First days excitement!

Well, after an exceptional time at NTPRS this summer, I am back at school and more enthusiastic than ever! 

As you know if you read my blog regularly, I recently changed positions and am now working closer to home with a much larger work load.  I moved to a high school and am the ONLY French teacher, so I teach levels 1-5 and IB.  I was a little scared to take the job for fear of the unknown, but I now know that I made the right choice.  My students, parents, and colleagues are outstanding, and the increased work load hasn't killed me (yet). 

This year, I am doing some new things in my classroom.  I took Bryce Hedstrom's ideas (outlined in my blog entry here) and started FVR in the class.  I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough books for it to be successful, but found a treasure trove left behind by the French teacher before me.  They might not be the newest books, but they are filling their purpose until I can get some money to get some new books.  So, I did just what Bryce outlined.  I printed off the reading quotes, hung them in my room, divided books by level and talked it up!  Then, we went over the process of picking a book, I sat in the front of the room, set the timer, and we read.  It was silent.  It worked wonderfully.  I really like Bryce's assertion that we have to start from the beginning.  I even had my level one's complete this five minute read, but I told them that they would be doing more of a picture walk like they did in kindergarten than they would be really reading for comprehension.  Fantastic!  Thank you SOOOOO much Bryce.

Another thing that I did this year is to add a desk calendar outside my room.  I call this my "invite me" calendar.  I'm pretty sure I got this idea from Twitter, during a Teach Like a Pirate chat.  I explained to kids that if they ever had an event that they needed a cheerleader for, they could put the time on the calendar and I would try to make it.  So far, no one has taken me up on it, but I have a feeling they will.  I'll let you know how it goes.

So happy!!!

Show Me the Data by Karen Lichtman and Stephen Krashen

I just gravitate towards Stephen Krashen.  He is a genius and I love hearing him talk because he gives me the numbers behind my ideas of why TPRS works.  Here's the fact: TPRS works...it's been proven, but we need to continue to prove it.

In this session, Karen Lichtman, a professor at Northern Illinois University, talked about all the research that exists for the effectiveness of TPRS.  It exists and the results show that TPRS is better than anything else out there, even when the tests are grammar-heavy.  There is no current research to show that TPRS does worst in all skills.  And this isn't a small number when you add up the numbers.  TPRS research encapsulates 14 studies in 25 schools in 134 classes with 2294 students.  But we need more!!

There is an article with summaries of all the research.  Karen said that it is all reproducible and should be widely shared.

After showing us the research, Karen and Stephen really encouraged us to conduct research in our classroom.  They have ideas for us:

1. Replicate a research project that has already been done to see if you get similar results.
2. Check for retention over time (try to keep in touch with students to see how they do on the exam 1, 2, 10 years down the road)
3. Enrollment-does TPRS increase enrollment in the higher levels as compared to traditional classrooms?
4. New groups: elementary, college, non-Spanish

But, when we do research, we have to PUBLISH it.  Karen and Stephen said that they would help us get published, write our articles, and crunch our numbers.  Stephen did say that all articles must be shorter than 5 pages for him to read it.  He also said that we need to publish our failures as well as our successes or we risk not being taken seriously.  We also need to put TPRS or Storytelling in the title so that Karen (and others) can find it quickly.

A research article has 4 parts: introduction, procedure, results, and conclusion.  Dr. Krashen suggests writing the results section first, then writing the procedure, then the conclusion, and finish with the introduction.  For brevity's sake, Dr. Krashen reminds us that those reading our article understand the lingo, so we don't need to spend a long time explaining the history of TPRS or the history of language learning: assume that those reading our article have a strong prior knowledge of language learning.

I am going to try and find a grammar-centric classroom to compare to and start researching this year!!

 

Edmodo with Leslie Davison

This session was very hands-on.  We all created a classroom, joined the NTPRS group, and learned to post, edit comments, and create a poll.

Leslie does a great job using Edmodo for comprehensible input.  She puts questions on there for students to answer, links to youtube videos or articles of interest, and other items to get students excited about reading/writing in the TL.

I'm excited about the possibilities, but I wonder if the students will actually go to the page...  I used to have a blackboard page with a ton of stuff on it, but the kids didn't ever go to my blackboard page, so it was a lot of work for very little payoff.  Do you use edmodo?  Do your students use it?

Improvisation with Von Ray

This was my second time at this session.  I went the first time at NTPRS in Chicago and it was eye-opening for me personally.  I am now in an improv troupe and have performed for a paying audience!

I should point out that this session is more about personal enrichment than activities for the classroom.  The basic principles of improv fit our jobs so well.  First, you have to LISTEN very carefully in improv, just as we need to listen to our students.  Just think of a homerun story...was it successful because you had a story in mind and just re-told it or was it successful because your students added awesome details?

The second idea is the idea of "yes, and..."  First, you validate the idea (Blaine is great at this).  You say, "Absolutely!  The boy was at KFC!" and then you add a detail to that, "He was at KFC with his mother!"  This way, you further the story while telling your students how smart they are.

The third thing I have taken from improv is that it has to be a supportive environment.  When you are on stage in front an audience, you have to support your fellow improv-ers.  It has to feel like a safe place or the show would be boring because no one would go out on a limb for fear of being undermined.

The last idea is the most obvious, I think.  As TPRS teachers, we are doing improv on a daily basis.  So why not study the art to get better at it?  I really recommend that you try to find some classes where you live.  It is really really fun and helps in the classroom as well.

I know that I have a lot of other ideas about improv, but my brain has shut down for now.

You Gotta Do Light Reading with Bryce Hedstrom

I just love Bryce Hedstrom.  His notes for this session are found on the free section of his website.  I have to admit that I haven't had a chance to check the notes out, which is unfortunate because Bryce didn't get a chance to really go over his notes...too many excited teachers with too many questions.

Bryce recommended a book called "Readicide" by Kelly Gallagher to discuss the difference between light reading and academic reading.  This session was about light reading, where we allow students to read what they want to with very little accountability.  This allows the students to read for pure enjoyment.

With so much emphasis being put on non-fiction readings because of the common core, Bryce really encourages kids to read fiction because fiction can help teach kids empathy.  I love this idea!  I really think that kids should be able to read what they like.  If they are interested in a topic, I'm sure that they will read a non-fiction article about that subject...why should we cram it down their throats??

One of the big ideas from this session was that it is okay for students to flip through a magazine without really reading the the articles.  Even if they are reading the pictures, it is still reading!  If they find an interesting picture, then they will try to read the caption to find out what is going on.

I think we put too much pressure on reading, and this FVR time is a great way to take the pressure off.  I can't wait to try it in the classroom (provided I can find enough materials).

Another fantastic idea from Bryce is that he has posters up with great quotes about reading from Krashen or other literacy experts to show kids why reading is so important.  These posters are available on his website as well.

Bryce does three kinds of reading in class:  academic reading (the novels or authentic articles that are read as a class for content), kindergarten reading (just what it sounds like), and FVR.

Bryce didn't talk about the academic reading in this session.  I got some great ideas about kindergarten reading, though.  Bryce does it every Thursday at the end of class.  He has a large rug that he rolls out for students to sit on.  The students have to be on the rug or in the first row of desks behind the rug, but they must be participants in the story.  Students can volunteer to bring cookies for this time.  Here's the great thing that I learned about K-reading: you don't have to read the words!  You can use an English book or a book with no words; just describe the story in language that is appropriate for that class.  Love it!  K-reading should be about 15 minutes per week.

For FVR (light reading), Bryce has students do this 3 times a week.  They start doing this type of reading the first week of class, even when they don't have much language.  He starts out with 5 minutes and then they do 15 minutes by the end of the year.  In level 2-3, the students read between 15-30 minutes each time.  He recommends stopping them a little bit before they start getting restless to increase anticipation.  FVR needs a lot of coaching and modeling to get the students to act appropriately.  I will have to spend time looking at Bryce's complete notes to see how he sets up his classroom for success.

I am going to take the information I got from this session and start FVR this year.  I am worried about not having enough books, so I am going to try to write some grants to get more books in the classroom.  I'm also going to look for used books on bookmooch, amazon, and other sites to see if I can get some books for cheap.  My aunt suggested asking the local Kiwanis, Lions Club, etc to see if they would give me some money for my classroom.  Yet another thing to add to my to-do list for the week before school!

Verifying and Dramatizing with Blaine Ray

Any time I get a chance to be in Blaine's class, I HAVE to take it.  This man is just so inspiring and loving...even if you can't be Blaine in your classroom, I always learn so much by watching him in action.

The purpose of this class was learning to use student actors in order to get more reps, engage students, give a visual representation of the story, and expose students to natural dialogue.  I did a much better job of this last year than I have ever done before, but I still think I can do a better job.

Blaine modeled how to use student actors and taught us German in the process.  We were working with this basic story, "There is a girl.  She wants a cow.  She has a bad cat."  So, he started by choosing his actor.  Blaine actually calls it an audition and lets the students know that they get one opportunity to audition or they will never get a chance to act again.  He modeled this by whispering in my ear what he would say to a stinky actor or a distract-er.  This is what he whispered, "Hey, this is your one shot to show me that you can be a superstar actor.  So I really need you to do your best acting job or you will never get the opportunity to act again."  I need to do a better job of choosing actors and coaching them to act better.

Okay, next step: Blaine says the sentence in the past "There was a girl."  Then, he turns to me, "Bess, are you a girl?"  I have to answer in a complete sentence, which is written on the board, so I really just have to read it at first.  When I say, "Yes, I am a girl," he says "Yes, that's right, you are a girl."  Then he turns to the class and says, "Class, Bess was a girl."  In this way, he is switching between past and present, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person...  We worked for over 15 minutes on just 5 sentences.  As a student, it didn't seem like we were going to slow and I didn't get bored.  I think we tend to try to go to fast in class and forget to sit on the facts for a while.

Then, we got in groups of three and practiced this.  I got to learn Latin!  And SPEAK it!  I love that there are people who teach students to speak Latin in schools across America.  I hate the idea that most schools teach Latin as a study of root words.  Why can't we speak it??

The next step was to add a parallel character and follow the same pattern, but this time you have more facts to confirm and talk about.  Just another way to add reps.

The last thing we practiced was "forgetting" to tell the class about something that happened earlier.  In our example story, we flashed back to how the girl got her bad cat.

Michelle Kindt was our coach in the session, and she told us that we could set our phones to buzz in our pockets every minute or 5 minutes for things that we forget to do, like comprehension checks or grammar pop-ups.  I don't know how to set my phone up to do this, so if anyone knows how to get an iPhone to do this, let me know!

Reader's Theater with Carol Gaab, Kristy Placido, and Carrie Toth

I said that I could listen to these ladies all day, so today that's just what I did!  In this session, they were supposed to be trying to sell their books, but TPRSers aren't the best at the hard sells, so they took their books and showed us how to use reader's theater with 5 of their latest books.  Sadly, they aren't all in French...yet.

So, here is the process.

1. Read the novel and note scenes that would be great to act out.  They suggest scenes with a lot of action, characters or confusion to help the students really understand what is going on.
2. Write out the props needed for the scene
3. Pick your actors and give them director's notes while the rest of the class is engaged in a partner activity.
4. Call the attention back to the actors.  The teacher narrates the scene (reads from the book) while the actors do the actions/say the dialogue when the teacher pauses after a phrase.  The slooooower this goes, the better.  

The sections that we did were paragraphs and not much more.  I'm not sure if they would do longer sections if we weren't crunched for time...I'll have to ask.

Once the scene had been performed, you could do more with the scene.  At the end of one scene, Carol asked us to finish the scene with the actor doing a different action.  Then, we shared our sentences and the actor did those activities.  It was great because we were working on the structure "and finally she Xed".  Carol also did something she called Snapshot or FreezeFrame.  The teacher re-reads a sentence from the scene and calls on a group to run and put themselves in a position to act that sentence out so that she could take a photo of them.  Next sentence, same thing, continuing until she had a slideshow to go along with the scene.  I'm thinking that this would be great for re-tells (and while she is taking the pictures, there is MORE REPETITION, but in a sneaky way).  I love to be sneaky...