Category Archives: TPRS

Learning Happens Everywhere!

Posted on by

 

I wanted to reflect on my classes that I had this past week and the awe and amazement that I experienced after thinking about my classes. Learning truly can happen anywhere. 

These have been some insane months lately: pandemics, protests, elections, illness, online learning, hybrid learning, fires, remember murder hornets??? I admit, when we made the move to online learning, I was stressed, reluctant, and longed for the times when I was in a classroom, with my students, in person and I was teaching and they were learning. I feared that with the online move, my students’ learning and progress would suffer. I feared that my students would not bother to log in the Zoom, and we would all be completely disconnected. Maybe this is the case for some, but as I’ve recently discovered, I am having quite a different experience…

This is a video of one of my Zoom classes where we were practicing prepositions and location with stuffed animals (and a Buddha) 

Last Thursday, I conducted my Zoom class as I normally do, only to see that one of my students was participating in the Zoom from her car, and another student was participating while she was in Tahoe with her family. The week before, another student was in my “class” while she was in the passenger seat of her car en route to who knows where…I have had many students engage in my class from areas that I would not deem a traditional classroom or even from the rooms or a desk. At first, I was a little bit annoyed that these students were not participating from home or at a desk, and I worried that they would be distracted, or not really be involved in the lesson of the day. These students not only participated for the entire duration of the class, but they were active, and engaged, and volunteered answers to questions, more than they had in a traditional setting. Recently, I also had another student email me and say that she was not feeling well, but I encouraged her to at least have the Zoom open so that she could listen to the lesson and get the instruction, even if she didn’t feel well enough to participate. She attended the class and thanked me later for still being able to participate in the lesson even though she wasn’t feeling well. Instead of focusing on the negative that they were not following “protocols” I decided to take this as a positive, and here are some of my takeaways:

  • Students can attend class from any place. They don’t have to be limited by vacations, or sports tournaments that are far away. 
  • Students can still attend class even if they don’t feel well enough to participate. In an in person setting, students would typically miss school, and have to make up all of the lectures and assignments and come to office hours to catch up. With online learning, students don’t have to miss the entire lesson, and still remain in the comfort of their homes. 
  • Parents who are near their children (in this case, my student’s mom was driving the car) can witness all of the magic and dynamic lessons that are happening in their child’s classes. I don’t mind parents seeing what cool things we’re doing in class so that there is some transparency. This might be intimidating for some, and I agree, but I think that having a glimpse into what is happening in their child’s class is beneficial. So often parents ask their child: “what did you learn in school today?” and the kid typically responds with: “nothing.” This opportunity gives parents a window into what is happening in their child’s school day. 
  • Teachers can collaborate and observe classes a lot easier, and less intrusively. I have had the opportunity to observe some colleagues on Zoom, and I find that it’s efficient, beneficial, quick, and perhaps not as intimidating as having a person sitting in a chair in the back of the room. I can unobtrusively observe a colleague and cause little disruption.
I was truly amazed to see how engaged my students are in my Zoom classes from literally EVERYWHERE. Learning is not confined to the classroom, nor the traditional environments from long ago; good education can happen in Tahoe, in the car, a dining room, classroom, Innovation Center, you name it. Some may disagree, and I still prefer to teach in a classroom and in person, however I think that online education opens the doors for so many students and families and teachers that a new way of learning is continuing to expand. 
I will add this caveat: not all students have the same access to reliable internet and the online tools that other students have, however perhaps the roads will be paved so that more students have more access to quality education from anywhere.
You know what they say about lemons and lemonade…

Trying something new: TPRS Storytelling in French 1

Posted on by

Prior to this year, I’d been familiar with TPRS Storytelling in language acquisition classes, but I always assumed it was for younger students. Everyone I knew who employs this method teaches either middle or elementary school world language courses, so I always kind of dismissed it as someone who has taught pre-AP language and literature courses.

However, I follow a rather large French Teachers Facebook group and there has been a ton of buzz lately regarding TPRS Storytelling (Sidenote: this Facebook group is seriously the best PD I know about! As a non-native speaker, I can ask a nit-picky French grammar question to literally thousands of teachers and get an answer within minutes, peruse other member’s materials, and upload my own materials to our shared Google Drive. I totally encourage you all to join a group like this if it exists in your field!).

Several teachers have begun sharing their experiences with storytelling and simultaneous drawing to help learners visualize and understand. I’ve been reading their articles with interest, but still maintained my initial skeptical and dismissive attitude thinking my ~30 freshmen (a predominately male class, mind you) wouldn’t take to this method since it involves sitting quietly and listening at times and active participation in French at other points in the class.

Now that I’ve gotten my bearings on my life as a new teacher here, I figured I was ready to take the plunge after reading success story after success story on the Facebook group page…

I dipped my toes in the water for my first story, a particularly average story about two students, their likes and dislikes, life at school, and after-school activities. My stories involved new language students hadn’t yet learned. I wasn’t sure how they’d react, but they were responsive, attentive, and inquisitive the entire time. They helped me name the students, gave me their schedules, and determined that they were twins at Carondelet and De La Salle. Flash forward a few weeks, and imagine my surprise upon learning from their unit evaluations that nearly every student enjoyed the activity and wanted more!

So this morning, I got even bolder with my story. It has a crazy twist at the end and the class erupted in laughter (after hearing me speak only French for 20 minutes!). I followed the activity up with oral True/False questions in French and had them draw scenes from the story. The kids totally knocked it out of the park; I was so impressed with how much they were able to understand and respond to, and I think they were too.

I’m already scheming follow-up activities, dreaming up ideas for how to weave stories into my French 2 curriculum, and I am hoping to build my repertoire of stories and seek out further PD that will help me grow in this methodology!

Maybe my drawings will also improve along the way…. 😅