Hey Everybody, I wanted to take a moment to talk about progressions. I am sure that quite a few of you understand how to use them in your classes, but there are probably as many or more teachers who are unsure of exactly what it is, much less have the confidence to unleash it in your classes. I felt like that for a long time, until I was able to visualize it and draw it. A progression as a visual, looks a lot like this (see photo). You have the central topic, either dictated by vocabulary from that day, the previous day or such. For many of you who have been through one of Darcy's workshops, you probably remember the types of questions that we used in one part of the workshop. Creating relevant questions around the topic is a great way to generate interest and motivation to speak. IE: we are wrapping up a Canned Food Drive at my school and so we counted our cans and it was just an instant, built-in topic for the class. I asked them to discuss in groups the reasons for giving food during the holiday season. I gave them a couple of minutes to speak and then asked 2 or 3 of them to tell the class their reasoning. We got time, money, resources, things...etc out of the students as far as vocabulary were concerned. I asked the students to discuss the different types of resources that they felt they could offer to those in need. Again, more discussion. Finally, the last question was if they had a friend, family or if they themselves ever had a need to rely on the Oregon Food Bank or another organization for food and resources. If so, to explain what that experience was like. This all happened within the course of no more than 15 minutes. It can go longer or shorter, depending on the amount of questions, activities or depth to which the class goes. I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday and vacation. I hope this helps. Ricardo
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