Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Keeping it simple and going SLOW among other things...

This undoubtedly has been the biggest challenge to me in my quest this year.  I feel like I started the year out very simply and went very slow.  However, the more exhausted I've gotten, the sloppier I've gotten.  (Surprised right?)  After a much needed spring break, I feel like my brain is almost a brain again and not some mush in my head, so I've been much more able to reflect on what I'm doing in my classroom.

I'm really trying to keep it about the students in my classroom.  It's tough to do that if you also want to keep it simple and go slow.  That's a lot to remember.  It doesn't sound like much to my non-teaching fiancĂ©, but we know it is.  It's difficult because not only do we need to keep these things in mind, but we also have no idea what the students are going to throw at us in their responses to questions. 

Despite TPRS being a more difficult (and effective) way to teach students to acquire language, I've noticed that if I have enough sense to reflect back on a class period rather than just discount it as a "crash and burn" then I can be proud of the fact that my students with learning disabilities and students who have failed in other classes are thriving in mine.  I can also look back and realize my students are able to decode anything someone throws at them.  It's a beautiful thing to watch my first years, but it's sometimes a challenge to look at my third years through the same lens because they haven't had TPRS ever before so where my first years are thriving, my third years are throwing in the towel.  Interesting...

So anyway, I'm focusing on keeping things simple and going SLOW and one of my classes even called me on it today.  Good for them.  As long as I keep working, they keep winning.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Spring Break 2011 - Reflection

Last night, while going to sleep, I decided to write this post.  This post is for the future me to look back and reflect upon how I felt during this time of year.  My hope, is that next year I may look back at this post and realize that things are going better then than now.  Because with each passing year of teaching, I feel like everything gets better/easier, but at the same time it gets more difficult to continue.

Today marks the end of spring break... that awaited time of year for both students and teachers alike.  I have been looking forward to having this time away from school to rejuvenate for the remainder of the year.  I've been needing to get away from school and rest for awhile, so that I can sustain the practice of CI with my students.  The novelty of TPRS has worn off with me, and the true difficulty of the practice has worn me down.  Instead of focusing on the negatives, I need to refocus on what is important.  My goals for the rest of the school year is:

1) Be optimistic. (It definitely is a choice you must make.)
2) Focus on providing contextual, compelling, comprehensible input SLOWLY.
3) Shelter vocabulary but use grammar freely. (This means keeping story scripts simple.)
4) Use "water wings" as needed; for my sake and the students' sake.

It's so easy to get caught up in life in general: what a difference others are making in peoples' lives, what is happening with others, what our contracts are looking like for next year, how much grad homework I have, how much wedding planning is still left undone, what other TPRS teachers are doing in their classrooms, what other non-TPRS teachers are covering in theirs, what extracurricular activities you should be attending, how important it is to eat well, exercise regularly and get enough sleep, etc. that it can get overwhelming. 

But we need to remember that this too shall pass.  Summer is on it's way, and we cannot speed up or slow down the processes in place in our classrooms.  We can choose to be optimistic, focused and effective facilitators of language acquisition, or we can choose to totally freak and start cramming the grammar into students' heads in light of the overwhelming/out of control feeling that we get with the approaching end of another year.  I will feel best if I choose to be optimistic, focused and effective.  My students will feel best if I choose to be optimistic, focused and effective.  My students will acquire more language if I make the same choice.

Now, take a deep breath because you can do this (and NTPRS will be here before you know it!). 

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Straying...

It's been awhile since I've had the time (ie made the priority) to blog.  We've made it through CSAPs and now we're staring spring break in the face: only 3 more days. 

Today, in the midst of my planning madness, I had an epiphany.  Recently, well very honestly since winter break, I've hit a rough patch.  Especially in first year I've been struggling with personalization.  Today we're (trying) to finish an extended reading.  I know most people have trouble making things last with TPRS, but I have trouble making things end.  I think I stray too much from the story, and don't focus on the structures enough.  I know I've been doing a worse job lately, but it takes time to figure out exactly what the problem is and what to do about it.

But I think I finally did it.  I need to focus on 1) Providing CI, 2) Providing Personalization, 3)Choosing structures that are high frequency.  And that's where I get lost. 

I'm using the LICT series with my year 1's and 3's.  Year 1's, I've been mainly using Blaine's stories and his structures, but I haven't been successful with using his high frequency structures with personalization.  I think this is due to me trying to "force" situations in which vocabulary from the curriculum will come up.  

I need to remember: "Shelter vocabulary, not grammar" and also, "TEACH high frequency, COVER the rest." 

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Extra Credit

I've long been opposed to giving extra credit.  I've seen it as a frivolous padding to a grade.  In most cases, the students who already are excelling in a class are the only ones who take advantage of the opportunity.  So why give it? 
Well... my view of extra credit has been challenged recently.  In a mentor-mentee meeting earlier this semester (yes, I've been busy, so I'm just getting around to writing about this now), Tony Winger challenged my idea by sharing his view on extra credit.  He said that, to him, extra credit should be another chance for students to learn what is essential.  WOW.  Isn't that something.  Once he said that I can't figure out where I got the idea that extra credit is some waste of time, extra, worthless handout.  The fact is: extra credit should be another chance to learn what is essential or to expand upon it for the proficient students.
This doesn't mean that I am offering it this semester, but it is possible in the future...