I have been thinking lately that the most effective language teachers are not necessarily the marvelous performers whose kids are constantly laughing in class. How intimidating it is to teach next door to a teacher-entertainer!!!
The quicker that students are reading regularly, the quicker they acquire rich language. An experienced language teacher balances the amount of listening and reading so as to optimize acquisition. In fact, I suspect that the most effective language teachers are the ones providing the maximum amount of appropriate reading to their students, once they are ready.
This Spring Teacher’s Discovery has set up a blog on their site and they are publishing essays by CI teachers to introduce major elements of CI teaching to their customers. Check out my essay reflecting on how Krashen’s Reading Hypothesis changed my teaching, and while you are there check out the essays by Terry Waltz and Pablo Roman. Please leave comments or rate them so that the people at TD know you appreciate the essays and maybe they will continue publishing more, and exposing more people to CI.
- “How “C” (Comprehensible) is Your “I” (Input)?” (Terry Waltz) March 18, 2019
- “Happy Students, Without the Burden of Being an “Entertainer-Teacher” (Mike Peto) March 5, 2019
- “How to Start Doing Crosstalk and Not Die Trying!” (Pablo Román) Feb 25, 2019
- “What Crosstalk Is, and Why It Can Help You Become a Better Teacher” (Pablo Román) Feb 11, 2019
- “What Is Comprehensible Input?” (Terry Waltz) Feb 4, 2019
Your essay is insanely brilliant. Thank you. THANK YOU!
GREAT information! I wish other departments could be brave and do what you did for level 1! Thanks always for sharing!