This weekend a former student, and friend of my son, was at my house visiting.  She brought a killer artichoke dip and an even more delicious story.   She also gave me permission to share both with you.  :o)  (I’ll post the recipe at the end!)

Kasie graduated two years ago, and was a Spanish student in grades 8 and 9.  It’s been over four years since she has been in a Spanish class.    She is a volunteer for a local Ambulance Corps and responded to a call near her home.   When she arrived, she found the patient already surrounded by local sheriffs, state police, border patrol and EMT’s.    “Do you speak Spanish?”, they asked her.  “Well I took a little in high school, but that was years ago.”  “That’s more than we have, you have to help!”   

It was pandemonium.   The victim was an undocumented worker and had been stabbed in the abdomen.   Panicked by the appearance of so any law officers, the young man was “freaking out completely, “ according to Kacie.   So was Kasie.   The officers were ready for action with weapons ready and surrounding the victim.   The victim was hysterical and Kacie was worried that the situation would escalate and she would be caught in the middle of it.

That didn’t happen.   The credit goes to Kasie, who remained calm and collected on the outside despite her inner panic.   How?  She is an incredible young woman, full of grit and passion and strength.  She was able to talk to the young man, in Spanish, defuse the situation and get the young man the medical attention that he needed.   How?  She opened her mouth and Spanish fell out.  She told me that she didn’t really think she knew what to say, but in the moment, she knew exactly what to say and said it.  She didn’t think about what to say or how to say it.    It was just there.  She related the entire conversation to me and here are some of the phrases that she used to communicate with the patient:

Cálmate.    (Calm down)

Necesitas ayuda.  (You need help)

Quiero ayudarte.  ( I want to help you)

¿Cómo estás?  (How are you)

¿Tienes mucho dolor?   (Do you have a lot of pain?)

¿No comprendo.  (I don’t understand)

Habla más despacio por favor.  (Speak more slowly please)

Vamos al hospital.  (We’re going to the hospital)

Hay un problema con tu…..ombligo.  (There is  a problem with your….belly button)

Necesitas un doctor para el problema.  (You need a doctor for the problem)

Hay sangre.  (There is blood)

Es necesario.  (It’s necessary)

Tienes que escucharme.  (You have to listen to me)

These are the statements that she used in Spanish to me when relating the story.  WITHOUT ERROR!!!!!!!! And under great pressure.

I can tell you that she never once had a thematical unit on illness, injuries or the hospital…only TPRS and other forms of comprehensible input in grades 8 and 9…four years ago.

Nor was Kasie one of those students who soaked up Spanish like a sponge.  She was a hard worker, lots of fun and enjoyed class while she was in it.   But she wasn’t one that downloaded music, changed the sound track on movies or sent text messages to her friends in the language.    She did what she needed to do when she was in class, but her passions and interests were elsewhere outside of class.

That, my friends, is the power of ACQUIRED language.   

The most beautiful part?   She doesn’t even know how phenomenal it was that she was able to use that language when she, and this victim, needed it.    In truth, she was more overwhelmed by the presence of so many armed officers than by her ability to listen to, understand and communicate with the patient.  

And she asked me for a list of phrases that she can keep in the ambulance because now that they know that she “speaks” Spanish, she’s pretty sure that they’ll be asking her for more help of that nature. 

Kudos to this brave young lady!!!  (She’s only 19!)    Thank you to TPRS and all of you who helped us to teach her using this approach.

With love,

Laurie

P.S.  Kasie’s Awesome Artichoke Dip

8 oz of softened cream cheese

1/4 C. mayonnaise

1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 C. grated Romano cheese

1 clove garlic peeled and minced

1/2 t. dried basil

1/4 t. garlic salt

14 oz can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 C. frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1/4 C. shredded mozzarella cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and lightly grease a small baking dish

2. Mix all ingredients except for mozzarella cheese and place in baking dish.

3.  Top with mozzarella cheese.

4.  Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly and lightly brown.

Enjoy!!

What a gift to be able to watch my colleagues present last weekend!!!!!!!!!!  I could rave on and on about how fun, intelligent,gifted, creative and powerful they are, but I think that they would protest.  J 

What I would like to do is share the insights that they gave me through their presentations.     Not only ideas and information, but also techniques and personal touches that affected me.

• There is no such thing as too slow or too repetitive in a beginning level language class. Ever.

I don’t know Hawaiian and I don’t know Czech and I NEEDED the extremely slow and repeated process.     Even then,   I frequently felt “lost”…..and believe me, they couldn’t have gone much slower!!!!!!!

• A student needs the speaker to pause in order to have “processing time.”   I don’t need it for my second language, Spanish, unless I am in a conversation with native speakers whose speed blisters my brain.   I still need it for French,  and I have had hours of French instruction.

   It isn’t that I just need a slow pace in the delivery of the language….I needed a pause between chunks of the language so that my brain could make the leap from “yes I know that” to “yes I know what that MEANS.”   

 During the Hawaiian and Czech demos that pause saved me completely.

• Susie’s  encouragement to “Teach To The Eyes” is probably the most important thing that a teacher can take from a CI/TPRS® workshop.     

• There is always a better way to do everything.     Gary and Michelle Kindt’s  template for circling was amazing and helpful and a true TOOL for teachers.  

• Teachers need differentiation too.    As wonderful as that template was, there were still teachers that needed a script rather than a template in order to begin the circling process.

• Facial expression  and vocal variety are the difference between  an interesting interaction and a compelling interaction.   Much of what makes this group of presenters stellar is their ability to reach outside of their “personal” box and step up onto their “teacher” box.   Up there on that box,  a smile, a wink, raised eyebrows, a dropped jaw  add drama and passion to the endless repetitions.    

• Varying which words in a sentence receive the stress is an easy way to add variety.

                         “I”  know  which one is right.

                         I  “know”  which one is right.

                         I know  “which”  one is right.

                        I know which  “one”   is right.

                        I know which one  “is”  right.

                         I know which one is  “right.”

• Students can sense our level of peace, tranquility, patience…I saw that over and over again….and so I assume that they  can probably sense our lack of those things as well.

• No one is perfect….and in those moments when we misspeak, or forget something…we become totally human, totally real….and a role model for our students.

• Each time the teacher used a complete sentence in the target language, and I understood it, I felt like Einstein.    (and thank you Rochelle for showing us how to refer to our students as Einstein #1,  Einstein #2 etc…that was priceless!!)

• Training students to use the “I don’t understand” signal is AMAZINGLY AMAZINGLY AMAZINGLY POWERFUL.

• ANYTHING can be the topic of conversation or lead us to a story.  Even a necktie like Gary’s.  J

• It’s never too early to introduce characters in literature or the stories from literature, even if the literature itself is still out of reach.

• Some things must be experienced to be believed.    Practice before standing up in front of kids is so important.

• Checking for understanding is like breathing…..we must do it often to stay alive in the classroom.  (Gary and Michelle added it to the Circling Template!!!! Positive, Either/Or,  Negative, Question Word, Check for Understanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Brilliant!!)

• Getting to know the culture of our students is priceless.   How can we know what they need if we don’t understand what they already have and where they get it from?   Not only can it help us to make input compelling, it can give us the knowledge to act as mentors and role models and to avoid being duped or manipulated by any students. 

• Character Ed can be an integral part of a CI classroom.

• The students in the class are THE most interesting main characters in a story.

Sigh….and that is only a glimpse of the wonderful things I was blessed enough to see last weekend….Thanks to you all!

With love,

Laurie

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to be part of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers’ Annual Conference.   Under the inspiration and encouragement of Lizette Liebold, a group of us presented a “strand” of Comprehensible Input/TPRS workshops and coaching sessions.    From Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, participants had the opportunity to attend  workshops on Embedded Reading,  A TPRS demo in Hawaiian, An explanation of the three steps using Czech, The skill of circling via Spanish,  and  the skill of Personalization using French.     On Sunday morning we offered two coaching  and Q and A sessions back to back (almost 4 hours!!!!) .   

This weekend reminded me how much a CI-based program offers….especially in terms of teacher support and collaboration….offerings that I guess I had taken for granted until I watched folks new to the process try to wrap their heads around all of the help and support being offered to them.

First,  the presenters were a team.    I’ve never been to any workshop where this occurred and I LOVED BEING PART OF IT!!!      The group included Terry Thatcher Waltz,   Teri Weichart, Rochelle Barry,  Gary DiBianca, Lizette and myself.    Whenever possible,  all of the presenters were in each  workshop.    We acted as host(esses), secretaries,  Vanna White’s,  gofers and cheerleaders.     Because of this…

• We were all getting to know the participants.    While some folks floated in and out, a core group of attendees developed, and we were able to get to know them over the course of the weekend.
• We could refer back to any of the presentations during our presentation,  making connections for the participants.
• We could see each other in action.  I’ll save all of my excitement about this for the next post!  :o)
• Participants saw us support each other, encourage each other, and care about each other…..even though we came from school districts hundreds of miles apart.

The amount of resources available to teachers is really staggering:

• Local coaching groups
• NTPRS
• Workshops offered through Blaine Ray TPRS®,  TPRStorytelling,  BER,   Susie Gross, Teach for June  etc.
• Webinars offered by the above.
• The invitations to go to observe schools where TPRS is used.
• CICS  Coaching help www.cicoaches.com
• The moretprs listserv via Yahoo groups and www.TPRStalk.com
• Blogs by Ben Slavic, Michele Whaley, myself and others (see bottom right of this page!!)
• Materials to use with students
• DVD’s with teachers using TPRS
• Offers to Skype

I could tell that the teachers were skeptical about the support being offered.     What is this collaborative spirit thing?    I had forgotten that outside of the CI world that there is a very competitive and protective out there.    Even in a venue DESIGNED for sharing such as the NYSAFLT conference, there was a different level of cooperation and support being offered through this strand.

It wasn’t until late in the day on Saturday, and during the coaching/Q and A sessions on Sunday that I saw teachers really accept the idea that we are all in this together.     Not only did they open up to how to incorporate these ideas into their own classrooms, but they started to really connect with each other, teaming up by language or level,  exchanging emails and planning activities.    So cool to see!!!

With love,

Laurie

I still utilize the “Book Circle” with my Level 3 and Level  students, but I really wanted to up the ante with them and get them reading the short novels on their own.    By the time they are in Level 3 they have read between 3 and 5 novels ( ie Pobre Ana, Casi Se Muere,  El Primer Trabajo de Roberto, Viva el Toro!,El Viaje de Su Vida) in class.   But they have done very little novel reading independently….only an occasional exercise in class.  

So, with the goal of developing successful independent “novel” readers,  I experimented with a new  “free reading” time in my Level 3 and Level 4 classes.    Here is an explanation:

I created a “pile” of books to choose from:  5-8 copies of each of the following: 

Berto y sus Buenas Ideas ,  Pobre Ana Bailó Tango, El Viaje Perdido  (Blaine Ray)

Las Aventuras de Miguelito,  Cartas a Susana, Roberto Cumple Diez y Seis, El Sueño de Linda (Teacher’s Discovery)

I have others, but I kept them aside to use later in the year!!!

Then, I explained how reading would make acquiring language so much easier and faster (citing Krashen) and I asked students to look through them and pick one that they felt that they could read without assistance.     I gave each student an index card and asked them to record their name, the title and author of the book.   Then they had 10 minutes, in silence, to read.

At the end of the 10 minutes, I asked them record the following on the card:  3 sentences in Spanish summarizing from the book, copying straight from the book if desired, the page where they stopped and the last sentence read.   Then I asked them to write one, just one, word or phrase that they wished that they had known. 

Finally, if they wanted to continue reading that book that they should circle the title.   If not, draw a line with through the title and give me a quick reason why:  boring/easy/hard etc.   I collected the cards in an envelope and they piled up the books.

It was quick and easy to glance over the cards and write in the meanings of words they requested.    If they requested a change of books, I offered a suggestion.

The next day the students picked up their cards, looked them over, and made their book choice for the day.    They read for 10 minutes; this timefor 5 minutes in silence and 5 minutes with music playing (a new song I wanted to do with them later in the period.)  When time was up they again recorded the page and line where they ended.   I asked  for two sentences summarizing new developments in the story, in Spanish.   I asked them to answer two questions:  1.   Was it easier to read in silence or with music?   2.   Was the reading easier or harder today?   

Today, we used another 10 minutes.   Again, I used 5 minutes in silence and 5 minutes with music.   I was ASTONISHED at how quickly and easily they fell back into reading their novels!!!!    At the end of the reading I asked them to again record where they had stopped and to list three characters in the story…and one adjective/noun to identify or describe that character.

My observations:

• THE MOST POPULAR BOOK WAS THE EASIEST BOOK.   By far, Berto was the book of choice and it is listed as a middle school reading on Blaine’s site.  It is about a soccer-playing mouse.  Those reading it, loved it.  Those who didn’t, wanted it.    One senior boy came back in later in the day to borrow it to read during senior study hall!!!   It was a huge confidence builder.  Even some of my brightest, fastest readers chose it.     Of course, they finished all  21  pages and then went on to another more challenging book.   But I am convinced that the 20 minutes they invested in that “too easy” reader were exactly what they needed.
• Re-reading was very helpful.   I did not give the questions for the cards until AFTER the 10 minute readings were completed.   I did not want them reading for the answers.   This way, they all went back and re-read in order to answer the questions.   Two for one!!!  Whooo hooo!!!!
• This was the right time to start.   My Level 3’s  were not ready last year and my Level  4’s had the skills last year but not the confidence.
• They needed to make their own choices.    I cringed at first when my best readers  grabbed up the easiest reader, on purpose.   But as I said, it was a good choice.   Other students chose books that I would have labeled as far above their reading level…..but they loved the challenge.   
• They feel so empowered to be able to read and comprehend these novels on their own.
• Some liked music playing, others didn’t.    Some only liked it if it was music they didn’t know so that they didn’t get distracted by the song.
• It was important to begin with three days in a row so that they could get used to the idea.   Next week we’ll read for 10-15 minutes every other day.   
• They were eating up the new verb patterns that they came across.

My 9^th period class has about 5 really reluctant readers.     The first day was not much of a success with this group of kids.    The second day was better.    I also added some of our embedded reading packets as a reading choice and that helped.   Today I offered them a  different option.   I played the songs via music video on the smartboard, using videos that showed only the lyrics (not  scenes or pictures).    Students could choose to read a novel and face away from the screen, or read the lyrics on the screen.  Lyric readers had to write 5 known and 5 unknown words/phrases for each songs.   I played four songs, alternating songs they knew with songs that they didn’t know.   ONLY my reluctant readers chose the lyric reading. …and they really attended well.     Not the same level of independent reading, but it was a start.

With love,

Laurie