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R and E: Transitions and Signals 3.19.12

(Originally posted 3/19/12)

Smooth transitions are a key piece to successful classroom management. But getting a class to make smooth transitions is a bit like grocery shopping with a hungry toddler!

Most of us do not start out using TPRS in the classroom for an entire class period. Even when we get to that point on some days, we rarely do just one CI-based activity (ie PQA or storyasking) for an entire class period..especially if our students are young, novices or we teach on the block!!!!!

We can make our world, and our students, much happier if we delineate when an activity, and the expected behaviors that go with it, start and end.

To do that, we first need a clearly taught, practiced and incorporated way to get out students’ attention. The truth is…we all have one. Maybe we didn’t mean to teach it or are even aware that we did, but our behavior did.

Kids do have instincts..very good ones. If we haven’t taught them a specific signal and response to get attention, then they will just do what they want to until they sense that we are on the edge of ____(insert yelling, screaming, throwing something, using the evil eye etc. here) and then they will listen up. If we never get to that point and just teach on whether or not they are listening, then we have taught them that what we want and what we say shouldn’t matter to them. The question is…

Question #3: What is an EFFECTIVE way to get the attention of an entire group?

Choose/create a signal and response. Teach it, practice it, use it. Repeat.

Many of you know that I am a huge proponent of the signal. Just as Blaine utilized Págames, I could not teach without a signal. If you don’t know what I mean then here is an explanation.

The only way that you can truly run a classroom is to have a way to get students to be silent, stop all activities and listen to what you have to say.

You don’t have to use my idea of a signal. But you need something and you need to teach it, practice it, use it and never let your students forget how important it is. Not only for a lesson, but for safety, security and sanity.

Anything can happen in a classroom.

On any given day with a class of freshmen I can use a signal as many as 15 times in 40 minute period. Sometimes it is to refocus/make a transition. Sometimes it is to add humor. Sometimes it is just a brain break. Sometimes it is to restore order. The more mature/experience the students, the less often I need a signal…but I always need one.

The most powerful thing about teaching, practicing and utilizing a signal is that it is the CLEAREST example we can give of what INTERACTION should look like…..and our entire teaching method/approach/whatever is based on interaction. Teach/practice/use an attention signal and you have the basis of the classroom that you want.

with love,
Laurie

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Stopping For Signals…Archived Post 9.10.09

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: November 30, 2014 Archived 2010 , Classroom Management , Signals , Starting The Year

(This was originally posted 9/10/2009)

Today was the third day of classes. This is the day that classroom management starts to kick into gear. This is the day we start with the signal. The first few weeks of class are designed with several purposes in mind:

Interact with the students so that I can get to know them better as people and as students.
Interact with the students in the target language so that they can acclimate to my voice and delivery of the language.
Create a set of classroom routines that will make the entire year go more smoothly.
Model a number of behaviors so that the students will understand my expectations and begin to use those behaviors in class
Have students interact with each other in a variety of situations and activities so that they begin to be comfortable together as a group.
Incorporate as much of the target language into all of the above as possible!!!!!

The signal helps me with so many things, I cannot remember teaching without it! The signal is basically an attention-getting device. I use the term “signal” which I learned as part of a Madelaine Hunter training over 25 years ago!! Elementary teachers, camp counselors, coaches, and scout troup leaders all use signals with their groups. The key to a really effective signal is to make it interactive.

I start by teaching my students that when I (fake) sneeze that they need to say “Salud” AND THEN stop what they are doing and turn to face me in silence because I have something important to say. We practice once and then I make sure that we use the signal several times that period.

It seems so simple. You would be surprised how many students don’t get it at first. High school students live in their own little bubbles of reality. Sometimes it is hard to penetrate that bubble! An entire class of 30 students can be sitting quietly, watching me, waiting for one student to realize that he/she is the only student talking (loudly!) in the room. Even the friends he/she is talking to are ignoring him/her and looking at me and STILL the student remains oblivious.

The reality is that this particular group of students is not yet “tuned in” to my voice. After a week, they are usually very responsive, but it takes the human brain some time to learn to connect with certain sounds, pitches and tones. Developmentally I believe that adolescents are programmed to TUNE OUT ADULT VOICES. I often think of the classic example of the voice of the teacher in the Charlie Brown movies. No matter what is being said, all that the kids hear is WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH.

Using a signal to get students’ attention allows me to provide my students with a) a way to control sound and activity in the classroom b) interesting and useful phrases in the target language and c) extra opportunities to get “tuned in” to my voice.

with love,
Laurie

Wherever You Go, There You Are

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: August 30, 2020

It’s the beginning of my fourth week of classes. That is hard to believe! For many of you, it will be the first. I was calm on the outside but quaking inside that week. New school, new students, new admins, new colleagues. Clearly at my age, even if you didn’t know anything about me, you would expect me to know what I was doing.

But like a lot of you, I felt that I had no idea what I was doing. Or very little anyway. Luckily the people around me felt much the same way, and weren’t afraid to admit it. I knew that I was not alone.

They also DID have knowledge that I did (and still often do) not. Where the different rooms are. Who is in charge of what. The unspoken expectations of an institution, of a building and of a community. They have been reaching out at every turn.

Last week, while we watched Hurricanes Marcos and Laura, many of them gave me advice on how to prepare and asked if I had questions. They also offered up phone numbers and promised to check in on me if things got ugly. (Luckily it didn’t get ugly here, but much of Louisiana was not so lucky.)

So here I am, four weeks in, with my own experience, many, many questions and the support of others.

Is that not what Life is about?

When I visited Alaska, I was keenly aware of an interesting dichotomy there. It seemed that everyone was quite prepared to take care of themselves. Extraordinarily capable. Yet, there was a very strong sense of community there. People relied on each other. They knew that to thrive, it would be necessary. Independent, but rarely alone.

I think that we are all in that place right now…..maybe even more so if you are teaching from home. You are working through a new experience …and having to do it independently. I’m sure that some districts believe that they have prepared you well. I know that they are telling parents and students that they have.

The truth is, they probably haven’t. No one made decisions early enough for that. (Not throwing blame, it’s a complicated situation.) So…..here we are.

Working with what we have and what we know. Knowing that we could know more, but don’t, yet.

And again, that is Life.

Covid-19 has reminded us of many things. It has forced us to see that we have depended extraordinarily on the world of technology to answer all of our questions. No, we are required to use that technology to teach. Whether or not we have been able to keep up with what is out there.

Some teachers are techie. They have been so for years and delight in bringing tech into the classroom. Some are Luddites. They see teaching as one of the last bastions of people to people communication and do not want to bring anything electronic into the picture. Others are somewhere in the middle….some moving slowly at the pace that is comfortable for them. Others are in the middle and jumping around….trying this, trying that, using what can be used well in their particular experience.

And we are often treated like puppets, pulled by the strings of the present administration towards whatever idea, program, etc. is the “new” focus. Even if we wanted to fully explore something, we are often yanked out to complete some new project required of us.

So, as a profession, are we fully prepared? No. Nor should we have been expected to be.

We’ve been focusing on our students.

The question I hear over and over again is…..how will I be able to connect with them using techology?

Trust me, you can.

What are your strengths? What are your skills? What is it that you do that opens doors so that students trust you and listen to you?

Are you funny?

You will still be funny over the internet. You will just have to realize that you won’t be seeing and hearing those smiles and that laughter. You will have to trust in it. Use your funny bone to create memes and stories.

Are you thoughtful?

Ask your students thoughtful questions about the topics that you study. Provide them with thoughtful stories and articles.

Are you interactive?

Still possible!! There are many ways to have students use Jamboard or actual white boards, gestures and hand signals to interact using the language.

Whatever your strengths are, use them. Work with them. Build on them. Don’t forget them.

But we will always do better if we accept support from others.

So, when you look around out there, don’t look at everything. Look for what goes with your strengths. Look for interactive activities if you are interactive. Look for humor if you are funny. Look for what will enhance and complement the way you teach, so that don’t lose yourself in all of these new activities.

Take this new teaching world one step at a time. Please. ALL teachers are struggling to make this transition, and or students and their parents are as well.

In the first few weeks, BUILD your new world, one layer at a time. One piece at a time. It will be all that your students can handle. It will be in everyone’s best interest.

I know, I know, we haven’t worked that way since we first started in our present position. It’s not “supposed” to be this way.

But my friends, this IS where we are.

And wherever we are, we bring ourselves and all of our skills with us. Teaching is more than well-honed lesson plans and tried and true activities curated over the years. Much, much more.

Teaching is leading by example. Teaching is facing challenges with humility and courage. Teaching is knowing that we must work WITH students, not for them or in spite of them, and certainly not against them.

Teaching is starting out from one small place of security and testing the waters. It’s building boats and mending bridges to move ahead.

It is NOT going from point A to point Z in a certain period of time.

It is growing enough at each point, and between each point, to make better decisions, and learn even more.

Do NOT expect more from yourself than is humanly possible.

Even if you, your school, your students and your parents think that you can.

Create an outline, a pattern that students can count on and you can count on.

Stick with it. Let everyone get used to it.

Grow with it. Make small additions and changes and lead you and your students to more understanding and more input.

Do not evaluate, yourself or the students, too soon. Give things time to take root and to grow.

When plants are repotted, there is often a period when they are “in shock” before they grow….even if the new pot is bigger and better.

We are in that spot. That’s where we are.

We are also surrounded by support….some of it more welcome than others.

You are on a new journey. It’s an independent journey, so don’t accept more than you can carry at any given moment. But there is help out there. And you can offer help as well. You would be surprised how much you already know and how much knowledge you are acquiring along the way.

It is OKAY to be where we are. Even if it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient or frustrating.

How we handle this will determine how well we get through it. We cannot control what happens, but we can control our response…Even if others are yelling what our response should be…WE GET TO CHOOSE OUR RESPONSE.

Reach out as soon as you can. Share one idea, get one idea. Say thank you. Repeat.

You will always have yourself in this new strange land. You will always have support (really, just ask, we’ll help you find it.) And bit by bit the land will not be so strange.

We were made for this. We learn new languages. We teach them. We explore new worlds. We share them. All good things take time. This journey will too.

With love,

Laurie

Comprehensible CA Friday September 13

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: August 24, 2019

Comprehensible CA is only three weeks away! This conference, like CI Iowa, CIMidwest and CIMitten is a shorter conference than the intensive summer opportunities which are so positve and powerful. These conferences happen during the school year! They are a great way to recharge enthusiasm, ask pertinent questions, solve problems that may have popped up and refocus on new goals.

Comprehensible CA has a unique line up this year! We begin with a Friday Pre-conference line up of offerings! We are very pleased to be offering the first regional administrative training in the country on Friday, September 13 at W.T. Eich Middle School in Roseville, CA. This training, which goes from 9:00-2:30 to accomdate administrators’ schedules, will be led by Bryce Hedstrom, Laurie Clarcq and Marc Buljan. Both Bryce and Laurie have over 30 years of classroom experience each and national and international experience in training teachers and administrators. Marc is the Director of Personnel Services for the Roseville City School District. He has been the administrator for a highly successful CI-based program in an IB school and has worked for several years with administrators who are interested in bringing Comprehensible Input-based Instruction to their schools.

Friday 3 hour Pre-conference options for teachers:

Beginning Basics with Laurie Clarcq

This highly interactive workshop is designed for teachers who desire a foundation in Comprehensible Input-based Instruction. The goal is for participants to understand how acquisition theory becomes reality in the classroom! We will examine how to develop skills, set norms, keep language comprehensible and activities compelling. All of the secrets you need to know to get started and stay strong throughout the year.Come join us for a fun and powerful three-hour experience.

Picture Talk Your Way to Movie Talk with Clarice Swaney

Picture Talk your Way to Movie Talk is an innovative approach that can be used at every level to bring comprehensible input (99-90 % comprehended input to your classroom by using images, video clips and films to connect to the lives and interests of your students. In this half day session, you will experience interactive lessons that demonstrate scaffolded, differentiated questioning techniques with compelling input that will hold student interest by using images, video clips, and film. Participants will practice demonstrated skills, discover and develop your own resources in order to create lessons tailored to your students and curriculum.

101: How to Engage Your Students in a Crime Scene MysteryMurder . with Scott Benedict

Is the ordinary getting boring for your students? Do your students like mayhem and intrigue? Do you enjoy a good crime mystery? Then this session is for you! I will teach you how you can create your own crime mystery in your classroom and engage your students like never before.

Friday Afternoon Options for Teachers:

Classroom Management with Care and Respect with Bryce Hedstrom

Learn or be refreshed on the best practices that will build a sustainable culture of respect, kindness and equity in your classroom… and do it without burning out, including:

How to infuse lessons with culture naturally
The surprising effectiveness of call-and-response prompts… and how to use them in multiple ways
Why you need to start assigning classroom jobs
How to read and send body language signals to encourage subconscious engagement and acceptance.
How rejoinders build fluency, camaraderie and buy-in… how to teach them and keep kids using them.
How to do questioning differently including tiered questioning for on-the-spot differentiation

Beyond the Play Button Jim Wooldridge aka Sr. Wooly!

Although music and videos are essential vehicles for providing language input, it can be challenging to figure out how to properly implement them in the classroom. We all know how to click play, but isn’t there more? In this session, Jim Wooldridge, a.k.a. Sr. Wooly, will demonstrate a variety of practical activities that will give you the confidence to use music and videos in the classroom (and with none of the guilt!). Plus, he will model how to win the class over so you have more class singalongs and fewer class eye-rolls

Setting up for Success: classroom layout, posters, and gradebook with Scott Benedict

Setting your students up for success is more than lesson plans and expertise.

Learn how your classroom layout, what’s on your walls, and setting up your grade book can spell success for all your students. They’re more important than you think!!

Reader’s Theater: From Reluctant Reader to Pleasure Reader with Karen Rowan

Reading has to be 98-100% comprehensible for language to be acquired. 98%! When your students read, do they automatically create visual images in their minds or are they decoding and translating word-by-word? Bringing reading to life for all students through Readers Theater and strategic, effective use of movie clips builds visual images that bring reading to 98-100% comprehensible, increasing the chances that our students will become lifetime pleasure readers. This session contains instructions and a demo so that you can begin using Reader’s Theater in your classroom immediately with whole class novels or as a “sales presentation” to make readers in your classroom library fly off the shelves during FVR. (Bringing possible readers in any language, for any level is encouraged.)

A full day of training for teachers for only $99! If you also attend Saturday’s conference (see next post!) then there is a reduced price!

Here is the Comprehensible California website for more information! www.comprehensiblecalifornia.com

Click here to go directly to the registration page!

Special thanks to our exhibitors and donors!!

Taking Care of Problems: Comprehension

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: August 15, 2018

I don’t understand.

THIS phrase is the first, and most powerful, and practical, place to start taking care of problems!!! Teachers committed to Comprehension-based Instruction often use a “signal” for students to use when the teacher has delivered a message in the Target Language that is confusing or incomprehensible. This is really TAKING CARE OF PROBLEMS!!!

It’s preventing behavioral problems that stem from not being able to follow what is happening in class. It also sidesteps behaviors that arise when a student feels incompetent, unimportant, or incapable in any way. Allowing, actually encouraging, students to communicate in a safe way that the language or the message is confusing creates a safe space that accepts students where they are….instead of pointing out where they “should be.”

It’s giving students power over their own environment and their own input and it is very important. Even if they don’t use it as often as we might like, the fact that we encourage it, accept it and respond to it is incredibly important!

What does having a signal for confusion do? It also allows students, who sit all day long, to communicate that they may have, quite naturally, lost focus for a few moments. It allows us to address that and bring them back into the action.

Wondering who decides the signal and what signal to use? Sometimes the teacher decides what it will be and sometimes the students decide. These signals might be:

A hand over the head.
The “time-out” sign
One fist to the palm of the other hand
Hands crossed over the chest
Stomping on the floor with both feet until the teacher notices.

All of these can be effective, especially if we encourage everyone to use the signal if they see another student expressing concern about comprehension. It’s easy, as the teacher, to miss the sign!

When observing teachers I’ve seen the teacher use the signal when s/he is confused…I love that!!

Some teachers also create a sign for “Slow Down” or “Please Repeat”. After students are comfortable with those, it is easy to make the transition to using the phrases in the TL as well!

Another problem-solver is providing students with a way to ask what something means in the target language or how to say it in the target language. One of the first things that I note when I teach a level 2 class is if the students are “trained” to say “What does _____mean in English?”…and they ask me in Spanish!! Or ….”How do you say _____ in Spanish?” and ask me in Spanish!

Those are not just handy phrases. They are problem-solvers. They give students permission to not understand, and to ask for clarification. When our students have those phrases available to them, they know that we don’t expect them to know everything and that we encourage them to ask!

I know that not all students are comfortable communicating that the language is not comprehensible. That really is okay. I don’t expect they will, but I will invite them to, and often. I will also be thankful and express my gratitude every time they do. It helps us all. It takes frequent reminders; it really does. I have had to actually put it on the board, in a PowerPoint or my lesson plans or I forget to remind them. We’ve been trained NOT to communicate confusion. This will be new. But it is incredibly valuable.

This may sound incredibly simple. But it is incredibly powerful.

What do you and your students use to communicate that the language or the message is confusing?

With love,
Laurie

Start From the Heart: Problem Solving-Test Anxiety

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: August 14, 2018

Today’s post is a little out of order, but something caught my eye and I wanted to share it with you!!

One of the things we all deal with in the classroom is test anxiety. No matter how much “safety” we have built in, the moment the word “quiz” or “test” pops up (see what I did there? 🙂 ) some of our students just freeze up or freak out.

These ideas won’t necessarily solve the problem, but they will help! Not everyone can do all of these, but if you feel you can’t, ask yourself why. Is it that you really cannot, or is it that it is just outside of what you are accustomed to? Our own “beliefs” about assessment are based on experience, rather than reality….and it’s good to examine them!

So take these ideas seriously, but remember, not all ideas are for everyone!!

1. Don’t test students on things they haven’t “mastered”.

Is that possible? More or less, so let’s strive for more!! Traditionally, even if we don’t like to admit it, language tests have been all about the top students. They have been full of very specific elements and the exceptions rather than the regular. Let’s change that!

If we are teaching towards success, and for proficiency, let’s document what they KNOW and what they CAN DO. (Otherwise we should be writing Can’t Do Statements!!!) Let’s fill up our quizzes and tests with items that allow our students to demonstrate their strengths.

Now, if we need to assess a particular skill or item in order to find out if HOW the students are doing, let’s do a lot of informal assessment. Let’s use that formative assessment to adjust the input we deliver and the interactions we have in class!

EVERYONE acquires their first language without testing, I”m pretty sure that it is NOT a requirement for second language acquisition. If, and when, we are required by the powers that be to formally assess a skill, let’s do it with humor, confidence and joy. Or at the very least make it a part of a larger assessment so that the test is predominantly material they can be successful with!

2. Assess skills as well as knowledge.

This could be an entire course of information on proficiency and assessment grading! So I’ll just say that we need to look at our assessments to see if they actually assess what we think they are. Unfortunately, the easiest assessments to grade are often the least effective at actual assessment. Let’s pledge to continue to work with colleagues and explore ways to assess that don’t suck up large amounts of class time but do allow students to demonstrate what they can do, as well as what they know.

3. Don’t put every assessment in the “book.”

Like many TPRS/CI teachers, I usually only put grades in the book if approximately 80% of the students earned a score of 80% or above. If the class, as a whole, scores poorly, then clearly there was a problem with the assessment or I assessed them too early. I should not be punishing the students for those reasons.

If just a few students do poorly, then I follow the department/school policies for make up tests. And make sure they get what they need if I can!

4. Give students what they need in advance, without giving them the answers.

Giving them the answers is what they say they want, because their experience is that teachers want very specific answers. Is that what we want? I don’t think so. Not on most assessments anyway. So let’s provide our students with materials that fill that need to have “answers” to prepare for…at least just a little bit.

A. Short lists, in paper form or on sites like Quia where students can “practice” will fulfill some of that need and lessen anxiety for students, parents and colleagues. They don’t have to be required, but they can be if that fits the needs of your situation.

B. Readings, and listenings, are their best gift. Anything that you do in class that can be put on line or in print form for them to use as a resource is also a gift. Of course, we don’t always have time for that, but if you have access to upper level students (they don’t have to be yours!) or cooperative heritage speakers, take advantage of their abilities to help you to prepare these materials.

C. Show them the format in advance. Not because they need it to do well, but so that they are not stressed when they see it.

D. Give assessment “structure” they can count on. We have lots of routines in the classroom. Let’s consider “testing” routines. Here are the ones I used in my deskless classroom in the last two years:

1. An assessment every Thursday. Sometimes very short, sometimes longer. I may or may not have told them in advance what would be on it, but they did know the format. It could be reading/listening (illustrate, fill in the blank questions, English questions, Spanish questions, open-ended questions, etc.) or writing (free write, structured writing, response writing) They also knew how it would be graded.

Confession: I needed to schedule assessments or I would forget to do them. Occasionally I would just call an assessment-free week and I could, because I knew that I already had enough in the book!

2. Students arrived to find a good luck message on their seats. Check this out!

Students could, if they wanted to, take a quick picture of the message before erasing it to prepare for the quiz.

3. Students picked up a “good luck duck” if they wanted to. I had a collection of tiny plastic ducks that students could have by their side during tests and quizzes. The Patitos were very popular!

(These are from Oriental Trading company..click on pic…which is where I got mine.)

4. After our daily start routine, I would announce the assessment and ask student to find a spot to take their quiz. Because we were deskless, they were allowed, within reason, to go to a different part of the room to take assessments. During this time, students were allowed to talk quietly, make sure they had a whiteboard/marker and borrow a writing utensil if needed. (I only allowed a couple of minutes for this!)

5. I used one of our call and response signals to quiet the group.

6. Tests were passed out FACE DOWN AND KEPT FACE DOWN. If the test had two sides, they put it under their whiteboards. I reviewed and reinforced this all year!!

7. When everyone had a test, then, we all took three deep breaths together and turned them over together. Everyone put their name on the paper at the same time. Then, I went over the instructions, asked questions to make sure that they understood the instructions and let them ask questions about the instructions. (Middle school, remember?!)

8. Students began the assessment. When they were finished, they answered the quiz question (see below) that was on the paper or the screen/board. (See below)

9. When that was finished, students either handed me the paper or raised their hand for me to collect (depended on the group!!). Either way, I looked over EACH paper as it was turned in to make sure that it was complete. If not, I could have a short conversation with that student to encourage/support finishing it. I also checked to see if their name was on it! (Middle school, remember?!)

10. Students then created a good luck note for the next class on their white boards.

11. If students are still testing, those who have finished their tests found a book in our FVR collection to read.

12. When all tests are turned it, I played a favorite, upbeat song and everyone returned to their regular seats for the next activity!! (Often a brain break!)

This routine looks long on paper, but it wasn’t and it solved many, many, many potential problems!

E. Connect with a Question:

For years my colleague Karen and I have suggested the sharing space at the end of the quiz. We know that a lot of you already do it. It’s a wonderful way to catch a moment with each student. Leave a section a the end of each assessment where you can do any of the following:

1. Ask a question (L1 or L2….to be answered in any way you prefer…I usually ask for answers in L1 but encourage and celebrate all answers in L2!)

Some ideas:
What was the best part of your week?
What are you looking forward to this weekend?
What nice thing did you do for someone this week?
Name two places you want to go to in your lifetime.
Who do you look up to and why?
What makes you laugh?
Who is your favorite Youtube star?
Tell me the name of a show/song/book I need to see/hear/read.

2. Ask for a drawing. It could be something you can use to intro the next lesson, or simple a random “Draw me a picture.”

3. Ask for feedback on the test, the week, whatever!

4. Take a poll: What Friday activity do you want to work for?
Do we need a seating chart change?
Etc.

F. Assess with confidence, joy and humor!

It’s pretty difficult to change a mindset that has been years in the making, but it’s worth a try! So many of our students are “test-stressed” that anything we can do to lessen their anxiety is a gift, to them and to our entire community.

So don’t be afraid to make it fun!! Use humorous pictures for writing prompts and humorous stories for reading. Put one or two totally ridiculous, or class-related answers in the multiple choice options. (It’s a great sneaky way to check comprehension….if they laugh, they understood!)

Celebrate with words! Say OUT LOUD when you are proud of how they approached an assessment, did their best, etc. If we can remind them that it is their attitude that can make the biggest difference, it will become easier for them to believe it!!

I love to use music to “end” an assessment. Let them sing! Let them use percussion instruments (if you dare). Let them gesture! Let them dance! Go back to the joy any chance that you can! (Even if they pretend they are too sophisticated for it!)

This turned out to be a bit longer than I planned. It isn’t your typical assessment post, but I hope that it solves some problems for you!

Oh….I almost forgot! Here is what caught my eye. I would love to have kids use these, but only on tests!

(I found these on Zulily…click on pic)
with love,
Laurie

Skill #1: Listening Well

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: November 29, 2016

So today I bit the bullet and decided to try to start a story in every class. I told myself (and them) that it didn’t matter how far we got with the story. I said that we would just get started. I told them that it wasn’t easy, at first, to just starting creating stories together. I told them that we would deal with the story-building skills as we went along. (and said a little prayer….)

One of the things that I have told my classes is that I work very hard so that Spanish class will be interesting and that acquiring Spanish can “feel” easy. However, none of the work I do with make any difference if the students against me rather than with me. I need this group to work with me….and they aren’t there yet. (and they sometimes look at me like I’m from another planet for wanting that!)

Over the years, many teachers have crafted a list of “behavior rules” for their classes as a way to get classes to work together. I knew that I needed to outline something similar for my new students but inside I was cringing at the idea that students with between 7 and 9 years of schooling needed “behavior rules.” I mean, I know that kids don’t always “behave” but it isn’t because they don’t know, by now, what appropriate school behavior is!!

So I tried this week to put out the expectation that every day we would be using four sets of skills. The first one is Listening Well. I didn’t want to make it too complicated (as a teacher I love doing that lol) , so I left it at this:

Listening Well means paying attention to what is said and what it means. I figured that that could cover a lot of bases!

Listening Well is Skill #1 because nothing else in acquisition happens without it…especially for Novices. I can check in with my beginners by simply asking them what I said and what it means.

In reality, Listening Well is NOT an easy skill, for anyone, in any language. We can all improve at it. (I know that I can!!)

What Listening Well looks like needed to be clarified for them.

For instance, Listening Well doesn’t happen if you are speaking at the same time. :o)
Listening Well to the teacher doesn’t happen if you are listening to a classmate. :o)
Listening Well doesn’t happen if you have earbuds in your ears. :o)

(I’m also pretty sure that I’ll be clarifying and re-clarifying those points on a regular basis!)

It is why I needed them to be able to focus on me and be silent at my signal. ( For more on signals…Check out this post!)

The idea is, I told them, that if the class can hear me, they will know when and how to add interesting pieces to the story.

And for a while in every single class, they were able to demonstrate that skill!! For the 8th graders ‘a while” was between 15 and 20 minutes. For the 6th graders it was between 10 and 15 minutes!!

I made it clear that when the skill got too difficult, we would change activities…so once I had to refocus any class for the second story I paused the story-asking and told them how we would continue next. (See the post-script at the bottom!) And then we moved on to another activity. They didn’t want to end it (yay!) but I did. I wanted to pause each story before it fell apart (or I did!).

Next post: Skill #2: Responding Well.

FYI….I still did a LOT of waiting until they were quiet, staring at whisperers (with a smile of steel), and walking over and standing next to the easily distracted!! I was not as patient with one group as I would have wanted!!!! It’s a fine line between calling a student out on behavior and publicly embarrassing him/her. In Middle School it’s even more delicate…I’m learning and re-learning!

with love,
Laurie
PS. Our progress:

8th grade class A: Identified a character and setting, identified a problem, attempted to the solve the problem. Final activity: In Spanish, write down one reason in English the character will not solve the problem and tell me before class. (i.e. doesn’t have $, asked the wrong person, etc.)

8th grade classes B and C: Identified a character and setting, identified a problem. Final activity: In Spanish, write down where (location) the character goes to solve the problem and why. Hand in before leaving.

6th grade classes: Identified a character and setting. Given a problem: The character needs ____________. Final Activity: Write down in Spanish two things the character might need.

Our Changing Role Archived Post 10.4.11

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: December 7, 2014 Archived Posts 2011 , Musings , The Teaching Profession

Thoughts on our changing role…. (Originally posted 10/4/11)

Teachers are individuals and as individuals bring their own goals, experiences and perspectives to the profession. Around the nation, more and more of us are feeling compelled to discuss our profession, and our individual roles in it.

What troubles me is that these conversations are limited to rare faculty room exchanges and blogs. These conversations should be taking place in schools on a regular basis as part of professional development.

A school environment is frequently a reflection of the present administration. For a number of reasons, teachers often are asked to, and agree to, adopt programs and attitudes that the present administration puts forward…regardless of their own knowledge of the community, the students and pedagogy. If the new principal believes in an emotionally-distant ‘professional’ approach, then the teachers are required to “perform” under these guidelines. If the new administrator is a proponent of a particular character ed program then the staff is required, without discussion and often without sufficient education and training, to “perform” under this approach. Rarely does the administration choose his or her “pet project” based on his or her knowledge of the school and community.

Teachers complain, however, this can be EXACTLY what we do, or are required to do, in the classroom. Curriculum is written years before students enter the room. Lessons are planned so that all students are literally on the same page, not so that we can meet students where they are.

I realize that some folks are tired of these articles. They perceive that teachers are whining. The truth is that we are aching to be heard. The other truth is that our students are hurting even more than we are in this regard. Now that we finally have a bit of the media’s ear, we should be also listening very closely to the signals that our students give us about school.

Ten years ago, even if all else failed, we could count on the fact that we knew more about a subject than our students…and that they had to rely on us to get that information. That is no longer true. Any information at all is at the world’s fingertips. We cannot expect to be respected as fonts of information and knowledge. We no longer have that role and it’s time to realize that.

What students need are teachers that can and do help them to find, sort, understand, assimilate and apply the incredible amount of information that is out there….in ways that they cannot do themselves.

The only way to do that is to do everything appropriately possible to know our students. It is a new role for us. It can be an uncomfortable one. There are no clear “rules” yet. It requires communication between teachers, students, parents and administration….communication we haven’t developed the skills for yet.

Truth is, if we combine our life experience and knowledge of how the brain works, with our students’ youth and drive (yes…they are driven…just maybe not about our subject areas), parents’ desire for the best for their children and administration’s desire to create effective schools, we just might have a chance.

Thank you for the chance to share my thoughts,
with love,
Laurie

Class Contract Archived Post 8.12.11

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: November 30, 2014 Archived Posts 2011 , Classroom Management , Engagement , Participation , Relationships , Signals , Starting The Year , Teacher Training , Tough Students

(Originally posted 8/12/11)

A reader asked a number of great questions on a post where I wrote about NOT using participation points. 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:

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.

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)

Signals

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.

Every day for the rest of the year, I keep those rules and responsibilities in mind. I know that we will need to review them regularly.

with love,
Laurie

All content of this website ©Hearts For Teaching and/or original authors. Unauthorized use or distribution of materials without express and written consent of the owners/authors is strictly prohibited. Examples and links may be used as long as clear and direct reference to the site and original authors is clearly established.

Shelter Vocab Not Grammar Archived Post 10.20.10

Posted by: lclarcq Posted on: November 30, 2014 Acquisition , Archived 2010 , Creating Stories , Curriculum and Planning , Grammar , Starting The Year , Teacher Training , TPRS techniques

One of the challenges we face as teachers is finding ways to help students use their language to express themselves fluently. The best thing that we can do for them is to show them how to communicate with fluency with the language that THEY have acquired…to model for them what it might look and sound like. Susie Gross has often said….Shelter vocabulary, not grammar.

But what does that mean? In the past few years I have really practiced this…and I wish that I had “gotten it” earlier because it is an incredibly powerful change in my teaching. But what is it that I have been practicing? Let me try to explain….

In the book that we are working on in, the phrases “brings him/brings her/brings them” show up repeatedly. What I would like to do is to create opportunities to use these phrases over and over and over and over and over again.

It will work because these are high-frequency. It will work if I keep them in front of me…cognitively and physically. It will work if, every time I use them with students, they are comprehensible AND contribute to some sort of interesting interaction. Some opportunities…

Daily Routines:

1. We start the class with a message on the Smartboard. Here are some ideas …..phrases I could put on the opening message:

The teacher is ready to accept your homework. Bring it to her.

The miners brought rocks home from the mine. Why should, or shouldn’t, they bring them?

The students from France are arriving tomorrow! Our students will be bringing them to school.

2. We use signals to integrate vocabulary and structures and to refocus students on activities. Here are some phrases we could use:

I’m bringing them….to the party!
Bring them…with you

3. Instead of collecting papers from the first person in each row I can ask them to “bring them to my desk.’

Personalized Conversations (aka PQA)/Writing Prompts

I frequently start a conversation with students (or ask them to write a paragraph) that uses a particular structure…with this one I might try…

1. I just received an email from The New York Yankees. They want to come to watch their biggest fan (Dan) play soccer this Thursday. They will need a ride from the train station in Syracuse…..who in class can (will, would, should) bring them to school?

2. Our French visitors have a free afternoon on Friday and we are taking them around the area. They can leave school at noon and must be back for the football game at 7pm. You get to decide where we go….where should we bring them?

3. Silly Bandz is sponsoring a local contest. You can win $500 if you can write a letter that convinces our principal to put on 500 Silly Bandz and wear them to school every day for a week. What would you write in your letter?

4. Start a campaign to convince parents that they should no longer bring their children with them to every family function. What is a function that teens do NOT want to attend and why shouldn’t parents bring them?

5. School policy says “no coffee, no soda” in classes. Should students be allowed to bring them to class? Why or why not?

Culture

1. Day of the Dead….a great opportunity to talk about the ofrendas, the people who are honored and what families bring to the ofrenda.

2. Three Kings’ Day…another great opportunity to talk about a Hispanic holiday, who the Kings were/are and what children hope that they bring …

Reading

1. Headlines…a quick “Google”ing of the phrase “brings (or brought or will bring etc) them” in
Spanish brought me these headlines:

· Alejandro les lleva al paraíso (Alejandro Sanz concert…)

· Ronald McDonald visita a niños cusqueños y les lleva alegría (RM visits kids in Cusco, Peru and brings them happiness)

· The Cranberries, reunión y gira mundial que los llevará a España (The Cranberries reunion and world tour that will bring them to Spain)

And my favorite….

· ¿Es necesario que los escolares lleven el celular al colegio? (Do students really have to bring cell phones to school? …..)

2. Matching…I like to create short matching activities to use in little contests, extra credit opportunities etc…they are always easy, interesting, structure-focused. Here’s a sample:

1. My cat threw up three times. ____A. Bring them to a recycling container!

2. My Mountain Dew cans are empty. ____B. Bring them to school!

3. My clothes are dirty. ____C. Don’t bring them to your mother!

4. My Mercedes Benz needs a new owner. ____D. Bring it to the vet!!

5. My cousins are the Jonas brothers. ____E. Bring it to me!

Listening Songs….Again….I googled lleva+letra (Spanish for lyrics) and found….

Llevan por Raphael http://www.letras.com/r/raphael/hacia_el_exito/llevan.html

Mil Calles Llevan Hacia Ti por La Guardia http://www.quedeletras.com/letra-cancion-mil-calles-llevan-hacia-ti-bajar-89218/disco-vamonos/la-guardia-mil-calles-llevan-hacia-ti.html

Me Llevaras en Ti por Alejandro Fernandez http://www.quedeletras.com/letra-cancion-me-llevaras-en-ti-bajar-44250/disco-muy-dentro-de-mi-corazon/alejandro-fernandez-me-llevaras-en-ti.html

Imagine how powerful this kind of repetition could be with idiomatic expressions that just don’t “click” easily? It takes some practice to start “thinking” this way, but I promise you…once you get started it is a little like playing around with puns…you start to see them everywhere!!!

With love,
Laurie

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