I love to send ‘atta-boy/girl’ postcards to my students when they do something well or are making progress. I have a stash of cards with French sayings, art or pictures on the front. I use their French class name** they’ve picked and write a bit of the card’s message in French according to their ability.… Read More Heartened by student’s growing confidence
I tried something new last week. I needed a stand-alone activity that would last about 3 days. Many TPRS (teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling) practitioners have written about using a piece of art or a photograph as the basis of a story. So I thought of the most interesting French painter I knew… Read More A short lesson plan based on a French artist
I spent half a period the other day leading an activity that was totally unplanned. How was I able to deviate without stress? Thanks to the TPRS (teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling) methodology, I have freedom to maneuver and take advantage of what pops up naturally in my French classes. Emma, pictured above, is… Read More The beauty of the spontaneous moment
One of the benefits of acquiring a language naturally, that is by constant repetition of comprehensible language, is that phrasing and language chunks start to FEEL right. TPRS (teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling) is the best methodology I have found for teaching a foreign language. I don’t teach much explicit grammar. Instead we use… Read More Teachers as learners
I love this methodology called TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling). It’s all about the students receiving sufficient comprehensible input. I often remind my classes of middle-schoolers the following: if you don’t know the meaning of a French word or phrase, it’s not your fault. You just haven’t heard and understood it enough times science… Read More A ‘Whoops!’ lesson
My colleague here at the middle school informed us this week that he’ll be teaching next fall at our upper school. He’s at the tail end of his teaching career but still wants to be productive, be challenged and earn some money for his family. Teaching different history courses to older students will spark growth… Read More One reason I keep teaching
Last week my 6th-grade French students who are in month # 7 of their French language experience individually presented the story of Vercingétorix and Wormetha. Now you might have heard of Vercingétorix, France’s original hero from the first century BC. He united the Gallic peoples against Julius Caesar. But I’m sure you’ve never been told the… Read More Pointing out the not so obvious to my students
