Maine: Day Two
I love these folks! They are super-with-it; they completely “get” comprehensible input, they totally understand how crucial it is to go slow and to guarantee comprehension, to get many repetitions, etc. It is fun to talk with colleagues who are so advanced. I did the workshop on “TPRS for Levels 2 – AP” in the morning. It was rewarding to see the enthusiasm of the teachers and to hear their ideas for how to apply the tools to their own lessons. In the afternoon I did a “Reading” workshop. Many of the teachers already have started classroom libraries and are implementing Free Reading. A school principal attended this afternoon workshop! I was flabbergasted because it is almost impossible for principals to get themselves free during school time (especially Friday afternoons) and this woman made the time in her schedule and stuck to her commitment to see the reading workshop! This is not a former language teacher; this is a principal with a sincere dedication to implementing good reading practices in her school. Like I said, this Maine group is truly a cut above. Thanks to Skip, his family, and Therese for their yearly dedication to their colleagues. Doing this project year after year is a TON of work. But the quality of teachers in this group is a testimonial to the commitment of Skip and Therese. Thanks, everyone!