We have a half day on Monday, so I think I'm going to start using some tprs principles in my second year class. They struggle with the most basic French concepts unless we "kill and drill" (something I absolutely HATE doing). I'm hoping that tprs will help them learn more naturally than mindlessly filling out worksheets. Fingers crossed. So Monday, I figure we'll work on J'ai and Il/Elle a with various family members and classroom objects (vocab they should already have bouncing around somewhere in their brains). I'm really hoping that this will be successful with my chatty hour...I'm really struggling with getting them focused and I hope that making the class more fun and interactive will give them a chance to get their wiggles out in a positive way instead of driving me crazy! We shall see.
For my first year students, who have already had one experience with circling, I am planning on beginning some tpr moves for basic action verbs to get them up and out of their seats. I've never actually seen this done, so it should be an interesting experiment.
Yesterday, I talked to my principal yesterday about tprs and my plans to start using it this year. He was amazingly supportive, which I think is a rarity in this grammar-based world. He really seems to understand that students sitting quietly, facing the teacher, is not necessarily the best way to teach a foreign language. I'm so excited to get going and have him come to observe me in the classroom and get his feedback. I feel really blessed to have an administrator who genuinely cares about my professional growth and will help me reach my goals.
More next week!
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