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.

My favorite verb: To summer

In my house, summer is a verb.

To summer means...

• Sitting on the front porch at sunset drinking chilled white wine (or jalapeño margaritas in our school-branded margarita glasses!) 
• Running up through the water at City Creek in the heat of the day (not so much this summer- I have a torn MCL so am instead on the couch...sad)



This isn't even my cat. 

• Sleeping in and cuddling with the kitties.
• Making elaborate salads and no-cook meals for leisurely dinners

• Reading several books at once, including school summer reads, non-fiction, and whatever else is interesting to me in the moment
• Having the time to read all kinds of articles on the interwebs that I am interested in but don't have the time to read during the rest of the year
• Attending multiple conferences
• Rewriting a scope and sequence for K-5
• Writing an English-Spanish TPRS glossary and basic training materials 
• Working on my Spanish
• Thinking about how to better my curriculum
• And more school stuff
• Also, going back to GUATEMALA! 

Many teachers write blogs about how to get the most out of your summer- with the assumption that too many teachers spend their summer working on things for the school year.  Well, I do a lot of work to look ahead for the next year, and I try to keep it well balanced for the sake of rest and margaritas and rejuvenation.  That being said, I am doing three language conferences and going to Guatemala (just for two weeks) and will be back just in time to set up my classroom.  And I feel great about that!

For me, summer needs to be full of movement and excitement.  Part of that is because Salt Lake is hot and kind of miserable in the summer, unless you drive to the mountains.  Part of it is that my husband was working from home and both of us in our small house for eight weeks was probably a recipe for disaster. But mostly, it is that I recharge by meeting new people and learning new things.  And traveling.  The one year I spent mostly in the area was the year I felt least ready to go back to school.  (And, come to think of it, I did three workshops that summer too- they were just local!)

This year, I get to attend Comprehensible Cascadia in my adopted hometown of Portland, OR.  I am so excited to be attending a conference with an entire Equity and Inclusion track!  Also, Cherokee!  I am eager to learn about the much talked about Invisibles, One Word Images, and Story Listening.  And I am eager to go home for a few days and see my friends.

Next, it will be off to a Fluency Fast class with my father.  This is in lieu of going back to Costa Rica, both cheaper and less grammar focused for both of us.  We will be in Denver, where we have lots of family and the conference takes place at my dad's old high school.  I am excited to be a student in an advanced class and see what that looks like, and I am thrilled for my father to get to experience a TPRS class.

Shortly after, I will return to NTPRS, this time in Texas, with my newly hired colleague.  Last year blew my mind- I learned so much in so few days and became a much better teacher as a result.  This year, I am going to be on the coaching track, which is both nerve-wracking and exciting.

Finally, after all that thinking about language teaching, I get to go back to my beloved little community/school in Guatemala and be a student for a couple of weeks, with the rain storms and earthquakes and revolutionaries that I adore. I really missed not going last year (I try to go every other year.) so my husband surprised me with some finances to help with the plane ticket.  Here is a link to a review I wrote about the school, if anyone is interested.  I am passionate about this place.

So, I think that I am summering quite well.