TPRS / CI and Block Scheduling

*Note: Someone recently emailed me a question about using Block Scheduling. I am no expert, but I found out how to make it work for me during the 3 years that I taught on the block. Here are some ideas that hopefully are helpful below.*

A few years ago I was forced (against my will) to teach on A/B block scheduling when I was hired at a new school. I was forced because it was a bomb dropped on me after I accepted the job (if I remember things correctly). I didn't even know to ask that question in the interview! Oops!

The way that block scheduling worked at that school was 90 minute periods, 4 a day. One day was A, then next day B. Early dismissal Wednesdays A or B alternated each week. So if there were no interruptions whatsoever, then in a two week cycle, I would see each class 5 times total. (One week Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then the next week Tuesday and Thursday).

When I first started it, I hated it. Then after I left it, I sort of missed it because I could more easily see the benefits (that I was able to get out of it). Although I still believe that every day instruction is better for acquiring language (shorter more often) than a big chunk every two days.

TPRS Year 4 - Comercial - Snickers - Dramático

It's that time of the year when I need to throw in some other activities I don't normally think about doing, and also throw in some more authentic texts where we actually can figure out some of the language to realize we have been learning this year!

Here's a fun one I used in my Spanish one classes.  It has some out of bounds vocab, so I had that translated.

Here's the handout I used: (Click here.)

Possible Extensions:
1. Notice how they pronounce Snickers in Spanish... why is it pronounced "eh-snee-kayrs"
2. Is this similar to something you've seen in English?
3. Who is this most likely being marketed to? (Do they sell Snicker's overseas?)

TPRS year 4 - Spanish commercial - "Helios es vida"

I stumbled upon this commercial today and thought it was nice and simple for Spanish 1 students and could be used as a Movietalk for upper levels even and discussing your own situation or what all is going on (with more vocabulary and difficulty).

The campaign is for Helios, a brand in Spain:  http://grupohelios.com/

Basically the video is referring to "[something] es vida" ("---- is life").

In the video, they use a lot of infinitive verbs.  I'll need to slowly explain infinitive verbs (but not by calling them that) in my Spanish 1 classes.  And it would be neat to have an extension idea...

So I would probably start off the discussion after watching...
¿Qué es "vida" en tu opinión? (What is "life" in your opinion?)

And we could discuss it as a class in Spanish 1/2 and then I could ask them to write their own idea down and draw a picture to accompany it as a sort of brain-break for class.  The following class I could show them on the document camera and discuss them.  Or we could post them around the class and have the class vote on which one is the most likely.

It would be an interesting first opportunity to get them to express something more worthwhile in my class and more real (or silly if they desire) and also simple enough.

We learned the word "vida" in the phrase to get their attention, "¡Pura vida!", a common phrase used in Costa Rica for pretty much everything positive.

Then this word was further reinforced in our tweets today.

TPRS year 3 - new school next year

I found myself on the last full day of school cracking up and having a great time with my Spanish students.  The best part, I wasn't teaching.  I had a guest come and teach my classes with his version of TPRS and CI.  

My kids were able to kind of see someone else's teaching as well as show off all that they had learned this year in Spanish.

I sat in the back and cracked up.  They were clever, funny, interested.

But it was bittersweet.  These students I have invested in all year (some for two years), weren't happy with me as I told them how great the year has been and how much I have appreciated being their teacher this year.  That many times although we've been learning Spanish together, I feel like at times, it was like we were just hanging out (intentionally though while still learning).

Nevertheless, I would take my fond memories of them as I embarked on a journey with my family to a new place.  I'll be teaching in the KC area this next year and I'll be teaching in a school that is traditional in their Spanish instruction.  But the teachers have seemed open to what I do and would like to see it implemented.  I am very excited about this opportunity to possibly win over some other teachers to TPRS and CI.  

But I will greatly miss my students and the opportunity to continue investing in them and teaching them to see their growth as individuals as well as students of Spanish.

I think that's the difference in the TPRS and CI for me.

I used to teach in terms of lessons.  We would go over the lesson and then they would have practice worksheets and I would go back to my desk because my job had been done.  It was as if I created this wall of "now it's my time."

I got to know some of the students but all of the talking about THEM was usually in English on the lower levels and in Spanish 3, they still were very shy about speaking.

By the time I did TPRS and CI, I just saw this whole change in my understanding of how to teach and what it is to be a teacher.  I got to know my kids a lot better, their successes, their fears, their struggles, and most of it in Spanish.  

I would say that's why it will be even harder to leave my school.  I got to know the kids better these past two years, and their quirky personalities.  I took down my wall with TPRS.

TPRS Year 3 - Halloween and Día de muertos

This year has been crazy.  I probably haven't been blogging as much as in years prior because I've been finding myself stretched rather thin.  Between working on my YouTube channel and trying to maintain consistently new content: Phrase of the Day, Storytelling adventures, & jokes, in addition to teaching full time and having a wife and 9 month old baby, I don't have as much time to blog. 

But I'm pretty excited.  Last year, there was this great activity idea that I got from Kristy Placido about using a Luis Pescetti chant about a vampire in a castle at night who butters bread with a knife.  It was wonderful.  What I ended up doing was TPR'ing the different phrases from the chant with my students by acting it, saying it in Spanish, and quickly telling them in English the first time and occasionally checking for comprehension.  We did them out of order (so the kids wouldn't guess it was a narrative) and then at the end, they saw Kristy's graphical representation of it (She might have taken it down.  I can't seem to find it this year).  It had pictures of some things which you could have with the voice of Luis Pescetti that represented the different lines.  My kids still remembered the actions from last year.  Not to mention, it was great to throw into stories, "And DOES he butter bread?"  Always good for a laugh.

This year I found out some traditional songs for Día de muertos.  My favorite was called: Los esqueletos.  There are various versions of it on YouTube.  The lyrics are about how skeletons come out of their graves and do various things, then they sleep again.  It's great for the present tense 3rd person plural ending in Spanish (-n).  It helps me get some reps of those in class and some good pop-up grammar to get them to notice that "n" on the end of the verb just means "they."

So I did something similar to last year's activity.  Since today was song day, I mixed up the different things the skeletons do (10 of them) and then TPR'd them.  So we went over 2-3 phrases and played around with them.  I mixed them up.  I changed a detail sometimes to use the verb structure some more.  My students seemed to enjoy the movement today.  I think it was needed.

Then after we TPR'd it for 25-30 or so minutes, I went over the PowerPoint that I had made with the song on it and some pictures that went along with it.  I taught them the gestures for the first line and for the "graves here" and "graves there."  I spoke through it with them first and had them do the gestures with me.  Then I sang it and had them follow with gestures.  Finally, they stood and "sang" (or pretended) while gesturing with me.  And it took up pretty much all of class.  It was a different activity for the songs.  We usually do a cloze activity.  But I wanted them to interact more with the song today. :-)

If you had extra time before singing you could also do a competition with a partner where they race to do the action first.  You could do the incorrect action.  You could say 2 actions and they would have to do those in order.  There are many things you could do as well.

Here's a version of the song that I basically used to sing today (and I changed a few of the things the skeletons do).

If you want to try it, let me know your email address and I can email you the PowerPoint and/or the lyrics I used.

Día 57 - MY students

A student from the local university needs to do a practicum in which they plan out and teach a few days for a few classes.  It's nothing major.  But it is something that could be incredibly great for your students or it could be something horrible for them.

She hasn't really learned much about TPRS prior to coming and observing last week.  But she has been excited about the idea and was able to see a little bit of the language gains one can accomplish through TPRS.  The day she observed, we only went over a written story and then made up some different parallel storylines.  She came yesterday to do two lessons with two of my classes.  The first class went ok.  After watching, I'm really glad that I had a little bit of an idea already how to tell a story through TPRS thanks to the workshop this summer.  Granted, I still have so many questions and things I need to improve on.  The main idea is to circle structures with questions and to go somewhat chronologically. 

I noticed I hadn't explained it very well because the first class went in all sorts of different directions and the students (as well as the student teacher) were having a really hard time trying.  The good thing is that I was able to model it a little more for her during the 2nd period class and she improved quite a bit between the first hour and the third hour classes.

Today she came back and did even better.  The kids were enjoying the language and she was having a good time with them.  Overall, I think she did a great considering she'd never learned with this method or really seen it modeled well.  Tomorrow she'll come back for a reading with the kids.

But while I've been observing, I have found myself feeling kind of territorial with my Spanish students.  They're MY students.  I want to teach them.  If something isn't taught how I would have taught it, I feel myself get uncomfortable about the concept.  It's strange.  It feels weird to give up my class to some stranger.

Lastweek I had a student transfer schools and in their new school they told me the teacher is just doing conjugation (the traditional way of teaching) and she's probably going to drop the class!  That makes me sad because she did a great job in the class with the language with TPRS.

Long story short, I guess I care about my kids more than I thought I did.