It has fully been like a week and a half since the WAFLT-COFLT Bi-State Conference in Portland, OR but I still have so many thoughts bouncing around in my enormous head! My practice has actually shifted in the past few days as I’ve taken more time to work through my notes and reflect on the changes I want to make to increase student enjoyment and learning! (Well…acquisition. Whatever.)
Let’s keep it short(ish) – three thoughts I’ve been playing around with:
- 90% Target Language Usage is Scarier for Teachers Than for Their Students
Paul Sandrock, the Director of Education for ACTFL, reported during his session on Facilitating Target Language Comprehensibility that teachers have FAR MORE anxiety about using 90% TL in class than their students do! This blew my mind. Kids are actually pretty chill if we’re like, “yeah, let’s just drop the English and DO THIS THING, MUCHACHOS!”
Maybe they actually expect it. Like, they go into a language class thinking that the teacher just WILL use the language most of the time. Because as a young person, YEAH THAT SEEMS LOGICAL. It’s us adults that come up with reasons not to use the language in class. This is probably because we’ve tragically developed the ability to overthink things. (How…wonderful.) J. Marvin Brown talked in his book From the Outside In about how adults struggle so hard in language classes because they, unlike children, let their thinking and their brains get in the way of just experiencing the language and enjoying it (and being able to subconsciously acquire the language). He posits that we don’t lose the ability to learn languages as we age, but rather gain the ability to overthink things and ruin it for ourselves. I can see this same thing happening with target language usage. Of course it seems natural to use the language all the time in class because…duh. But!!! But what if they don’t understand! But what about management! But what will I say! But what if I don’t feel strong enough in the L2 to fill awkward silences! But!!!
Y’all, we can do this. Our kids want this. They want the input, they want the language, they want to be good at this. So let’s stop holding ourselves back and make it happen! I’ve started having little interactions (before class, in transitions, giving directions) in Spanish and surprise…everything is going fine. Just more opportunities for me to work on my skills for comprehensibility! (That thing I present on…gulp.) - You Are Putting On a Silent Film (+TL)
In presenting with Tina Hargaden (of CI Liftoff and The CI Posse) about body and voice skills for comprehensibility, I learned something seemingly small that has made a big impact on my class flow. Any time I do a gesture, point to something on the board, or do any of the other magical tricks to make language comprehensible (#futureblogpost) (#magicaltricks), I have to do that thing, then give a beat, then say the word in L2, then give a beat, let students process, then move the interaction along. I see them anticipating what I’m talking about, hearing the word in the L2, linking the meaning, and having greater chances for success in interacting with whatever we’re talking about because they for sure GOT IT. Silent film actors had to show EVERYTHING and know that it was going to sink in. I have to do the same! I’m working my silence more to watch their eyes and know that the connection is there instead of breezing through comprehensibility links and later thinking “but I showed them everything!” They just need that bit of processing time. And the eye contact I’m able to make in that slower way is helping students know that I’m there with them. - Think (Don’t Speak!)
Laura Terrill gave a keynote on Friday that was great for so many reasons. But the killer quote from this one was “think (don’t speak!).” Often we employ a turn and talk as a way for students to process some new information. Buuuuut if they turn and talk with someone who maybe is a faster speaker or faster processor, the “slower” student may lose the opportunity to synthesize their thoughts, and/or make them into something they can express. If we really demand that students think, but don’t speak just yet!, we are giving room for 100% of our students to do some processing and have some more success once the turning and talking actually begins. (I tried this during a PD with teachers the following week and lo and behold…everyone had something very interesting and thoughtful to express.)
I LOVE CONFERENCES LA LA LA. But dang, it takes time to process all the great info you get and put it into practice. I’m trying to take my own suggestion of just picking a few things and working them in. More than that feels like way too much for my poor brain.
(Also every conference reminds me that I should be doing more brain breaks. Every conference! Goodness. This will surely be a lifelong quest. #futureblogposts)
What is your most recent learning from a conference, and how is it growing your practice? Have a fantastic day, you pedagogical flower of excellence!!