Reading, reading, reading

I got to hear Dr. Stephen Krashen twice this year.  Both times he talked about the importance of reading at the intermediate level for language acquisition.

What a force of nature he is!  What a smart, funny, elegant speaker!  Who makes all his research available...FOR FREE!  http://www.sdkrashen.com

What a nice person who let me take a selfie with him.  (I plan on putting it up in my reading library next to all the quotes I printed out and stuck to the walls.) 

Some highlights from my notes (paraphrased): 

• There are two camps of thought about second language acquisition.  One camp believe that comprehensible input develops language skills.  Research backs this up, over and over again.  The other camp believes that skill building (verb forms, worksheets) develop language.  There is not research that backs this up, but it is taken as a given in education that This Is How Language is Learned. To paraphrase Dr. Krashen,  the latter camp is an axiom, not even a hypothesis, and is pervasive in our culture.  He would like for this axiom to be reduced to at best a hypothesis.  (Aside: you know you have been hanging out with SLA researchers when people start saying things like "I posit.." and "My hypothesis is..." 

• Read and eat- let kids eat and read!  Why not?  (Our brilliant librarian at my school already does food and book projects...she is so cool.)
• Junk reading is good for you.   Dr. Krashen talked about comics, Sweet Valley High (and related Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley Jr. High, etc.), and others.  No more shall I feel guilty for my paperback mystery crime thrillers!  
• People who read more know more.
• People who read fiction are better at dealing with uncertainty.
• Star what you like: a simple system for rating books in a library- kids like it, put a star in the front cover.  BRILLIANT.
• The more accountability there is for reading=the less reading students will actually do.  This makes me so grateful that I have come to the conclusion that reading with no accountability is ideal.
• Fake reading (a popular argument against SSR/FVR in L1 and L2) is not really happening, and when it is happening it can be traced to crummy program implementation (books that are too hard, too boring, accountability, rigidity, uncomfortable places to read, etc.). 
• Light reading will prepare you for academic reading. Researchers showed that every hour of self-selected, sustained reading of any sort resulted in a .6 points on the TOEIC, a high-stakes test of English in many Asian countries.  
• We need more books.

Note: all the notes that I took were from lectures given in July 2017, in Denver, CO (Fluency Fast/IFLT) and San Antonio, TX (NTPRS17).  For the research and evidence, please see Dr. Krashen's website.  

How my own observations have found all this to be true:

Since I started Sustained Silent Reading/Free Voluntary Reading in my class, I have felt my own language improve.  Between reading the level 3 and 4 readers over a week or two during class time (because the biggest distraction to reading is a teacher who is not reading) and tearing through the level 1 readers (so I can make better recommendations to kids about what to read), I feel more confident in applying preterite vs imperfect, subjunctive, past subjunctive, and even the condition + subjunctive past.  

FVR outside, last day of Spanish

My kids took to FVR like kids in a water park on a summer day.  They ate it up, asked for more, begged for it!  They volunteered to do book talks, and shared their favorites, and curled up together, and groaned when I rang the chimes to indicate it was time to do something else.  They voted for a reading party outside for their last day of Spanish in 8th grade.

I saw changes in their language too- mostly in their writing.  Students began using longer sentences, more complex descriptions, and words that rarely came up.  Their spelling and syntax improved and their overall comprehensibility did too.  I never edited their writing nor taught a writing workshop, all year long.  

So, FVR, I am recommitting to you, and to my beautiful new classroom with a READING LOFT!  

Other Posts about FVR/SSR

Encouragement and Community: NTPRS 17

Photo by Daniel Collins

It is hard to know where to begin. I learned a ton and experienced a thousand new ways to do something that I already love to do, only better.  I tried try new things and took big risks.  For example: the can-can in front of my colleagues!

My iPad notes are covered with scrawls and pictures and highlighted with "don't forget" and "TRY THIS".  I learned so much this year. More on that later.

But perhaps my biggest takeaway this year is how badly I need my CI colleagues.  How much I need friends who are serious SLA geeks and want to listen to Tea with BVP and get excited to talk about Standards Based Grading.  People who believe the same things I do about second language acquisition, who are influenced by the same thinkers that inform my practice, and who want  communicative competence AND equity and work-life balance and who are passionate, even nerdy about this stuff.

I have great colleagues in my school and an A+ administrator who supports me and challenges me to be the best I can be.  I am fortunate.

Image by Cool Text: Free Graphics Generator -

But what I needed from NTPRS was the cheerleading, the support, the goofy songs, the feeling that we are all in this together, and we are a strong, loving community, even if we are spread out around the country and world.  I needed the late night conversation about coaching in my unique school environment and brainstorms about how to work with some tricky situations.  I needed to hear how someone else solved a problem, and to be challenged to answer "why do you do that."  I needed to be told about what I do well, so I can continue to grow and be proud of my successes.  (Thanks, coaches!) I needed to take risks:  to get up in front of my peers and demo teach, then demo coach, then coach for real!

Notes, using Noteshelf iPad app

So, while I brought back pages of notes and ideas for my classroom, for how to be a better leader and coach for my colleagues, and more, my biggest take away is...feeling thankful for a week of encouragement, leadership, and positivity.

More activities for stories...especially for Brandon Brown Quiere un Perro

My Spanish 1B class of 8th graders is really enjoying Brandon Brown Quiere un Perro.  Here are some more activities (click here for chapters 1-4) for pre, during, and post reading that I have adapted or created.  As I mentioned before, I do not want to violate copyright so some of these activities I can not share, but if you own the teacher's guide, you could make them too!

Chapter 5

Still of video...la mano hace...

PRE-READING
Review hace: I wanted to get reps in of hace because it is new for my kids.  I found this incredible video and word cloud of animals in Spanish.  I did a short Movietalk without really pausing the movie.  The script goes:  "La mano hace ....[animal name].  ¿Qué hace la mano? (You know, for variety.)  Kids had to cross off the word on the word cloud when they heard me say (or saw) the animal name.  Not fancy, but engaging.

DURING READING
 Now What: I created a quick, disposable version of this game using about 8 sentences from Chapter 5.  As I read it out loud, students had to find the most logical ending of the sentence.  I quickly went around the room and checked if the kids were right- we didn't do a choral response just because, well, I wasn't feeling it.  But next time I do the activity, I probably will.  I asked the kids if they liked it- they really did.  It seemed a little unexciting to me, but they really enjoyed it.  Note: I read the story to them and they did not read along with me for this, just had the now what cards in front of them.  I could also see doing this as a paired activity where they face off and can see each other's guess and compete.

Audio Book: I also had students listen to the audio book and read along.  This chapter lends itself very well to audio narration because there both the dog and the boy make dog noises, and it's both funny and engaging.  Students LOVED this too.

POST-READING
Youtube Videos: Finally, we had a few extra minutes in class so we watched this awesome video of a doggie surfing competition.  Because we can.

Chapter 6- the teacher's guide has great activities and supplemental readings for this chapter.

PRE-READING
Check-in writing assessment:  I added a writing assessment that is super easy for the kids after we go over different dog breeds slide show.  They can take guided notes.  (This is based off the resource included in the teacher's guide.)

Click on the link above to see my guided notes for this activity. 

The writing assessment is simply to: Pick two dogs breeds.  Write a short paragraph about each dog.  Be sure to include the following:

·      Description of dog  (You may use your dog breeds page)

·      Is it a good fit for Brandon?  Why or why not?

Story-ask to review vocabulary:  Here is a brief outline of the story.  It includes examples of how I start to include the subjunctive into stories.

Read the Room Predictions:  I also asked kids to write predictions (on the form in the teacher's guide) then used the copy machine to increase the size of the seven or eight most funny, interesting, or weird predictions that were also mostly correct.  (Some I corrected to get that good input.)  As a starter the next day, I put them around the room and students voted for the funniest, most likely to happen, and most creative.  They voted by using little award cut-outs that I have, but you could just have them sign their names or put a star on the one they wanted to vote for!

Part 1: DIY fidgets (Fidgets are not your enemies...except when they are)

This is a follow-up post to my original post about turning my classroom into an OT sensory experiment.  Read the original post here.  

Click here for How To Implement and CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Of course you hate them.  But they are not your enemy!

Overall, the experiment was successful for me and my kids.  I started adding fidgets and sensory supports to my class BEFORE fidget spinners hit the market, so I was well prepared to deal with that wave of nonsense.

Why Fidgets:  "Fair is not Equal." 

I am not going to go into the "why" too much. If you read my original post, I go into it probably deeper than I should. Suffice it to say that I am totally sensory seeking, and many kids are too.  Have you seen that kid who constantly runs his fingers through his hair?  Or the girl whose leg will not stop knocking into something?  Or the kid who chews the end of his pen and pencil so bad his gums occasionally bleed?  Those are the extremes, but everyone benefits from learning how they learn. If I can help them learn better, feel calmer, feel better, than that's why.

What 
smooth     pokey      soft      heavy     textured    fuzzy    hard (solid)      squishy    interesting   heavy
These are the adjectives you want to keep in mind when looking for fidgets.

Where/How Much
Take your huge budget of $30.00 or so and head to the dollar store.  A slightly more expensive option is a party supply store.  In Utah, Dollar Tree and Zurchers are the places.  Family Dollar does not usually have what I am looking for.

Look for things that are interesting to touch but small enough to fit in a hand.  Dog and cat toys are very popular with my kids, as are items from the bathroom section- the little massager roller is a favorite for pokey and solid.  Squishy toys, legos, and stuffed animals are all favorites too.  Get some, remove anything that can be removed, and see what they like!

Special considerations: 

Remove the keychain part! 

*Special note for chewies* I keep coil type keychains (with the metal part removed) in labelled zip lock bags for the kids who need them or bring them in.  (No one else gets to touch them.  How gross!)   A search on Amazon for chewies will bring up very expensive special chewies, which are great to recommend to parents but are not in my budget.


 Things break:  Some great squishy toys are also prone to breaking when put in a middle schooler's hand.  So...be thoughtful.  Take apart anything that can be taken apart.  Of course, if they break it, a natural consequence is that they clean it up.

DIY Chair fidgets:

http://blog.maketaketeach.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Chaundracu.jpg

Ask at your local bike shop for used tubes. (Those are the tubes that go inside bike tires.)  They are surely going to be free.  Cut off the pokey bit (the valve stem) and wrap one end of the tube around one front leg of a student chair.  Tie a simple square knot.  Pull it fairly tight across the front of the chair to the other front leg and tie that end in a square knot.  Cut off the excess.  Voila- you have a chair fidget that is silent and can be used, pushed up or down, and is completely free. (Or you can buy special expensive things that do exactly the same thing.)

Weight belts/Lap Belts- great for wigglers and kids who keep putting books on their heads. (This really happens.  You know it.)
1) Find kid pajama pieces at the local thrift shop, or fuzzy socks from the dollar store.  Note: it is incredibly hard to find non-gendered items, but it is worth looking!  I ended up with a Frozen PJ set, which both the boys and girls seem to love equally, and it contains almost no stereotypical symbols or colors.  
2) Purchase bulk rice and/or beans.  This is the biggest cost of the project.
3) Cut off pieces of the PJ set to make tubes (think arms, legs, right?) and sew them up at either end to make heavy tubes.  Sew them really, really, really well.

Part 2: Classroom Community Management Strategies for Fidgets

Original Fidget Post
DIY- how to make your own fidgets click here

This post will explain how I actually manage the fidgets in my classroom.

Available at the dollar store!

Storage:
A simple over the door shoe organizer or something similar works great.  It is also very cheap.  Tip: Get a clear see-through hanger.  It makes it easy for everyone.

Logistics:
Each student in my class has a number already.  I bought enough wooden clothing clips for each kid (also, dollar store), and numbered them.  The clips just live on the side of the shoe hanger.  When a student wants to check out a fidget, they find the clip with their number and clip it to the pocket that the item came out of.  Then, at the end of class, they put their clip back.  I only need one set of numbered clips because each class uses the same numbers.

How I introduce them: 
1) I introduce the why.  Fair is not equal.  We all need something to help us.

2) I introduce a few things at a time.  Maybe one from each category (soft, hard, smooth, weighty).

3) I clearly state the rules. Here is an editable copy of my rules.

4) I enforce the rules.  I  really enforce the rules.  If I am distracted, if someone else is distracted, or if the tool rolls out of a student's hands, it goes away.  No arguing, no whining, just try again tomorrow.  

For the next week, I go over the rules at the beginning of each class and continue with the enforcing.  (That continues all year for some, but some kids figure out what won't come flying out of their hands and adapt.) 

It seems to work! 

Targeted vs Non-Targeted input...the great debate

Targeted vs Non-Targeted Input: Our little slice of language teaching is finding itself divided over these terms.  There seems to be WAAAY more animosity and negativity around these than could possibly be justified.  At times, the discourse seems almost political (that is to say horrible, disrespectful, unnerving, unkind).

Ben Slavic demonstrating the power of pause and point in a
demonstration of Non-Targeted input

However, in my exploration of non-targeted input (NT) at the recent Comprehensible Cascadia conference, I learned that we all want the same thing and most of the core beliefs about how languages are learned are identical.


These observations are mine and mine alone.  They do not constitute a manual, plan, or merit much in the way of debate.  I am just thinking out loud and trying to process some of what I learned and match it to what I already know.  Many thanks to Ben Slavic, Tina Hargarden, and all the participants and workshop leaders at Comprehensible Cascadia for discussions and answering my questions.  

First, definitions.  Thanks to Bryce Hedstrom, Tina Hargarten, and the great community over at the CI liftoff Facebook page for creating this definition.

Non-Targeted Input:  The words needed (the input) emerge from the activity. The teacher uses skills to make the students comprehend the language. Acquisition is allowed to develop according to the natural order and the unconscious mind is able to process the linguistic data from understanding the messages. One technique that works well for Non-Targeted (NT) is One Word Images, pioneered by Tina Hargarten and Ben Slavic.

Targeted Input: The words (often called structures or target structures) are chosen from high frequency word lists; often they include the Super Seven (from Terry Waltz) and the Sweet Sixteen (Mike Peto).  Teachers create input around these words using techniques that include TPRS and other comprehensible input techniques. (This is my working definition)


Some similarities:

Non-targeted classroom, comprehensible input

• Languages can be taught most effectively through comprehensible (comprehended) input.
• The core skills- going slow, teaching to the eyes, sheltering vocabulary but not grammar (aka staying in-bounds), personalizing.
• The idea of teaching for mastery, not memorization.
• Creating a classroom community that is safe, welcoming, extremely positive and joyful, and equitable (reaching all kids, not just high achievers) is a huge priority.  In fact, it is necessary to do it in order to be successful. 
• Equity is a core theme: all kids can learn language.  
• Languages can be most effectively taught through comprehensible input.
• Teachers have a responsibility to hold ourselves to best practices and research-based instruction.
• Everyone who is doing it is extremely passionate about their work.  
• Teaching is a very difficult job and as such, teachers have a right to not be miserable in their professional life work-life balance.  As such, low to no prep lesson planning and a joyful classroom allow us to take care of ourselves so we can be the very best we can be when we are with the kids.  
• Much of the content comes directly from the kids- in NT it is One Word Images or Invisibles; in TPRS it comes from story-asking and student suggestions.  But both are student centered and highly personalized.  

Some differences:

• One of the key skills in TPRS is circling.  Often circling is used to get frequent repetitions of targeted words.  
• NT prefers to use light to no circling and does not focus on repetitions in the same way.

My takeaway: As I get more experienced, I focus less on circling anyway.  When I do it,  I *think* it is light circling.  Having Terry Waltz's circling cards is pretty great for this.  However, for less experienced teachers, circling is a basic skill that I think one needs to know how to do for either type of input.

• TPRS is one way to stay in the target language at the recommended (by ACTFL) 90%.  Practitioners (myself included) find it easier to maintain that much language in class. 
•  In a recent workshop with Ben Slavic, he dismissed the notion that staying in the target language for a certain number of minutes is an important goal.  While he didn't actually scoff at the ACTFL 90% recommendation, he pointed out that since a human brain needs 10,000 hours to learn a language and we have at best 120 hours a year, it's ridiculous to stress about it. We aren't going to get 10,000 hours, so why not focus on the important stuff: creating community, having fun in the language with the class.  From a private conversation:  "The stress that it (90%) puts on the teacher and the children doesn't make sense." "It is not practical in a school setting to go at 90%."  

 I think it is important to note that he is not saying we shouldn't teach in the target language. Of course we teach in the target language.  He is merely asking teachers to give ourselves permission to lighten up.
My takeaway: I don't need to stress so much about that 90%, or compare myself to others who do it better.  That is a huge gift!  Also, it reminds me of Karen Rowan's frequent admonition: "Comparison is the thief of joy." 

• Comprehension Checks- TPRS teachers use comprehension checks to, well, check comprehension.  Frequently.  Individually and chorally.  Sometimes cold calling students.  Often by simply saying "What did I just say?" and expecting an answer in the shared language (L1).  In fact, much of circling is comprehension checking, when you think about it.  
• Non Targeted (Non targeting?) CI teachers watch for understanding (look at them- do they understand?) and listen for the weakness of the response (to questions).  In a discussion about this, Ben said: "I am not doing any comprehension checks, I am just paying attention."  Tina mentioned that she no longer cold calls on kids at all and does not do comp checks that put kids on the spot, and reports that it seems to be positive for her classes.  

One path, lots of ways to get there!

My takeaway: There are many different ways to do comprehension checks.  But everyone using CI effectively is probably doing them in one way or another.  More experienced teachers with strong classroom community building skills (note- I did not say classroom management skills!) know how to pay attention to what they need to and do less intrusive checks, and less experienced ones will benefit from just asking what was understood.  My wondering: I wonder how to teach the skill of listening/paying attention for comprehension checks?  

In conclusion:
We all want the same thing.  We all choose the same path to travel.  We differ in the exact pattern of stepping stones that we jump to get there.

On Being a Student in a Less Commonly Taught Language...part two

OK, I never wrote part one.  Here is the abbreviated version: 

My first experience learning a less commonly taught language with different characteristics was with Betsy Padovan, learning Japanese, at NTPRS 16. 

She did a great job of using the transliterated Japanese (romaji), all the comprehensible input techniques (going slow, slower, and slower; pausing and pointing, and more), keeping it interesting, and helped me recognize a few key kanji to boot! She did it using gestures, lots of direct translation, lots of group comprehension checks, and lots of retell.  She also wove some pretty brilliant pieces of culture into her lessons seamlessly.  It probably helped that my talking buddy was the brilliant Justin Slocum Bailey, who has enough enthusiasm and joie de vivre to overwhelm any potential fear of failure on my part.  

All in all, I feel like I got a taste of what it was like to be a student in a TPRS classroom, taught by a master teacher.  

Fast forward a year.  I am at Comprehensible Cascadia in Portland, OR.  (My old hometown!)  I am taking an Arabic class with a teacher new to some specific Comprehensible Input techniques (One Word Images and creating stories from OWIs, aka "non-targeted input").  He is simultaneously teaching a series of three hour classes while trying to incorporate this new learning, and being coached in the meantime.  Wow.  

This very talented and brave teacher is taking such a risk.  What follows is JUST my reflection on being a student, where I needed support, and what worked for me.  This is not in any way a reflection on his technique- aren't we all learning together?  Also, through the process of coaching, the teacher made changes to make himself more comprehensible.  How amazing is that?  

As I sit in the back (not my optimal place for learning!) I am learning more about what it is like to be a student, and what that discomfort of being lost feels like.  

So, this what it feels like to be lost, to be found, and how important the important things really are.

• Gestures are crucial.  This became more clear to me in the Cherokee class, where the teacher used them more consistently and I felt so much more comfortable immediately, as we established a gesture for each major word.  (In this case, it was scorpion, has, wants.) 
• Pause and Point: When the words for yes/no are nothing like cognates, it really helps me if the teacher goes slow and pauses and points for them too...with the English.  I did not realize how hard these two words were!  Update: the teacher started using gestures (thumbs up and thumbs down) for yes/no verification.  It helps a LOT.  
• Frequent comprehension checks  ("what did I just say?") in English support me when I check out from overload, or go to the bathroom, or get distracted by the really cool sounds of the words, or...I wanted more of these.  I wanted more repetitions.  I wanted to go slower.  (We have about 7 words on the board...and I still want to go slower.) 
• Clearly establishing meaning: One moment of checking out (at the exact moment we decided that our character was a bus) and the word bus not being written under the Arabic text meant that I spent the first few minutes thinking that the Arabic word pronounced baasss was a cognate for some kind of fish.  Writing "bus" under the Arabic would have really kept me from feeling like an idiot when I finally saw the picture!  (Again, the importance of not assuming that your students know what a word means...or remember!) 

  

  This is what a truly responsive, reflective teacher looks like.  

• Using two colors really helps me focus.  Having the Arabic text in one color and the English in the other helped me choose where to look.  If I knew the word, I could ignore the English, but if I was struggling, that English was crucial to keeping me checked in.   Update: The teacher just erased the transliteration of the Arabic, and moved to just English and Arabic- the sense of relief in the room was palpable.  The transliteration was too much noise for me. 
• Personalization keeps interest high. One thing that I am struggling with in this lesson is that we established that the bus (our image) is sad.  For me, it would be very natural to start talking about the students.  "Jenny is sad.  No, Jenny is not sad."  This adding parallel character/personalizing would increase the interest for me as we are only 7 words in, but I am not confident about them.  Update: I guess I wasn't the only one who thought this, as the coach suggested it too.   As soon as the teacher started personalizing,  I was able to identify two more words without really working at it, and felt confident about more.