with High School kids!!!  Enjoy that a bit.  Let your students know that these are successes and that you are impressed.

Next,  there is a giant emotional chasm between the responses of middle school students and high school students.    Middle schoolers are responsive, enthusiastic, energetic and passionate.   High schoolers are (when in the presence of adults in authority) reserved, condescending, critical, apathetic and way too cool for school.   (when they are only with their peers they are often vastly different than they are in class).    It takes months to get them to commit to the “working together” concept, even with a teacher that they like.   Truthfully, the good “meshing” doesn’t start until February…and in some classes I’ve seen it take until May.     And sometimes the chemistry of the group doesn’t allow it to happen at all.

Third, their language abilities are much more advanced.  You only need circling on structures that are new or  that give them trouble and you can go deeper and “up the level” as your instincts suggest.

You were able to use the Embedded Readings successfully with the junior high kids because you knew them well and had readings that connected with their interests and their reading level.   That is your goal now with the high schoolers.    Also, in JH, your goal was comprehension….in HS we want to move it up Bloom’s Taxonomy:   prediction, compare/contrast, prediction etc.   

Lastly,  your HS kids are ready to do more output.   It’s time for discussions, debates, presentations, writing story books etc.  Incorporating output with input at this level will get you more of that “aha” interaction that you are looking for.

What materials are you using?   Is it all created from student/class stories?    At this level, my suggestion is to use materials that you find on the internet.    Find an article just above their comfortable reading level.   Copy and paste it into Word.  That is your final reading.   Copy and paste it again….and take out words and phrases…about ¼-1/3 of them.  Do that 2 more times and you have an embedded reading.  Copy and paste and reduce….much easier than write and add for you when preparing for your more advanced readers!

Another time saver which is a language builder is to have a story that they adapt.    Not all stories work well with this but many do.   For example, we read The Aztec Legend of the Corn in Level 2 and then they adapted it to create their own Marcus Whitman (our district)’s Legend of the Corn.    It required them to not only read and understand, but to read again, carefully, to determine which lines needed to stay, which needed to go and which needed to be changed.

Tie into music whenever you can.   It's great input for high school kids.   Duke's site has TONS of songs already worked for you and your kids here:  www.escuelaschool.com

Be patient.  Be positive!!! Good things are happening.  You will learn to read this age group and to connect with their interests as the year progresses.  Their "aha" moments don't always shine in their eyes and in their smiles like their younger counterparts...but in many ways their "aha" moments shine deep, deep inside...and for the rest of their lives.

with love,

Laurie

Laura also wrote:

We live in the reality of having to produce a grade. How do you grade your students?
What does your grade represent?

First, grading has to fulfill the district, building and departmental requirements...especially in larger districts.  

In my program, we have a few requirements that are outside of my control ie how much each marking period is weighed, whether or not to give midterms and finals and how those exams are weighed.     I worry about what I do have control over.

1.  I give a quiz every Thursday.   I do NOT tell students what is on the quiz.  The purpose of the quiz is for me to evaluate where students are so that I can plan for the following week.   IF 80 % of the students achieve an 80 % or higher, I put the grades in the gradebook.   If not, I don't.  The quiz may take 10 minutes or 40, depending on how much information I require.  (they usually average 15...I hate to give up interaction time!)

This gives me between 6-10 quiz grades per marking period.  I vary the quizzes so that at least three skills: Reading, Writing and Listening are evaluated at least once per marking period.  Speaking evals are included in Levels 3 and 4. 

2.   I collect at least two assignments per week...FROM WORK WE HAVE DONE IN CLASS.  This could be adding details to a story,  a written translation, a picture drawn from a reading, a poem written from lines of a song or any number of different activities.  

3.    I usually have 1 homework assignment per week that I collect and mark as a 0, 50, 75 or 100. 

4.  Once each marking period, especially in the upper levels, students have a  short "project" to complete: The requirements are broker down into steps and credit is given for each step completed.   Students have enough class time to complete the project with a passing grade.  Students who want a higher grade will work outside of class.    It may have an output component but always involved some form of input as well.  (I'll try to post some of these later ....)

This actually gives me at least 20 "grades" in the book for each student per marking period.  I have tried all kinds of weighting systems only to find that none of them really makes a difference.   I simply total them all (they are out of 100) and divide by the number of grades.   If a "project" was really involved I will simply put it in twice.   j

I put as little emphasis on grades as possible.   I don't go over tests/quizzes/homework in class.  Ever.   I will discuss things with students after school.   My quizzes often involve choice:  Here are 15 sentences,...illustrate or translate any 10.   If I have planned well, conducted classes well, written quizzes well and designed projects well...it all leads to acquisition.

It does take some students (and parents) time to adjust to not knowing their own personal "point value" at every given moment.  If it is extremely stressful for an individual, I will encourage him/her to meet with me after school and we go to Quia or another online format that fills that need for evaluation and  quantitative feedback    By the end of the first marking period however, they see that their grades are high and that they have really acquired a great deal of language and success. 

It works for me.   Keep asking questions about what is not clear...

with love,
Laurie   

aura asked a number of great questions on the last post.  I will try to address some of them here.

How do you get there?  Which system do you have that replaces participation points that works?  How do you deal with discipline (attitude, absences, English). Which is the social contract you have with your students and parents?        How did you reach this social contract?How do you enforce the rules that make daily living (la convivencia) possible?

Below is the contract that I created to address these issues.  When I have an administration that requires a signature, I'll collect that.  Our Dean of Students and Principal have a copy.  A copy is on my website and a copy is sent home to parents. 

The key to this, however, is taking time the first week of school to address each point below:

Sus Derechos y Sus Responsibilidades

Your Rights and Responsibilities

 

 

1.   You have a right to be treated as an individual who interesting, capable, and  

       important.

      You have a responsibility to treat others the same way.

2.    You have the right to a positive learning environment every day.

    

       You have the responsibility to learn and accomplish something positive every day.

 

        3.     You have the right to be informed about the academic and personal goals of this course and your progress towards those goals.

 

         You have the responsibility to complete the class work and homework designed

        to help you achieve these goals and to monitor your progress.

 

            4.    You have the right to communicate with me in a respectful and appropriate manner about issues that affect you in class or in this building.

 

         You have the responsibility to communicate with me whenever you have a 

         problem, question, or concern about issues in this class, or your achievement in this

         class.

 

        You have the responsibility to communicate if you, or anyone else, is in danger of 

        physical or emotional harm.

 

               

These are posted in the room and referred to as necessary.   We address them as "new information", one per day the first week...IN ENGLISH...along with any number of team-building and get-to-know-you activities in Spanish. 

I address infractions to the above immediately and directly...although not always publicly.  A one-to-one conversation often goes a long way.    The first two are the most important.  As the teacher, I have the final say if there is disagreement on what kind of behavior falls "outside of the lines".  I briefly mention and discuss "boundaries" so that students understand that there is a need to have lines drawn for appropriate/inappropriate behavior. 

The most effective way that I have found, thus far, to address "out of bounds" behavior is to quietly use the following statement.   "You now have the opportunity to make the choice to ___________ (pass back the papers, let the lesson continue, apologize, refocus, get to work, pick up that paper etc. etc. etc.)  I do not offer another option.  I do not state the consequence if s/he does not comply.  I offer a calm, small smile.  90 % of the time the student does the right thing.  Most of the time, the student either was carried up in the moment and wasn't thinking, or, wanted to see if I was paying attention.   The distracted ones just get back on track.  The ones who needed to see if I was paying attention found out that I was and get back to doing the right thing.   Students absolutely know what is appropriate behavior and what is not....by WHAT WE ALLOW TO HAPPEN. 

What we allow, we encourage.

The first few weeks with a new teacher, it is the students' job to find out exactly what that teacher will allow.  For example:   talking when the teacher is talking, writing on other students and/or their belongings/desks etc., arriving late to class, not engaging in class activities, pretending to not know anything, sarcasm, mean remarks, making fun of others,  inappropriate clothing, not doing homework, passing notes, texting, eating and drinking in class...............................................

I don't take it personally when students test the boundaries.  As adolescents, that is what they are wired to do.   They want to know how I will handle trouble when it comes.   They need to know that they can trust me to keep the classroom a safe place.   Ironically, it is the "troublemakers" that need to know this the most.    Many of them are extremely bright and knowing where the boundaries are is how they function.   Many of them have learned survival skills outside of the classroom and want to know from the beginning which of those skills they will need to survive this  venue.   Some of them have a reputation to uphold.   If I am consistent about the rules, their classmates will not look to them to act up.  If I am NOT consistent, then it becomes their role to see what I'll be like today.   They learn by watching adults....and each other.   Adults who are inconsistent become playthings and entertainment.  I let them know up front that we have other things to do.

So...Step 1:  The Rules and Responsibilities

Step 2:   Identify the Boundaries and Stand Firm

Step 3:  Offer the Better Option....Calmly.

Step 4:  "Conduct" the Class

I tell students that this class is much like a band/chorus/orchestra and I'm the Maestro.   I literally "conduct" the class.  They need to follow my words, facial expressions, gesture etc. and respond appropriately.  The first piece we learn is the "Signal" (check out the post below_

http://blog.heartsforteaching.com/2009/09/10/u-is-for-unexpected.aspx

I take my job as Maestro seriously and choose my activities (pieces) carefully based upon the strengths, interests and abilities of the students.   From Day 1, I make it clear that I have chosen everything for THEM.  Not because it is next in the book, what the other classes are doing, I think it's cool, it makes me look good or another group liked it.  For THEM.  I choose activities which I know that my students will enjoy and will be successful at.  

As we do activities we keep the 4 Rights and Responsibilities in mind.  Another part of the first week :  Desk Drills.

http://blog.heartsforteaching.com/2010/08/29/desk-drills.aspx

   I don't actually "need" desk drills as much as I did back in the day....but it gives me a wonderful opportunity for a brain break and some straight talk about how to treat others.

Like many other teachers, I also get my students involved in classroom responsibilities from the beginning.   I ask them to pass out papers (never pass back papers with grades...that's my job),  answer the phone,  put up articles about the school on the Noticias bulletin board, be the class artist for the day, organize the highlighters....whatever might need to be done.   I try to ask a wide, wide variety of students to help....often starting with the "rule-breakers."  These students most need a "role" in class and are happy to be offered something other than class clown or trouble-maker. 

When necessary, I follow all of the steps outlined in my school's disciplinary procedure.   this too is very very important.   That system is there for a reason.   The students need to know that if nothing else works,  the system will eventually address the issue.  

Last...but definitely not least...

In the last 5 years I have required less and less homework...and instead grade all in-class assigments.   Inspired by research and exhausted by the battles which always seem to accompany homework,  I have chosen to actively and clearly offer as little as possible.   When I give homework (usually one day per week if it is a 5 day week) I make sure that it is accessible from the Internet and easy to do without help.  

My students have NOT learned nor acquired any less.  In fact, they spend MORE time outside of class using Spanish.   They actively listen to music and watch programs in Spanish or read online in Spanish because it interests them.   Yes...even in my little rural district.   Parents often report siblings speaking to each other in Spanish at home.  

By de-emphasizing homework I have eliminated several things:

a)  an ENORMOUS battleground where no one ever won a battle nor a war.

b)  frustration over who did it and who didn't.

d)  students entering class a failure before class even starts.

I can also frequently remind students that when we use class time well, I can continue to keep homework to a minimum. 

Now, before TPRS, this really didn't seem possible.  What progress students made, they made because of the 'memorization' that took place via those assignments.    Homework really appeared to make the biggest difference in gains.

With TPRS, those output activities are just a little decorative icing on the cake.   A little goes a long way.

The final piece of the puzzle is to continually focus on my students as people who are acquiring language, not students fulfilling requirements under my watch.     I do not need to know all of the personal details of their lives, but I do try to remember that they have lives.   In a few short years, they will be out in the world working with my future grandchildren,  helping my generation to pay for retirement,  defending our country,  earning a living  and  each of them already affects a world of folks around them.

I try to remember to ....

Treat each student as if he or she has the potential to change the world. 

Because they all do.

I'm not sure that that answers all of Laura's questions, or yours...so keep in touch.

with love,
Laurie

Each of us works in a unique community. If your community and your kids are highly "reward-motivated", not grading participation is a different challenge. However, if your heart tells you that this is the way you'd like to go, I offer you this .....

Coaches do it.

One thing that really convinced me that kids will do this was watching my son
and his athletic coaches. There are no grades in sports. Especially in
practice!! The only benefit is being part of the team and playing with the
team. And trust me, my son was the kind of kid who rarely did anything for
nothing. He used to try to get paid to get out of bed!!! Yet day after day he
showed up for practice and worked really hard.

I am not a coach. I wasn't an athlete. So I have tried to do some observing to
see what makes that "click." And many of the things that I see in a great coach
are qualities / behaviors that benefit a teacher...especially a CI teacher:

* emphasizing the "team" and inspiring pride in" the "team."
* encouraging individual gifts in team members...and encouraging the team to
value them.
* having a sense of humor
* using nicknames (REALLY REALLY REALLY POWERFUL)
* the simple magic of the word "coach"...I think that "Profe" or "Sra. C" can
work the same way
* inside "jokes"
* sharing strategy...coaches tell the team what they are prepping for and why
* celebration of accomplishments
* personal/individual conversations or "conferences"
* setting goals for the team and for individuals
* the simple message: you are part of this team and YOU MATTER.

Now, obviously, there are things that coaches do that don't work in the classroom. But I'm talking about looking at a good coach with a judicious eye and asking yourself: What would work?

These are things that good coaches aren't "taught". They may or may not do them consciously. They are things that they do from the heart and because another great coach modeled them and they "borrowed" the idea and adapted it for their own team. Sound familiar?

It isn't just coaches. Watch a great marching band director, theater advisor,
etc. They all recruit, inspire and maintain numbers of student for activities
that ARE NOT GRADED.

And it isn't always because they have a "booster club" of parents. They manage to recruit, inspire and keep kids who are often not successful anywhere else. I'm convinced that it is because of the relationship between coach and team...coach and player. We can learn a lot from them.

with love,
and thanks to the friend who encouraged me to write about this,
Laurie

Sharing with permission:

The Compelling (not just interesting) Hypothesis
Stephen Krashen
The English Connection (KOTESOL) in press

It is by now well-established that input must be comprehensible to have an effect on
language acquisition and literacy development. To make sure that language acquirers pay
attention to the input, it should be interesting. But interest may be not enough for optimal
language acquisition. It may be the case that input needs to be not just interesting but
compelling.
Compelling means that the input is so interesting you forget that it is in another language.
It means you are in a state of "flow" (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). In flow, the concerns of
everyday life and even the sense of self disappear - our sense of time is altered and
nothing but the activity itself seems to matter. Flow occurs during reading when readers
are "lost in the book" (Nell, 1988) or in the "Reading Zone" (Atwell, 2007).
Compelling input appears to eliminate the need for motivation, a conscious desire to
improve. When you get compelling input, you acquire whether you are interested in
improving or not.
The evidence for the Compelling Input Hypothesis includes improvement as an
unexpected result, the many cases of those who had no conscious intention of improving
in another language or increasing their literacy, but simply got very interested in reading.
In fact, they were sometimes surprised that they had improved.
I included several cases like this in The Power of Reading (Krashen, 2004, pp. 22-24):
Both students and teachers were surprised by the students' startling improvement in
English after they became avid readers in English.
More recently, Lao (Lao and Krashen, 2009) described the case of Daniel, a 12-year-old
boy who came to the US at age eight from China. Daniel's Mandarin proficiency was
clearly declining, despite his parents' efforts: They sent Daniel to a Chinese heritage
language school but it was clear that Daniel was not interested in Mandarin. He was also
not an enthusiastic participant in a summer heritage language program supervised by Dr.
Lao, even though it included free reading.
Then Dr. Lao gave Daniel a few books written in Chinese to take home. One was an
illustrated chapter book, "The Stories of A Fan Ti." Daniel loved it. The book was a bit
beyond his level, but thanks to the illustrations and his ability to understand some of the
text, Daniel was very interested in the story, and begged his mother to read it to him.
When Dr. Lao learned of this, she loaned Daniel more books from the "A Fan Ti" series,
in comic book format. Daniel begged his mother to read more, from two to five stories
everyday. Daniel liked the books so much that he would do the dishes while his mother
read to him. Both Daniel and his mother were quite happy with this arrangement. Daniel's
Mandarin was clearly improving, but he wasn't aware of it, nor was he particularly
interested. He was only interested in the stories.
The Compelling Input Hypothesis also explains why self-selected reading is typically
more effective than assigned reading (e.g. S.Y. Lee, 2007).
An important conjecture is that listening to or reading compelling stories, watching
compelling movies and having conversations with truly fascinating people is not simply
another route, another option. It is possible that compelling input is not just optimal: It
may be only way we truly acquire language.
References
Atwell, Nancy. 2007. The Reading Zone. New York: Scholastic.
Csikszentmihalyi , M. 1990. Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York:
Harper Perennial.
Krashen, S. 2004. The Power of Reading. Second edition. Portsmouth: Heinemann and
Westport: Libraries Unlimited
Lao, C. and Krashen, S. 2008. Heritage language development: Exhortation or good
stories? International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 4 (2): 17-18.
Lee, S. Y. 2007. Revelations from Three Consecutive Studies on Extensive Reading.
Regional Language Center (RELC) Journal , 38 (2), 150-170.
Nell, V. 1988. Lost in a Book. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.

(This is a repost, by request, from a message sent to the moretprs listerv.  )

If you can and do use a participation grading or rewards system that works for you ...that is great. I am not trying to criticize you or your methods. This is not about you. This is about me, my biases and my relationship with my students.

Grading participation goes against everything I believe in as a teacher and as a human being.

It is impossible to teach well and pay attention to participation points at the same time.

Participation grades and rewards discriminate against a large number of students.

Participation systems reward playing the game, not true involvement.

The only students that were motivated by and rewarded by a system in my class were the ones that didn't need it or the ones that manipulated it to their own benefit.

My students never learned more Spanish because I had a participation system.

Students who didn't participate did not participate for other reasons...NOT because I didn't have a good system...and the system was not going to change that.

It is possible to teach, and for students to participate, without participation grades and/or points.

So, one day I just decided not to evaluate participation. (Note: I did not say "not pay attention to it.")

What I have observed is that students participate when ....

* they are feeling well enough physically and mentally to participate.
* when they trust me to treat them well.
* a variety of ways to participate are offered and honored.
* when they trust their classmates to treat them well.
* when they believe that they are capable of acquiring language.
* when the activities we do actually produce results.
* when the activities are interesting, personalized and comprehensible.

So I focus on achieving the above...whenever possible. NOT having a participation rewards system has freed up an enormous amount of time and energy to do that.

NON-participation is a classroom management/behavioral issue...not an academic issue and I treat it as such.

It does take a little time for some students to adjust...but it is almost always the "point-chasers" not the "slackers" who have trouble.

There are a number of kids who use most of their intellectual energy figuring out how to beat the system rather than do the work. When I take away the system, they actually do refocus on what we are doing, not how to get out of it.

Classroom management is really about the relationships I create with my students, not the system I have for manipulating their behavior.

Removing the "participation evaluation" framework takes a leap of faith. It also requires replacing it with concerted efforts to connect with students in and out of class ...as human beings. Doing so has definitely changed my teaching and my classroom for the better.

with love,
Laurie

PS. It was also illuminating. I put a lot of time, energy, creativity and money into "fun" participation pieces and rewards systems. I was kind of proud of them. In hindsight, my system was really a way to highlight my strengths. My students had that figured out long before I did and many of them didn't respect that, or me, because of it. The ones who did were, well, students like me. It was a "legitimized" form of favoritism. It has been very humbling to have to get to know, and love, my students for their strengths, rather than for how they have supported mine.

As many of you know, TPRS is really a grass-roots "movement".    Back in the day (before folks were connected by the Internet!!!)  teachers working with TPRS used to call each other on the phone and talk....for hours....    Then a group of future-minded folks started the moretprs listserve.   This listserve...still strong after over a decade became a life-line for people working with Comprehensible Input.   In order to have a better place to store ideas and information, a bulletin board, www.TPRStalk.com was created.   It has provided yet another place for people to ask questions and get advice and inspiration.    I encourage anyone on the CI journey to be a part of these venues.    TPRS is constantly evolving...and these are the places where our growth as teachers becomes the ideas that change the lives of others across the globe.

In the last three years (or so), a number of people have started to "blog" their teaching journeys.   There is a (not-yet complete) list of these here.   If you would like your blog on this list, please let  me know.  I'm slow, but I will get it there eventually.  :o)

I'd like to bring your attention to several people who have been blogging their journeys as "newbies" to the TPRS/CI journey.   There is so much to be learned from these gems.   If you have a little personal or professional time, these blogs are a wonderful place to go.   I've met (almost) all of these teachers and they are as real as it gets.     They want the best for their students.   They want to be the best teachers that they can be.  They want to feel hope and strength in today's educational climate.   They want to learn from their struggles.   I encourage you to stop in at their blogs, to learn from them, to encourage them.   That is what family does.

Bess                                      http://mmehayles.blogspot.com/

Haiyun                                   http://tprsforchinese.blogspot.com/

Kristin                                    http://tprs.missduncan.com/

Martina                                  http://martinabex.wordpress.com/ 
 
Melissa                                 http://proframartinka.blogspot.com/

Señor Jordan                       profesoranonimo.blogspot.com/p/my-introduction-to-tprs.html

style="font-size: 16px;">I'll share others as I come across them.   Reading these has me anticipating my return to my 29th year of teaching!!!

with love,
Laurie

Earlier, we took a target structure and then brainstormed natural reactions to it.  We can also reverse the process. Above we STARTED with “I need to tell you something.” and looked for the reaction. What if “I need to tell you something” WAS THE REACTION?!

What could have happened that caused Earl to say. “I need to tell you something.” ?

Earl’s teacher forgot to wear pants….so
Earl found a million dollars….so
Earl decided to leave his job…..so
Earl crashed his father’s car…so
Earl asked two girls to the dance…..so
(all actions ..DO)

Earl said ” I need to tell you something.” (SAY)

Look how beautifully and naturally a structure about FEELing would fit into any of the scenarios above: is embarrassed, is afraid, is nervous etc.

“wants to eat” works the same way. What has to happen so that “wants to eat” is a natural reaction?

Earl sees a McDonald’s commercial…so
Mary has a huge bag of candy….and
Earl’s mom makes liver for dinner, but
Earl just got braces …and

Earl “wants to eat”______________.

with love,
Laurie

Another thought: In a story characters will THINK, FEEL, SAY AND DO things. The first structure is something that Earl SAYS, “I need to tell you something.” The beauty of it is that it immediately implies a feeling. Earl NEEDS to. AND a future action: TELL. This is a seriously powerful structure.

Not all structures are this powerful…especially in the lower levels. For example, I choose the structure “wants to eat”. That is what Earl FEELS. It will help things flow if my next structure is not about feeling. So I could choose….

Earl wants to eat.
If I need to park on “wants to” I can stay there for a long long time…but if I want to move on (for any number of reasons) I need to pick another structure.

THINK Earl thinks about his favorite food………….or
FEEL Earl is really hungry………..or
DO Earl goes to SuperWalmart……….

ALL of which are now connected to the first structure and make sense.  Trutfully, teadching beginning students is such a challenge.  Their language pool is pretty shallow...it's hard to dive in deep!!   Using the THINK, FEEL, SAY, DO model really helps.

with love,

Laurie