What was I thinking?!

Today, I had a story about a dog that was swimming in a fountain. To my surprise, I had students volunteer to be the dog. For most of the students this was great and I even had them on the floor [we have new carpet, by the way] swiming like Michael Phelps.
Well, my last period [...]

A Stellar Cast

When we first start the year, how do we view our students? Much effort has been made in tprs to really welcome students and to respect them as creative individuals. I know this to be true and do my best to apply it every day. In his book, Push Back the Desks, Albert Cullum describes [...]

Students Taking the First Step

Lately, I have been noticing that some of my quieter students have been putting themselves out there and making suggestions. When I see this, I almost always choose the answer and I do this with a lot of enthusiasm.The reason I get so excited is because they are expressing trust in what we are doing [...]

We Have Such an Opportunity

I have a student named “Larry.”  One great thing about Larry is that he is my best actor and never fails to have enthusiasm when performing for others. However, Larry is a different kind of student and not every teacher understands him. The truth about Larry is that he can be directed to do amazing [...]

Questionnaires and Backward Planning

Starting last week I took a new direction with Backward Planning. I decided to pair them with the questionnaires that the students filled out at the beginning of the year. The results have been wonderful. Of course they will pay more attention when the class is completely about them. I already knew this, but some [...]

Energy

Most people who know me would say that I have energy in class. Outside of class I am a pretty calm person and you wouldn’t know it other than seeing me in class. I guess I really turn it on because  I know that it makes the language learning more meaningful and fun. In the [...]

When In Doubt Personalize

These last few days have gone so-s0. Today, I really decided to go after it with some of my classes. Last night, I took a look at Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People and I was reminded again of how much people really like to talk about what they like. They don’t [...]

How Well Do They Really Know It?

When I first started using tprs I had the idea that if we used a phrase or structure in class, it was acquired. I have since learned that this may not necessarily be the case. As I work with students more I observe that there are different levels of acquiring a language. I have come [...]

Prediction Is Needed in Stories

The other day in class I was setting up a story with the class taking my time with some of the details. I decided to see what would happen if I just kept adding details. The students were into it for a while and they had fun creating their little donkey named “Cacahuate” who always [...]

Backward Planning Clarification

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about backward planning and tprs. Check it out if you get a chance. It is entitled Backward Planning Ideas. In that blog I outline what I have been doing with it, but here I will give a little more clarification. Here is what I do:
1. I read [...]