The Sigmoid Curve of tprs

At times I have often wondered, “How far am I in the process of learning tprs?” and “How much further do I have to go?” Well, after asking several teachers I have come to find that there are no real concrete answers to these questions and everyone has their own take on it. One teacher [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

A Surprising PAT

My two PAT choices for today were “mono loco” and “movie day.” It was a big step for me to do the “movie day” because last year I really minimized how often I played movies in my lower level classes. I never saw a huge benefit from movies because I teach lower level class and [...]

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 [...]

Thinking About Taping

When I was a trumpet performance major in college I spent hours listening to different players. So much, that my sound began to sound exactly like the people I was listening to. Not only was I listening to others, but I also recorded myself from time to time and found it to be beneficial. I [...]

Floundering today

I wish I could say that every day is a homerun day, but I don’t think that is the reality for many tprs teachers. I know that the students just came back from a long weekend and are a bit sluggish, but I feel like I am floundering a bit today. Perhaps, I am having [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]