Classroom MGMT
✔ Rules (DEA & CWB)
✔ Routines (Routines, Student Jobs, Interjections & Rejoinders)
✔ Brain Breaks
Comprehensibility
✔ Inclusion (Safety Nets, Gestures & Question Posters)
✔ Shelter Vocab (Super 7, TPR ppt, TPR Wall, and Word Wall)
✔ Unshelter Grammar (TPR Scenes)
Camaraderie
__ Secrets
Classroom MGMT
✔ Rules (DEA & CWB)
✔ Routines (RRoutines, Student Jobs, Interjections & Rejoinders)
✔ Brain Breaks
Comprehensibility
✔ Inclusion (Safety Nets, Gestures & Question Posters)
✔ Shelter Vocab (Super 7, TPR ppt, TPR Wall, and Word Wall)
__ Unshelter Grammar
Classroom MGMT
✔ Rules (DEA & CWB)
✔ Routines (Routines & Student Jobs)
✔ Brain Breaks
Comprehensibility
✔ Inclusion (Safety Nets, Gestures & Question Posters)
__ Shelter Vocab
Classroom MGMT
✔ Rules (DEA & CWB)
✔ Routines (Routines, Student Jobs, Interjections & Rejoinders)
✔ Brain Breaks
Comprehensibility
__ Inclusion
Classroom MGMT
✔ Rules (DEA & CWB)
✔ Routines (Routines, Student Jobs, Interjections & Rejoinders)
__ Brain Breaks
Classroom MGMT
✔ Rules (DEA & CWB)
__ Routines
I have an upcoming workshop at CANE’s 2016 Annual Meeting on how to continue Teaching with CI. My abstract reads:
[…] Despite the success and enjoyment of experimenting with CI, many Latin teachers tend to abandon CI methods and strategies after a brief yet blissful period of refreshing change in favor of familiar ways. This workshop addresses how to continue using CI after the honeymoon phase ends by establishing routines, maintaining engaging activities, and having assessment systems in place to support you and your students.
These next 13 blog posts form a CI Program Checklist (emphasis on “a“), which serves as the basis for my workshop. The checklist is organized by words that begin with the letter C…they’re all the rage right now.
The Cs
Classroom MGMT
Comprehensibility
Camaraderie
Counting
Community
*Compellingness*
Let’s get right to it:
**Updated Expectations Rubric**
“But it only counts for 10% of the grade” whispered a student as I pointed to our posted DEA rule agreements. I couldn’t believe it. This student really didn’t think it was important enough to Look, Listen, and Ask about Spanish just because I assigned a low grade weight! Over the course of a few weeks, I overheard the same rationale from different students who consistently messed with the CI flow of class. I had no idea 7th graders would be that snarky about grading!
So, I had to adapt my system. My Proficiency rubrics remain solid, but DEA is now 50% of my 7th graders’ Exploratory Language grade (up from 10%), and reduced to two rules; Pay Attention, and Be Prepared. The latter is only used for homework (rarely assigned) or other obligatory school stuff I don’t want in its own category. Otherwise, Pay Attention is our main focus during class. I’ve posted three suggestions on how to acquire a language on a daily basis:
Look
Listen
Ask
Fickle Fridays
In about 3 weeks, Fickle Friday is something I’ll begin with my 7th grade Exploratory Language classes. Why then? That’s when we begin Latin, the second of three languages this year.
On Fickle Friday a student rolls a die (6, 10, 20…100-sided?) to see which language we’ll be speaking that day. This has a purpose; I don’t want students to think that they should abandon Spanish just because we’re starting a new language. The same will be true for both Spanish and Latin once we get to French. Plus, it’s fun.
Familiarize yourself with Bob Patrick’s One Word At a Time Stories (OWATS), here.
Sure, this activity can be used to deliver understandable messages when asking questions to each group and/or providing Pop-Up Grammar explanations. Realize, though, that the more groups you have, the less CI you can deliver; time is divided between groups students instead of all at once in a whole-class format. Aside from the main purpose of providing some limited CI, OWATS is also suitable when you need a break from delivering CI. I was in that kind of state of mind today, and didn’t ask groups many questions. Still, the students had a blast creating stories together.
I didn’t plan ahead of time for today’s OWATS, but quickly realized upon entering the building that after the long weekend (including a surreal night at Hôtel de Glace), I didn’t have the energy to sustain a full day in Spanish (n.b. we start Latin in February, then French in April for this 7th grade Exploratory Language course). Teachers new to CI, and Latin teachers new to speaking Latin will likely find themselves in a similar boat. OWATS is a good option. I always have phrases we’ve used typed up, cut out, and ready to go, and continue to add more to the pile as we go…
Magister P. 