Denver, CO (Jefferson County Schools) #5
Picked up Linda Koiter and we drove to Denver together. She helped me get set up and got me a chai. The workshop was “TPR Storytelling in Levels 2 – AP” and it was really good! Ben Slavic came, too. It was great to see him! I feel good because we went into teacher behavior and movement to emphasize structures, using colors on the board to emphasize structures, using variations on circling to get structures to sound right, combining PQA and stories, brain function and learning…. This is definitely my favorite workshop....
read moreCedar Rapids, Iowa
Brrr! It is so cold here! I have worked with these same teacher for many years now, always in January and I am always a bit surprised at the cold. Having grown up in South Dakota you would think that I would retain some ability to deal with it. The teacher are wrestling with the district’s desire to get the curriculum map to be coherent and use the same terminology throughout and the teachers are more concerned with what works with students. So I just worked with the teachers, listened to their issues, and tried to find solutions that...
read moreECIS, Nice, France
Michael has been learning about Nice while I was at conference sessions, so he took me to his favorite pâtisserie so he could have another chou à la crème … I had a mini-bagnat. Then for lunch he took me to his favorite sandwich place. Since I am accustomed to being the tour guide in France, this was new! In the afternoon I did “Using Music to Promote Proficiency”. It went GREAT!!! So I am on a high. Dinner was delicious. We are packed and the taxi will get us at 5:30. I cannot close my suitcase so that will be a bit of a...
read moreNice, France
I went to business meeting of the ECIS foreign language teachers. They are setting up a “iskoodle” to be used for mutual support, sharing, that sort of thing. They talked about maybe having more professional development opportunities on a regional basis. The new president of the organization, Andrea Wagner, is full of ideas and enthusiasm. After the meeting, Michael and I wandered around. We ran into Vera and later ran into Nina! We bought books and a couple of t-shirts. Nice relaxing day.
read moreECIS, Nice, France
Crazy morning; I went to the room we found last night and come to find out, my workshop had been moved to a different room in a different building. I got to the correct room at 8:30 after running wild. Vera, Amy, Lilia, Nina, Stephanie, Erika, and the new French teacher from AAS (Moscow) were there! The workshop was fun because the participants were so involved. We had about 30 people, which I understand is a huge number for a pre-conference workshop on the topic of foreign language. In the evening I was invited to a VIP reception with a...
read moreNice, France
Back to old Nice to the marché aux fleurs, to the bay where we sat for a long time in the sun, then to the port, the marché aux puces, nice to roam around Nice. We found the “Acropolis” conference center and found the room where I will give the workshop tomorrow. ECIS is a huge conference and it takes some work to figure out how to get to the right room.
read moreNice, France
It is so great to be in France! I just love it. Michael says that my personality actually changes when I am in France. He says I have different mannerisms, I hold me head differently, and my gestures look like the way French people move. Hmmm. I guess it makes sense, but I am not aware of having a dual personality. It was drizzling this morning, so we took an umbrella and ventured into the city. We took the tram to Vieux Nice, saw cathedral, and Michael was thrilled to visit a gun shop. Later we happened to see the Molinard store where we...
read moreRome, Italy
We flew from Kiev to rome at 7:30 AM. Since we had only one day, we did a mad dash through the city! It was a nice day and we went to the Vatican, had lunch, fell in love with the sculpture in various squares, walked along the river, got lost, got ripped off (50 Euros for stolen jackets) and then took a taxi to see the coliseum and go to the airport. Whew! Michael’s favorite memory is two BEAUTIFUL young women at the airport who asked us if we were going to “Nicha?” (That’s “Nice” in Italian) They had the...
read moreLast Day in Kiev
Since it is Sunday, we met Masha and Oksana at noon, went to a Ukrainian fast food place and then walked by St. Sophia church, the St.Michael church, then down by the river to a winding construction path over by St. Anthony and then up a little street that was lined with stalls selling tourist stuff. Really cute and nice. Then Oksana took us by her apartment, the old KGB place, another gov’t security bldg on a pretty little square where roses were still blooming! Then down past the opera to our neighborhood. Then she left. Michael and I...
read moreChernobyl, Ukraine
We took a tour of Chernobyl. It took all day and was fascinating. Educational, really a well-run trip! On the bus ride up, they showed us a movie about the explosion. It was sad to hear how much they tried to cover it up, not admit to the radiation, then sent in these poor soldiers to shovel the radioactive stuff off the roof. Originally they tried to use robots to get the radioactive stuff off the roof, but the radiation destroyed the robots too fast. Anyway, good movie. We saw reactor #4 that is covered in a “sarcophagus” went to the town...
read moreKiev, Ukraine
We put clothes into the washing machine and went walking to see the Statue of the Motherland (Metal statue of a woman with upraised shield and sword) and then to see the Lavra (Center of Kiev’s Russian Orthodox Church that started in caves.) Our apartment flooded when the washing machine backed up the plumbing, so we had to move to a new apartment. It took several hours, but the new apartment is close to the center square, so that is good!
read moreKiev, Ukraine (Day 3)
The workshop ended today. The teachers were so eager to try out using comprehensible input while making it interesting, fun, and varied. It was fun to have lessons in Russian and Ukrainian! Oksana really got going and she did a super job! She is the one in green in the photo. Michael and I went to dinner at a restaurant named “Chinook”. It was fabulous. I can’t believe how fantastic the food is in Kiev!
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Kiev, Ukraine (Day 2)
The first day of TPR Storytelling workshop went well. It was exciting to work with these teachers because they are from so many different cultures and they all know so many languages. I also spoke to the EAL teachers after school. I talked about brain, acquisition, and teacher tools to enhance acquisition. Since they have so many limited-English students, it was good to give them some tips on how to make their instruction as effective as possible. Michael and I went to dinner with Masha and Oksana at a “retro-Soviet-style”...
read moreKiev, Ukraine (Day 1)
The Pechersk International School hired me to do TPR Storytelling training for the language teachers. I toured the school, met the teachers, and learned about their special situation. The students have so many native languages! Instruction is in English, but for many of the students English is a second third or fourth language. So language acquisition is going on at multiple levels and in many directions at once. The principal (Tatz) and one teacher (Masha) are from the Anglo-American School of Moscow. It is s neat to see them again and to...
read moreDenver, CO (Jefferson County Schools) #4
Last afternoon class for Jeffco went well. I really liked the chance to meet with the teachers on four different days for two hours per day. It gave the teachers a chance to try things out in their classes, report back, do some discussing, and then try somethings else. This structure is ideal (if all of the teachers could just make it to every session.) I am glad that Anna Crocker came up with this format.
read moreTPR Storytelling®
TPR Storytelling workshop includes: The theory and research behind TPR Storytelling® Demonstration of a TPR Storytelling® lesson How to teach for acquisition How to teach grammar using comprehensible input questions How to motivate students to want to learn a language The importance of continual assessment The importance of student rapport Grading and testing How to teach upper-level classes using TPR Storytelling® How to make students care about accuracy The importance of reading in a second language Practice planning and teaching a...
read moreDenver, CO (Jefferson County Schools) #3
Today’s class in JeffCo had a big crowd. Besides working on oral skills, we started on literacy skills. The teachers were very enthused and bought a bunch of readers
read moreCasper, WY (WAFLT) day 2
Toni Theisen and I each had a room and we gave our session over and over for three times. The advantage to doing it three times is that each time the audience was slightly different so we could tailor and interact with the participants. I did “Make Grammar Meaningful.” It went really well. In the evening, Toni gave the keynote about using the Internet and new technology.
read moreCasper, WY (WAFLT)
TPR Storytelling workshop at the WAFLT Conference. In the evening they showed a movie called “Speaking in Tongues” about bilingual schools in San Francisco. Then we were given copies of the movie to use with parent groups, school boards, whatever! The movie is great for promoting multi-lingual education!
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