Tag / compellinginstruction

This is the second of a draft-quality (for now) series of posts about the Danielson evaluation tool and how the qualifiers and criteria can apply to a Comprehensible Input-focused classroom. If you're just stumbling onto this now, you can find Domain 1 here.

Danielson Domain 2:  The Classroom Environment

Okay!  This one is probably the least difficult to make fit a CI class, because frankly a good environment is a good environment!  There are certainly some...

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Recently, a teacher asked in an online forum how the Danielson assessment system can be "worked" within a Comprehensible Input-focused classroom.  So I've included my rubric interpretation here. My disclaimer also should be that I rate myself high, but with rationale, and then ask my administrator to prove I'm wrong. But I want my administrator to give me specific things I should improve if they don't feel I'm doing the best possible job.  (Obviously, I totally know I can improve in many areas. But I'm not going to make it easy on them.) Please also remember that just because these can be connected...

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Luggage.  There is SO much luggage out there!  Odds are, your family has a suitcase or two laying around the house.  My parents have a TON of luggage.  Some old, some new, some big, some small, some giant.  This post is going to help lead you through the pros/cons of different types of luggage, from the perspective that you might be looking to buy a new bag for the trip, or at least trying to figure out which of the bags you have access to would be best for you to take.  Of course, you don't need to buy new luggage to travel.  And you may be stuck with whatever your family has, like it or not. ...

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As I prepare to make a 3-week carry-on-only trip this summer and find myself obsessively pouring over blogs and videos and tips for traveling light, it struck me that while I learned a lot of tips from the experts in traveling with a backpack only, most of the suggestions for packing techniques and how to not be that traveler are all things I knew. And I realized that many teachers are not incredibly experienced travelers, and our students less so.  I haven't seen a lot of articles, blogs, videos, or hacks produced from the perspective of student travel.  So this series of posts...

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Today I was reading some notes from a conference I attended a year or two ago, and realized something that hit me like a ton of bricks:  I need a system.  Truth be told, I need several systems.  And they need to work together. I work out at a great gym with franchises throughout the middle of the US called Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping.  I've been a member for 5 years.  (Please withhold the comments about how not so extremely my body seems shaped...I like cake.)  Anyhow, every day that I've gone there for five years, I walk...

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When Jim Wooldridge (Sr. Wooly) asked me to review his new graphic novel, I JUMPED at the chance!! You can't blame me for not resisting a sneak peek of what he calls "...the best story I've ever created in any medium. ", right?  So I was over the moon when the book landed in my mailbox. But does it hold up to the hype?  Is it really that good? Yeah.  It is. A young girl has nightmares about her...la Dentista.  And at school the folklore continues as the world remembers the incident...so long ago...well,...

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I've heard it said that people can pay attention, typically, one minute for every minute of their age. My students are 14-18. I teach on a 90-minute block. Which means that on average, after about 15 minutes, my students are physically incapable of paying attention.  I teach on a 90-minute block.  90/15 = 6. 6 changes in tempo.  6 breaks in the action.  This was a daunting number to see.  I use a lot of activities in class, I work hard to engage students.  I've even considered myself creative from time to time.  But to do 6 changes of gear during one class period? What if what...

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In today's edition of thank goodness people are generous, I bring you the best new idea I didn't think of, and basically didn't understand until I saw it in action: Running Dictation. To give credit where it is due, I have to thank Martina Bex, who got it from Michele Whaley, who got it from Jason Fritze. What is running dictation? A great activity for my energetic and squirrely freshmen in Spanish 1, although clearly would be great at any level (I can't wait to try this with my 4's next...

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In a workshop recently, Mike Coxon said he was told by a professor that the key to success in education was "CASE:  Copy And Steal Everything".

Of course, you want to make sure to give credit where it is due and respect other teachers' copyrights and intellectual property.  So in this first homage to that philosophy, I bring you the best new thing I've stolen--Strip Bingo.

No.  Not THAT kind of strip.  Although kids will appreciate that name! It's funny!  But be careful if you send a bunch of kids home telling their parents that they played Strip Bingo in class...could...

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Among several proficient and reputed experts of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency Through Reading & Storytelling), there has been some discussion about how one defines oneself. There is no shortage of acronyms to go around, of course, but recently there has been a significant number of teachers dropping the TPRS label and instead referring to themselves as CI teachers.  CI?  No, people are fans of this site enough to have become CI teachers in my honor.  In this case, CI stands for Comprehensible Input. Comprehensible Input isn't a technique.  It isn't a method.  It isn't even a philosophy. Stephen...

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