Thank you, Darcy!!!!! You're the best!!! Just what I needed.... forging on... Thanks to all of you for your insight, comments, encouragement, honesty... I am honored to be a part of this community. I can feel my cells stretching. Happy Holidays! On Wed, Dec 18, 2013 at 4:31 PM, Darcy Rogers <rogersdr25@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Hello all! I have been watching the posts going around and I feel honored > and privileged to be part of such an amazing, earnest passionate group of > people. I don’t know if I have ever seen such a dedicated group of > educators in my life. The questions that people are asking and the goals > that you all have to create the best classrooms possible are not only > inspiring, but transformative. > > The main topics that seem to be coming up lately all seem to revolve > around 3 main themes: > > 1. Grammar use > 2. Use of L1 > 3. Planning (units vs textbook vs ‘progressions & threads’, > etc.) > > I would like to challenge and encourage you all on the journey. Some of > you may or many not have heard the story of how this came about, but for > some reason I think it is important to know. It is very similar to Arnold’s > experience in that after having taught traditionally for a few years, I > took a group of students to Mexico. Their inability to function and be > comfortable in the second language (L2) brought about a series of events > that transformed my classroom. My goals shifted, my intent shifted and more > than anything, my own personal learning shifted. (I believe many of you > know this moment I’m talking about, that’s why you’re here). > > I was lucky enough to live in an area where there were trainings happening > around ACTFL levels and communicative based practices. I took 2 different > OPI trainings. I learned about Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and brain > research about the importance of movement and student interest. I was then > lucky enough to work at a school where the 10 Principles of CES (Coalition > of Essential Schools) were their guiding values. This was the last piece: > the students. The school placed a large emphasis on getting to know the > student, personalization and best teaching practices (which includes > student accountability, critical thinking, reflection of learning and > student interaction). Many times, there was no transference of any of these > principles to the language classroom. Second language often felt like the > bastard child, since we were just dutifully trolling through the textbook. > If you could, however, create a classroom that looked different; that > actually resembled how language is acquired, that brought together the > ACTFL levels, SLA, personalization, communication, building community and > movement all at once, well wow! That has been and is the intent of OWL. It > is not a way of telling teachers how to do something, or even creating a > system of rules of what OWL is: it is a way of attempting to combine what > we all know to be best practices in to one classroom. A way to establish a > set of values that can guide our conversations. That is the journey. > > Since the conversation about how our classrooms could look began, there > have been some interesting and exciting things discovered by educators in > our community: > > 1. The circle. The idea of student equality, creating community and > promoting interaction (SLA): take away the back and front of the room, put > all students in front of each other, eliminate physical boundaries and > encourage language production and actual face-to-face communication. > > 2. Movement. Students who move are more engaged (brain research). The > beautiful thing about combining it with the circle is that it builds > community and allows for new vocabulary to come up in an authentic way. > This looks different at different levels. > > 3. Communicative focus. This meant leaving the grammar behind. To be > clear, this does not mean an absence of grammar. Grammar is in everything > we do, and in order to move up language levels, it must be addressed; > however, it looks different. > > 4. Student as curriculum. This is the most abstract concept. The idea is > not new: Student-centered, yes. Student-focused, yes. But this is > different. Actually taking the student and making them the curriculum is a > new step. This is the scariest of all because it requires stepping away > from the textbook and stepping away from *pre-prepared* units and > actually allowing students to talk about what their interests are. When > truly done in a way that is cohesive with SLA and ACTFL, then it is > fulfilling, meaningful, and produces results. This is the uniqueness of > what we are talking about achieving. > > 5. Artistry. An environment that a teacher can create where the classroom > is a cohesive community of students and teachers working together to > achieve language learning. > > Within all of those concepts, there are embedded questions about L1 use, > grammar, the textbook and units. I am going to be sending out a series of > posts today addressing those issues that I hope will encourage further > conversation and reflection within our professional development community. > > Thank you all for your incredible minds and hearts!!! > > *Darcy Rogers* > Organic World Language (OWL) > Phone: 541.601.4509 > Fax: 541.776.4099 > Website: www.organicworldlanguage.com > Facebook: tinyurl.com/organic-language-facebook >