2020-2021 End of the Year Reflection

Every year is different... but this year was DIFFERENT. I know every state, district, and school did it differently, but my district made it in the news repeatedly, mostly, this year, for the decisions the board made regarding school this year and the pandemic. Just a quick list of some things we... experienced: 

1.  year starting off 100% in person
2. sudden change to 100% digital
3. change to 100% parent/student choice
4. school choice in how to handle transitions from in person to digital, etc. 
1. some schools gave deadlines for when students could change from one to the other
2. some schools said students could change whenever
5. concurrent teaching (teaching in person and online at the same time)
6. fire-y board meetings with intense comments from parents, students, and teachers
1. this included comments from parents whose kids no longer attended public school with us

This is an oversimplified list. So, this year has been different... to quote TikTok: This year was "built different". 

I'm not going to spend this post talking about everything I did this year, but I will list a few things I've talked about or have done that were unique to this year:

• implemented code switching stories
• implemented Latin Vocab TikTok
• explored ways to deliver CI in a concurrent environment using three word pictures
• updated and reconsidered how I do review and retakes
• explored ways to deliver CI in a digital environment using TPR
• implemented Black History Month in a concurrent environment
• reflected on teaching during the pandemic

One other thing I did this year, this semester in particular, was to conduct a classroom action research study on the effects of Comprehensible Input on output, particularly in disabled students/students with disabilities. I did this as my thesis for my Special Education degree from Saint Mary's University in Minnesota. For those interested, you can read the study here.

Needless to say, it's been a busy year for me. There are things I wish I had more time to do and there are things I wish I had explored more fully. But, it is May and next year is already gearing up to be an amazing and new adventure because... I am teaching an ESOL class in addition to Latin! It is going to be an exciting experience for sure.... But, back to this year. 

As always, I give my students a three question survey at the end (okay 4 question). The questions were:

1. What have we done that you've liked?
2. What have we done that has helped?
3. If you have magistra Patrick next year, what would you like more of?
4. Is there anything else you want me to know (doesn't have to be school related)?

As always, nothing is a valid response. Answers are still rolling in, but so far I've gotten some great feedback that I want to share. This will definitely shape what I plan to do next year. So... Student response are in bold and my thoughts are highlighted purple. Ways it is going to affect what I do next year are written in teal.

We like games. Honestly though, who doesn't? This year we heavily employed blookets and gimkits in class and as asynchronous assignments. We also adapted the word chunk game to allow digital play (should I do a post on this?). Kids like games... fair enough. Next year I want to employ more hands on games, games that involve physical movement. I miss them!

CS Stories are helpful. This we knew. We worked to get immediate feedback when we implemented these. However, it is great to hear on the end of year survey because it has been a bit since we've done a CS story and so the fact that it stuck out in students' minds means it really is a great thing. Next year I want to employ them more often. We experimented with different ways to use them and I cannot wait to try more. 

More hands on! Um... yes please! I miss this aspect of teaching in person. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) says we provide multiple forms of engagement, representation, and expression.... hands on things are the best for this! Things I am working on or have done in the past that I will continue with include: braille inclusion, use of Wikki sticks, student choice assignments. I also want to have a regular supply of play-doh, legos, and other physical things in my room. 

The teacher is always willing to help students, no matter what. Okay, ya, this touched my heart. It is my goal to always answer with compassion and... it's hard when you are teaching concurrently and are always exhausted. I greatly appreciate this comment. 

The way we do things. this is vague, but students remarked on how "non traditional" our classes are. One student specifically listed that we don't hand out vocabulary sheets for memorisation. 

As always there were the typical listings of likes and things that helped including: games, movie shorts, story listening, and dictations. These things, of course, will go nowhere :) 

I won't say I made lemonade out of lemons this year. (1) I hate lemonade; if I'm making anything out of lemons it's a lemon cake, and (2) I hate that saying. Buzzfeed recently used it to highlight 10 teachers and, while I appreciate the sentiment.... we all worked our butts off this year during a pandemic, during staff shortages (which are really living wage shortages), during substitute shortages, with lack of funds... and all the other things we regularly deal with... to say that we "made lemonade out of lemons" does not do accurately describe all we've had to deal with.... Rather, I did the best I could and I won't speak for anyone else on that matter. For me, the best I could meant answering with compassion, and listening to my students, all while trying to innovate and move my own professional skill forward. I have no regrets...

I learned a lot this year and I will definitely carry that forward... But I am SO ready for a new and better year. <3

Delivering CI in a pandemic: Three word pictures

 This is an activity that I learned from Keith Toda many years ago and one that I really enjoy doing, when I remember. The basic premise is that you give students three vocabulary words and they draw a picture that incorporates all three words. What I like to do that point is to share one or two of the images and discuss them in Latin. By the end of the period, I will show an image and ask students to tell me what they see. Generally speaking, students really enjoy this activity and like being silly and creative.

Knowing that I enjoy this activity, I am surprised how long it took me to give it a try in this new pandemic induced environment. I was a bit ahead in the Latin II plans as I had to rework everything due to technical difficulties in my classroom, and so on a whim I decided to figure out how to do this activity. 

I needed a digital whiteboard option and went with whiteboard.fi which my colleague John Foulk showed me. I must say that while it wasn't a perfect execution, it was one that I am going to add to my "digital toolbox" for the future. 

Image Description: whiteboard.fi from the
teacher's point of view. Toggle Teacher
whiteboard is on the top and student 
whiteboard previews are below. 

I started the period by letting students play a gimkit in one of the new forever modes to refamiliarise them with the vocabulary I'd be pulling from and then I opened an open class on whiteboard.fi. I invited students to the class using the link and the QR code that the site gives me and each student had, upon entering, a whiteboard complete with colours, typing tools, and image insertion capabilities. 

The sticky part for me came to sharing student images with each other. I was hoping I could simply share an image with them and then when I stopped, they'd still see their own. Rather, whiteboard.fi required me to push it out to their screens. 

Image description: Teacher whiteboard is shown via
whiteboard.fi. A menu is open and shows how to push
images out to students' whiteboards. 

The kids had a lot of fun with this and, while a few lamented how difficult it was to draw on their phones, most of them enjoyed this and I got some really great images from the students (shared below). One of the things I really liked, however, about this that I haven't really seen anywhere else so easily is the save option. Both the students and the teacher have the option to save images (the students save their own and the teacher can save any of them). This allows me to have the potential of an entire database of images I can use later in discussions! 

All of this was done on the free version of this site. I have not explored the paid version of this, but I did discover at least one aspect that was only available via the paid version which was image feedback. If you have an account and pay for it, you can give students real time feedback on their images privately. 

Ultimately I was happy with this tech tool and I will use it again... unless I find something better :) stay tuned!

Student Images:

Latin words given: umbra, ramum, and felix
Image description: a happy dog ghost
holds a branch in his mouth

 

Latin words given: villa, cena, and horribilis
image description: outside of a large country house 
a soda, a burger, and a slice of pizza plan to do
horrible things 

References:

Foulk, J. M. (2020). Spice up your Latin. Retrieved from: magisterfoulk.blogspot.com

Toda, K. (2020). Todally comprehensible Latin. Retrieved from: https://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com/

whiteboard.fi (2021). Whiteboard.fi. Retrieved from: https://whiteboard.fi/

Teaching Digitally as an Adventure (Part 3)

It's that time again! When I realize I have postponed posting too long and now have a lot to update--but less than I should because honestly I felt a little lost off and on recently. 

I think that's okay.

I think this year, if we don't treat ourselves with grace, we are going to implode.

So I don't have as much, but I did create a couple of new things and I'm going to continue to share all my stories with you because..I don't know what might or might not inspire and if what I have can help someone, then I want it to be out there!

I changed the organization this time because it has been so long that I just figured it would be easier to wade through the things I have made that way.

The Story So Far
Here is the story of Andromeda so far. I have illustrated parts 1-3 and not part 4. There are definitely going to be mistakes because sometimes I am throwing this thing together at the last minute. But I am excited to be working on this thing.

1. Andromeda Prima (illustrated Google Slide) (text)
2. Andromeda Secunda (illustrated Google Slide) (text)
3. Andromeda Tertia (illustrated Google Slide) (text)

Vocabulary Activities

1. Match Cards (and template) I made a board using Google Slides that is based on the Memory 
   
   card game. The basic set up is simple: they have "cards" that they move, and below each is a picture or word. They are to match the Latin words to their meanings, either as pictures or English words. Setting up the board was a little more complex because I wanted them to be able to work independently of me and I wanted each student or group of students to be able to progress at their own pace. So I designed this so that you can set up three different memory boards and the students can change to a new board as soon as they finish the old one! To edit the boards does take a little finessing, since you are going to create a background that you then add to one of the master layouts, but I have included a video below to help you out. This game is best used shared with all students able to edit the same Google Slides.
2. Vocabulary Categories I made a simple template for students to organize the vocabulary we
   
   were working on into categories that can be used in various ways. You can leave it as a basic exercise in thinking more deeply about the vocabulary itself or you can make it a competition (one I learned from my friend Patrick Yaggy): If students hit on the same category, they get points for any vocabulary words they used that no one else did in that category; if they come up with a completely unique category, they get points for all the words in that category. This template is ready to use! If you want, you can edit the Instructions in the master view and other parts, etc., to be in your target language. This activity is best used in Google Class as a copy for each student.
3. Vocabulary Drawings This is a mashup of Keith Toda's Vocabulary Olympics and my Read, Draw, and Discuss. Basically, using whiteboard.fi (thanks, Meredith White!), I gave students
   
   nonsense sentences to draw on whiteboards that only I could see, then I would clip two images per sentence, put them on a slide, and discuss them with the class to review the sentence and the vocabulary. This is easy to prep: put sentences that will create fun images on Google slides that also use the vocabulary you want to focus on. This activity is best used shared with all students able to view the same Google Slides.

Reinforcing the Story

1. SNAP (and template) I made a new game! I can't help myself. I get bored with old games. This
   
   one is meant to be a replacement for Slap Jack, which I created last year to be a more accessible version of Flyswatter. The basic idea is that I put sentences that describe pictures--some from the story and some vocabulary-based pictures--on "cards" that I could read aloud and show students, and I put the pictures in groups, lumped together in order so that students can self-select what level of difficulty they are playing at. To help explain game play and game setup, I have created a video below! This template is easy to edit for your class needs by just changing out the pictures and sentences. This game is best used shared with all students able to edit the same Google Slides.
2. Class-Sourced Video I just learned about Screencastify Submit so I of course immediately created an activity for it. This is not an especially deep concept. Students each are assigned a sentence of a story we've been studying. They create a video using the link to Screencastify Submit that I provide. Their videos end up in a folder together, then I put all the videos in Screencastify's video editor and made it into one video that we watched as a class! voila! 
3. Quis Dixit The last story-related thing for this post will be Quis Dixit, inspired by an activity
   
   John Foulk made where students chose which sentence went with a picture. I wanted to dig a little deeper into their character knowledge since we're three stories in, so I gave students either direct quotes from the stories or quotes that could have been said by characters. I also used images of the characters as the background, and on each slide, students were to match the statements to the correct characters. The activity is modified similarly to other activities such as SNAP and Match Cards: go into the Master View and to change out the character images and names (I have them grouped--you can ungroup them with a right click), then in regular view you can change out the quotes all you want. This activity is best used in Google Class as a copy for each student.

Culture: Connecting to the Modern World

I was thinking about how little choice Andromeda has in anything that happens to her in this entire story and that made me start singing some stuff from SiX: The Musical so then all the stuff below happened.

1. Letter from Catherine Parr Students read this for independent work one afternoon. It is just an excerpt from the song "I Don't Need Your Love" put on a pretty background. I put this on Google Classroom as a material to view.
2. Exploring Catherine Parr I had students use this as a guide for discussion. We broke into discussion groups via breakout rooms in Zoom and in class. Students were expected to fill out the form with their answers individually. Between each boxed "breakout" we reconvened as a class to discuss their answers to the questions. We also watched the song in context on youtube and therefore got the entire song that way. I put this on Google Classroom as a copy for each student.
3. Gallery of Choice (and template) After we did the class discussion, I had students take the final
   
   question of the discussion and enter it into a Google question on Google classroom. I used those answers to fill frames in my gallery so students could explore each other's ideas about other modern stories with a similar theme. We then were able to discuss these as a class. I also got a new book to read! This is not too hard to set up and personalize, but to make sure I made a video for you below. This is best offered to students to view on their own at their own pace.

Videos

Now, for the best clarity for a few items, I thought it was most prudent to offer some videos. (I also may have been reading some Jane Austen recently so my vernacular may be a little affected.)

Match Cards

SNAP

Gallery of Choice

That is everything I am going to put into this one humongous post! I hope you find something helpful in it! Let me know if you use something in it or if you have questions! And good luck. We all need it right now.

Want more ideas? Check out my previous posts here:

Teaching Digitally as an Adventure Part 2

Teaching Digitally as an Adventure Part 1

Posts by others:

Teaching Virtually: A TPR Alternative by Miriam Patrick

Todally Comprehensible Latin Keith's blog has been basically completely focused on online teaching activities.

Teaching Digitally as an Adventure (Part 2)

Time for an update! I have done a lot of things since my last update--it's been two weeks. (See my first week entry here)

First, I continue to really enjoy the challenge. I won't pretend to be okay; no teacher is right now, in the midst of a deluge of anger, vitriol, and disregard. But I can find some sparks of happiness in my day-to-day purpose, and that is not a surprise. I am a teacher by calling, not by circumstance or necessity. It's my passion.

I love my students. I am getting the chance to get to know them and I am working on building relationships, even from a distance. I asked them to fill out a form today to just tell me "vents and brags," and while I haven't finished reading their responses, one of the best things has been finding out that all the work I'm putting into the digital lessons has been noticed. That wasn't the goal of vents and brags (a term I got from Bob Patrick), but it was so encouraging to read. 

Keith Toda often quotes Carol Gaab, "the brain craves novelty." I have done my best to keep that in mind as I plan my digital lessons this year and create activities that are engaging and feel different every day. I have worked to make every plan feel authentic to the space we're in, instead of trying to translate my in-person activities directly, though that doesn't mean I don't take inspiration from things I've done in my classes.

All that to say, here is what I've been doing in Latin IV!

Latin II is not my own lesson plan right now, so I don't feel comfortable sharing it. But you can mod these templates to work for you. Many things are made to work with Google Classroom because it is magical. Others work with Zoom. Hopefully you can see ways to adapt all!

At the bottom of the page are a quick couple of videos, including one to demonstrate how to modify these templates to fit your personal needs. I know that it's not perfectly intuitive and I want you to be able to use these successfully.

Introducing the Story: Engaging Background Vocabulary
It's been a while since these kids have had Latin in a classroom environment and we were mostly winging teaching online starting in March, so to make sure they are prepared to read anything, I can't assume they all know the vocabulary they were "taught" so it was important to me to make sure we did some things to find out what they did know and to reinforce it. Yes, that included Gimkit, an online resource that is always evolving. But I am not willing to use it exclusively. Here are the other things I did:

1. Vocabulary Know-it Board I filtered out the vocabulary that I knew was supposed to be new to
   
   students and set it aside. For literally every other word, including words like "in," I asked students to sort the vocabulary into piles of words "I know," "I really know," "I kind of know," and "I don't know." From there, I created a database of words they did not know and kind of knew and used that information to decide: 25 important words to review (they went into the Gimkit) and the 10 most important words to review (they are brought into focus by me on a repeated basis in context). This template is easy to modify for your own use; you can clear out any group of words and change the words to words you need your students to sort through. If you copy one of the rectangles and then press ctrl+v it will paste in this lovely diagonal design. I simply did that over and over while typing a new word each time. Then I would select the entire stack of ten and move them where I wanted. This board is best used in Google Class as a copy for each student.
2. Vocabulary Bricks I took the 25 important words I got from the Vocabulary Know-it Board and
   
   I created a game where students could compete to collect words. This was loosely inspired by the Vocabulary Highlighter Game but I needed a way to play in the current digital environment. So I created a game board with a goal space for two players and boxes for each word. Students choose a slide to pair up on, put their names as either Player 1 or Player 2, and listen for me to call out words in English. When I called out a word, students grabbed the Latin word and dragged it to their goal on the slide. We were on the Zoom meeting together, but we all looked at the slide instead while we played. (If you would like to add visual support, please watch the demonstration on how to easily do so on the video for Accidit Romae below.) This template is also easy to modify for your own use; simply change out my words for your own on one of the student slides, then copy that slide and paste it several times--enough for your class to be divided into teams of two. This game is best used shared with all students able to edit the same Google Slides. 
3. Vocabulary Puzzle This is one of the few times I literally took a game I play in class and put it
   
   in a digital format! It just works so effortlessly as a digital manipulative. This one I gave out to students and had them do on their own, although I encouraged them to give a friend a link to their own puzzle to help each other and then they could jump to the friend's puzzle to complete it too. The template I am giving you has the easy-to-edit format first, and then an example of how I stacked the pieces once I was done. To edit the puzzle, just double-click on the words and replace them with your own. Remember that students are trying to match the Latin with the English meaning. This puzzle can host 24 vocabulary words. Then turn the puzzle pieces different directions and stack them in a random order or lay them randomly around the board--however you would like to mix them up. You don't need two slides; I included the second slide so you can see what I did. This puzzle is best used in Google Class as a copy for each student.

Introducing the Story: New Vocabulary

Of course, there is new vocabulary as well. I employed some usual CI approaches that I thought might translate well as well as some brand new ideas.

1. Venatio Traditionally the school year for most of my classes starts with Circling with Balls. It's a
   
   quick get-to-know you routine that lets me find out more about my students and lets them find out more about each other while speaking Latin. However, this year we are in a different format, the flow of class is different, and getting students to answer questions in a digital class without feeling so much more on the spot and uncomfortable (trust me, I have attended many classes online, and I am not usually afraid to be the center of attention) is just harder. I don't want my class to be something my students dread. So this was one of those things that I stepped back from, thought about the purpose, and reconfigured. The purpose of Circling with Balls is to get to know my students and provide clear, comprehensible, repetitive Latin. So I decided I could do something similar with a scavenger hunt. I don't want it to be all period, but doing a simple class opening where I ask students to find one thing that fits thematically with the vocabulary we are studying, and then discussing what they show me, gives me the chance to get a similar feel that makes sense in our digital environment. On the first day, we did a super easy sentence that all kids would know: Find something you love. I got lots of pets, a couple of siblings, some sports balls and phones, and a lot of smiles. To modify this for yourself, simply write a sentence for each day that incorporates one word that you want to focus on, but make sure everything else is completely comprehensible. You can make a virtual slide if you want and let it be your background in Zoom, like I did, or you can write it on the board behind you, or on paper, etc., and then repeat it and make sure students know what they are searching for. Make it vague enough for more than one answer (the one I am showing here is: Find a thing you have too much of) so you can have interesting responses from the students. This is best used live in session when you can see all of your students.
2. Vocabulary Slides I have already made a post about this type of activity before. These are just the vocabulary slides I created to go with the beginning of this particular story. This is best used live in session with teacher leading and discussing in the target language.
3. Vocabulary Scenes Instead of OWATS, which can be easily collaborative (I am still always
   
   looking for ways to help students find community in this setting), I decided to ask students to create Vocabulary Scenes using a Google Slide that I had set up for them. I put them into Zoom breakout rooms randomly so that it would assign them partners and a "room number," then asked them to find the slide marked with the same room number and work on it. They were to create a scene using the five words on the slide and vocabulary they knew from previous years of Latin. I spent the class period jumping from breakout room to breakout room answering questions and making sure students were safe and on task. After they were done, I took the scenes they created and added sentences and used these as simple introductions to class and reminders of the new vocabulary, three scenes at a time. To modify this for yourself, just figure out how many rooms you might need and change the focus words on the right of the student slides! This activity is best used shared with all students able to edit the same Google Slides. 
4. Sentence Frames So this idea is honestly one of my early ideas with manipulatives. I still think it
   
   was a good idea, but I made a big error when composing this: I focused so much on pushing some of the more challenging aspects of the upcoming reading that I made this activity incomprehensible--the opposite of CI. I still feel it has potential, which is why I am sharing it here. But it is one that I will be more careful about in the future. Generally I created sentences that students could either fill in or slide answers to, then illustrate in the open white spaces below. What I have linked is a finished version with a template slide included; I will include how to modify it in the video below, because it is more complex than the activities above. This activity is best used in Google Class as a copy for each student.

Reading the Story

When you finally get to the story, one of the important things to do is to make sure you have a chance to repeat the story many times without feeling repetitive. With that in mind, I combined several approaches, some simple CI approaches from the classroom that transfer fairly comfortably to a Zoom classroom setting, and some I definitely really had to change or create fresh for the digital class. A side note: I decided to keep this first story quite short while I gage the students' capabilities and ease them into our current setting.

1. Picture Story This is a link to the the story I told to my class using pictures. We are starting a
   
   
   series of stories about Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess rescued by Perseus, but told from her point of view. Circling (asking questions to emphasize and reinforce vocabulary) is clunky at best in this setting, so instead I did my best to elaborate using the picture as a jumping-off point. To make your own, this is more labor-intensive, in that you will need to create your own images and take pictures and insert them or draw images on an app and insert them. However, images are useful not only for clarifying a story but for creating discussion. This is best used live in session with teacher leading and discussing in the target language.
2. "Choral" Reading I need a better name for this. We did not read chorally. I was inspired by choral reading to create a space in class for me to find out who knew the story, who understood the story, and yet still make sure that I was clarifying the meaning. What I did, which worked very well, actually, was highlight a section, ask students to type the meaning in the chat (which I have programmed in Zoom to only send to me, so it is not public. This has been a wonderful feature because students who are sometimes afraid to speak up in class are much more comfortable in this setting), and then clarify the meaning after I got student input. It was slow, but that was also kind of nice for students who are slow processors, and it allowed those who are fast processors to get their answers in there asap and be proud they were able to write everything probably before everyone else. Then, afterward, I just opened the chat log (which I have Zoom set to save) and I had a grade ready to go! Prep is easy--a nice, large font version of your story! This is best used live in session with teacher leading and clarifying the meaning in English. 
3. Accidit Romae (and question template) Okay, so stay with me here. I was inspired by the Las
   
   Vegas game that Meredith White had shared last year among a pile of review games she enjoyed. The basis is simple: students, paired up, ante up bets on how likely they think they will be able to answer the next question. The question is posted with an A,B,C,D answer option and they pick one. The answer is revealed and whoever gets it right gets the pot. All of this is done with pretend money, obviously. However, I wanted to figure out how to do this digitally. So I created a board with two players and an A,B,C,D setup, made stacks of 10 denarii apiece so each side has a total of 50, and then I had to figure out how to show them questions. The answer became this: I need a master slide that I can edit live. I have a video below to show you what I mean, and how to run the game. It was very successful! If you teach another language, watch the modifying templates video to learn how to change this game to work with your own language. This game is best used shared with all students able to edit the same Google Slides. 
4. Andromeda Prima: Interpreting the Reading Finally, after reading the story twice and playing
   
   a game to make sure students understood the story overall, and a gimkit that I didn't link here because that is something that we have all been doing in our classes before this whole thing happened, it was time to do an activity that required a little bit deeper reading and asked students to use quotes from the story to support their opinions. This is a really easy activity to set up; if you read the instructions you can see that you can ask for whatever types of details you want students to find within the text. I do recommend showing students how to create comments; even after doing so, a surprising number still had trouble and placed their comments in interesting spots and almost received lower grades than they deserved when I couldn't find them at first. That said, it was a pleasure to read and grade. This activity is best used in Google Class as a copy for each student.

How Do I Do Make These Things Work for Me?

That is such a good question. I know I just threw a lot at you at once. Here are two videos to help.

Playing Accidit Romae

How To Modify Google Classroom Manipulative Templates

Hopefully this extremely long post has helped you get started on some fun ways to expand the activities in your digital classroom! I'll keep posting as I come up with more ideas!

Teaching Virtually: A TPR alternative

 This year I am teaching Latin I again. I am so excited, but we are starting, if briefly, online. Total Physical Response (TPR) is still part of our plans, but we need to be creative. A few realities:

1. We cannot, in any way, see 30+ videos all at once to ensure that students are hearing and understanding us. 
2. Some students may not have their video on (a point for another time). 
3. We are using web cams and it will be difficult to get them to film us doing actions. 
4. Gauging comprehension is going to be... interesting. To say the least. 

I am collaborating with two colleagues this year for Latin I: Bob Patrick and Liz Davidson and we've been meeting regularly to figure out what we will do. Yesterday we met to discuss the plans for next week and Bob came in with six words: canis, leo, serpens and currere, ire + ad, stare*. He said that his thought was that these six words would be easy to work with and do some TPR in some way. 

We discussed the idea of an asynchronous scavenger hunt where we'd give commands in Latin and students would use picture or video evidence to show them doing the actions. This excites us because it gets kids moving, involves their personal lives and choices in class, and requires movement, rather than sitting in front of a PC all day. 

But, the question remained. How do we establish meaning? How do we provide enough comprehensible and compelling input BEFORE the TPR? 

So, we added to the list. Those six words are our target words, or the words we are going to require. We came up with approximately nine more to be icing words... BUT... here's the kicker --> ALL the words came from our county vocabulary list! This means that even those these words are not targeted now, they will be later and, by then, the kids will already have acquired them at least somewhat! We added words like pulcher, laetus, iratus, medius, anxius, silva, and via+.

Bob had talked about these six words being perfect for an action story. So, we took a few minutes and wrote three different stories, each focusing on a specific animal. The word list we'd come up with were the only words we wanted to use and, while 1-2 more words were needed, they still fit. 

What came out of this work were three very simple stories and from that a natural order (which we did not plan) to those stories. First, our students will read my story, the story of a canis who is in the road, but wants to be in the forest with the lion and the snak. Second, our students will read Liz's story, the story of the serpens who is sad that he cannot run, but whom the dog finds beautiful. Third, our students will read Bob's story, the story of the leo who is already friends with the dog, but is afraid of the snake. The dog connects the two and they all become friends. Again, we did not plan our stories to connect in such a way, but the did naturally and that felt wonderful. 

Lastly, we finished our meeting by deciding that we'd each create a series of activities for our stories. As individual teachers we can choose which activities we like for each story, but all our students will be reading the same story. We also decided on a comprehension check for Friday. 

This is not the only way to collab, but I was so inspired by what happened naturally that I thought I'd share. I've boiled it down to 5 simple steps which I've shared below. :) 

* canis - dog, leo - lion, serpens - snake and currere - to run, ire + ad - to go to, stare - to stand still

+ pulcher - beautiful, laetus - happy, iratus - angry, medius - middle, anxius - worried, silva - forest, and via - road

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Post-its and Classroom Community: Quick Vocabulary Check-in

Shortly into the school year, I wanted some quick and easy feedback from my Latin I students to find out what, out of the new vocabulary, they felt like they really knew and what they felt like needed more work. That way I could focus the beginning of the next week on the vocabulary they needed most, and I would be building trust with them that their input is valuable to me. Wins all around.

Okay, so that's partially a lie.

I really wanted an excuse to try out a new toy: printed post-its!

The fabulous Meredith White (@PRHSspanish) has been sharing some of the things she's been doing with printed post-its on Facebook and Twitter lately, and I just wanted to try out the new technology. You can find the tutorial she shared on printing post-its here.

I quickly printed the template, put my own post-it notes on the template, and then put important vocabulary from the first couple of weeks on a word document, spaced out so it would end up on the post-it notes, and, ecce! printed post-its!

At the end of each Latin I class, I asked students to divide into groups of 5-6 and gave each group a set of post-its. I also posted the following papers that said the following around the room:

1. I really know this

2. I sort of know this

3. I don't know this

Students were told to discuss the words in their groups, then stick the notes around the papers that best applied. Afterwards, I took pictures of the results to be my notes for planning the next week! Much easier than rifling through a bunch of papers. Sadly I don't have any images from the prep--I was too focused on putting everything together, but I do have a couple of pictures after the first class to offer (I figured you didn't need three sets of Latin I results).

I took the pictures, re-sorted the post-its, and reused them for each Latin I class.

I then used the results--especially that "dat," "dies," and "cape" were commonly in the "sort of" know or "don't know" categories--to design a story for the next week so we could focus on those words.

Miriam and I are now planning to print more post-its for much more intriguing uses--with templates that we'll share with you in future posts!

Movie Talks and Novellas: CI Articles in Teaching Classical Languages

Movie Talks
I am excited to share with you that I had an article published in Teaching Classical Languages, CAMWS's peer-reviewed journal. I presented over the usefulness of Movie Talks and how to prepare and deliver Movie Talks a couple of years ago at ACL Institute, and was approached by John Gruber-Miller to write an article, so I am really pleased that I got this opportunity to publish my article.

My article begins with Comprehensible Input theory and a little discussion of Second Language Acquisition, and it is really the place where, at least to myself, I first articulated the three C's of CI: Comprehensible, Compelling, and Caring. Since then, we (Keith, Miriam, Bob, and myself) have spent a lot of time supporting that triple structure because I think it resonates with all of us, but it was in writing this article that I was able to simplify the concepts into those three words.

After that, the article clarifies how Movie Talks apply CI theory to concrete teaching practice and gets to work describing them and how to write and deliver them effectively in the classroom. I provided examples, all linked in the article, which is why I haven't written about them here--I didn't want to post anything I had already promised to the article.

If you want to read more, you can find the article here:
The MovieTalk: A Practical Application of Comprehensible Input Theory

Novellas
In addition, John Piazza, another awesome CI Latin teacher had an article published in this issue of Teaching Classical Languages. His article discusses the recent rise of Latin novellas and their potential uses in the Latin classroom. When explaining why the novellas had been written, I especially appreciated Piazza's emphasis on the difference between extensive (a lot of Latin with repetitive, sheltered vocabulary) and intensive (varied vocabulary and emphasis on close interpretation of grammar, etc.) readings, and the lack of extensive reading provided by current textbooks.

Piazza then describes ways to use novellas in class. He points out that one of the strengths of using a novella that allows all students to comprehend the story is (158)

that the successful reading of a chapter or a passage, or the entire novel itself, is not the end, but rather the beginning or midpoint of a process whose outcome is the interpersonal and creative use of the language as communication. Once basic understanding has been achieved, students are encouraged to use the text as a means to demonstrate a broader form of creative proficiency that is not limited to the book or the text or the vocabulary specific to that book.

In addition to discussing use of novellas as whole-class readings, Piazza describes Free Voluntary Reading and how he has organized it in his classes, and even provides an overview of Latin novellas that have been published. Piazza intersperses all with links to activities for using these novellas in classrooms, how he has used them in his own classes, how others have used them, and a page that he keeps up-to-date concerning Latin novellas.

To read the full article, you can find it here:
Beginner Latin Novels, a General Overview

Definitely an article worth reading!

How I Use Frequency Lists

This post is in partnership with our latest podcast (will post before 9:00 pm TONIGHT) which you can check out over at steppingintoci.com. In our podcast, we were discussing Bob Patrick's idea of Collective Memory which we all use in a variety of ways at our school. What came from this is the ultimate question of how we choose vocabulary to focus on and why.

I will do my best to link to all my resources as well as others that I know of at the bottom of the post. If you can think of others (for any language), link to them below!

What kind of frequency list do you have? What kind of frequency list should I have?

There are a lot of frequency lists out there. They all serve different purposes and have different origins. So, the tempting answer is, "ALL OF THEM!" Of course, this isn't practical and I certainly do not look into each frequency list when I create or adapt material. Rather, I look into some favourites depending on my purpose and what I'm creating. That being said, there are many types of frequency lists and we should know about them:

1. Teacher Created - This can be any kind of frequency list that teachers have had a hand in creating. Latin has the 50 Most Important Verbs and many languages have "super seven" or "fab five" sets of verbs that are fairly common.
2. District/Locally Created - This may be a list of words that you must look at when teaching/preparing a lesson. They may be agreed upon at a variety of levels. 
3. Literature Based - This is the vast majority of frequency lists. They are based in frequency of words in certain types of literature. Here are a few types within the Latin language
1. Classical Literature - There are a good number of lists like this. They often take their frequency numbers from a given number of authors within the Classical Canon. 
2. Medieval Literature - There are some lists like this that, unlike the previous, focus on literature solely from the Medieval period. 
3. Mixed Literature - There are a growing number of lists that use authors from both the Classical and Medieval period. These are the lists I prefer. 
4. Author Based - These lists are ones based solely on a singular author. They tend to take into account an author's entire body of work (if available) to create frequency lists. 
5. Novella Based - Often these lists make use of other frequency lists and are more a vocabulary list than a frequency list. However, slowly, we are beginning to see requests for and examples of frequency lists within novellas. They are based solely on a single book and its uses of various words. 

So... Which ones do you use and when?

Ultimately it boils down to what I am doing/creating, but I do have a few tried and true frequency lists that I really like:

• Essential Latin Vocabulary by Mark A. E. Williams - I use this one for almost every project. I like the way it is divided up by frequency, alphabet, and in categories. It did have a learning curve to using it, but once I got that down, it was very easy to use. I often pair this up with Lewis and Short's dictionary. I like the combination because I can check both the frequency and uses of a word to ensure it is the right word that I'd like. I also use it when working with authors. I can check the frequency of the words they use to determine if I need to adapt a piece of writing. 
• 50 Most Important Verbs - This was created with much discussion by a group of Latin teachers. It is a really good list of words that most often come up within classroom discussions. It is not based on frequency of text/literature, but what we find kids most often wanted to use in our rooms and what we needed to communicate with them. I like this list when I am beginning with a new group of kids or when we are discussing things we've done, like to do, etc. 
• Dickinson's Core Vocabulary - This list is quite long, and I have not explored all its uses, but I do like to use it when I'm looking for a particularly frequent word from Classical Literature. 

Okay, well, how do you use them, especially together?

When I use a frequency list it is to: adapt a piece of literature, write a novella, or create a vocabulary list for a unit. Here is a quick rundown of how I might use these resources in each of the instances. 

Adaptation of Literature

1. Read the literature as is, with a translation next to it (make your own). 
2. Make notes on the words your students already know. 
3. With the remaining words, check frequency and categorise them: words to target, icing words, words to change
1. Words to target become your vocabulary words. They are high frequency and/or key to understanding the unit as a whole. 
2. Icing words are words that are key to the literature, but have little/no use outside of it for your students. They are fine to acquire, but not required. 
3. Words to change are words that are not high frequency and have an alternative word that is high frequency. You will want to check the dictionary for these changes to ensure your new words mean the same thing (i.e. is the word used in the same way? is it used with similar words?) 

Writing a Novella

1. In this instance, I'll start with the 50 MIV. I usually start here because I know it is a list that many teachers reference and many students will already know/be learning. 
2. If I need a verb/word not on the list, I will usually go to the vocabulary lists my students already have. 
3. When considering other words, my first stop is the Essential Latin Vocabulary to check for frequency and see other words that might work and then I go to Lewis and Short to look at its uses and other synonyms. 

Preparing a Unit for Students

This process is a little more free for me. When it comes to conversation, we'll use what words we need and want. I am not too picky about frequency, unless...

• I know what literature is coming up. 
• I know already that a word is high frequency.

Either way, I almost always, if I'm not sure, check the dictionary for uses of the word to help make sure I'm using it correctly. 

List of resources

1. 50 Most Important Verbs
2. Essential Latin Vocabulary
3. Dickinson's Frequency List
4. Dickinson's Vergil Frequency List
5. Super Seven (listed in many languages)

What other frequency lists do you know about? Share them below or on social media with the hashtag #steppingintoci

Brain Dump Round Up - Miriam's list of activities

This morning I came to work knowing, in great detail, the things I wanted to work with, but at a complete blank of how to do it. The normal things I tend towards would not meet the purpose of what I wanted. So, after having a much needed cup of coffee, I started on a search on my favourite blogs to find an activity I could use. What I found were a few new activities and one that I am using today. Additionally, Rachel and I were speaking about some alternatives to the things we use for review/brain break vocabulary activities. I thought I'd take this information and round it all up for you all. So, without further ado, here is my list of favourite and newly discovered activities broken up into categories (and in no particular order). I want to honour what has been said, so I will only present 1-2 sentences where needed to clarify my thoughts or provide review.

Activities with Readings

1. Fan N Pick discussed by Martina Bex - I found this activity this morning and I cannot wait to give it a try! 
2. Story Tower discussed by Martina Bex - Also found this morning, this is the activity I ultimately decided to use. Look at my twitter for some pics later today! 
3. Story Wars discussed by Miriam Patrick, original from Diane Neubauer - I love this activity to spice up a reading! 
4. Picture Relay Races discussed by Rachel Ash 
5. Seek and Find discussed by Rachel Ash - I love the variations on this! 

Activities with Vocabulary

1. Draw, Discuss, and Read discussed by Miriam Patrick
2. In my hat described by Miriam Patrick - We haven't discussed this original activity as it is. There is a variation on this, the white elephant activity, which is linked below. 
3. White Elephant described by Rachel Ash and Justin Slocum Bailey
4. TPR in the First ten discussed by Miriam Patrick with resources from Latin Best Practices
5. One Sentences Stories discussed by Miriam Patrick and Two Sentence Horror Stories discussed by Rachel - both of these ideas were snagged from other places. My idea came from ideas for English/Literature classes and Rachel's idea came from a Reddit thread. 
6. One Word Picture discussed by Keith Toda
7. Movie Talks/Movie Shorts discussed by Miriam Patrick (secondary post)

Activities with Personalisation (PQA and untargeted types)

1. Discipulus Illustris (student interviews)  discussed by Miriam Patrick with links to Bryce Hedstrom's original ideas and other follow up posts. 
2. Free Voluntary Reading discussed by Miriam Patrick (expect an update post later this year)
3. Roll A Write discussed by Miriam Patrick

This list is by no means exhaustive and I am always searching for new ideas. Share them in the comments below! 

Latin by Numbers

In Latin II this year, we are reviewing the numbers in Latin (cardinal, ordinal, and numerals). They learned 1-20 last year (and we looked at 30-100/1000). This year, we have taken a day to review them so that we can use them as part of our daily goal of 90+% Latin time.

In this post, I'm including a variety of activities and lesson materials that both Rachel and I have used to teach these lessons

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Via Song

Last year, when I was teaching the ones, I worked with children's songs to help teach the numbers. I edited/translated two children's songs into Latin and recorded myself singing them. While translating them came fairly easily, I also edited them so that the Latin fit the meter. This proved slightly challenging, but fortunately Latin grammar made it very easy to work with:

Decem in Lecto

This song is based on the English song that goes, "There were ten in the bed and the little one said, 'roll over! roll over!' So they all rolled over and one fell out." And it goes to "There was one in the bed and the little one said...." And then you get variations in how the song ends, depending on the version of the nursery rhyme. 

1. The Song - This is me singing using a website that provides free beats and background music depending on choices I make. There are lots of these for free online or for download if you have Windows. 
2. The Lyrics - I passed this out to students. It has the Latin, English, and hand signals we used in class. 

When we did this song, we went over it together and then sang it until we understood it well and students could sing it on their own. 

Decem Ursulae

This song is based on the counting song that goes, "one little, two little, three little.." it usually goes to 20. I chose to use the term "little bears" and, at the end of each verse, "Romae" (in Rome). 

1. The Song - Again, me singing, using the same website. This song definitely goes fast, but the students found it to be a fun challenge.
2. The Lyrics - There are no hand signs for this. Since the song goes so fast, I chose not to include hand signs. What we did do, however, is counted using fingers. I counted using American Sign Language, allowing us to count to 20 on one hand. 
3. The Activity - Rachel used a different method to teach this song to her class. She made signs of the lyrics (numbers, ursulae, Romae, etc.) and passed them out to each student. When they sing the song, and get to their number or word, they must hold it up. At first, she did this in order of their seats, but then she switched it up and students had to pay special attention to the sign they had and where in the song they were.

Via Counting

I stole this from a language teacher who taught me when I was younger and, while some kids find it a bit tedious sometimes, I always sweeten the pot with a potential "100" on a standard grade. 

1. practice counting with students. Go up and down the rows/groups/etc of students and they count one at a time. For example, the first student says "unus", the second "duo", the third "tres", and so on.
2. Every time someone messes up significantly (read: not on a minor pronunciation error), or forgets, the class helps and repeats the number, and we start counting from the beginning. 
3. When we have gotten through everyone successfully, a small round of applause is given.

Then.... we make a deal

I give students a set amount of time to study the numbers and then we count again in a new order. If they get them all right (after a practice round of course), the entire class can earn a 100 on the appropriate standard. Students love this. It builds community and allows them a chance to show off their skills in what appears to be a high pressure situation, but in reality, is very low pressure. I make it low pressure by:

1. first counting with them, as a class, and discussing the patterns within the number "formulas"
2. counting repeatedly in the rows/groups/etc. allowing for errors and rewarding everyone for a job well done with applause.
3. allowing them time to practice and study together and ask questions
4. including a "surprise" practice round where I correct any major errors and they get to see where they will fall in line
5. feigning "hearing problems" when mistakes are made.... For example:
   teacher: twenty one
   student: undeviginti (19)
   teacher: I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you.... 21?
   student: oh! viginti et unus
   teacher: ah, yes, 21 

My rationale (especially for number 5) is this. Numbers can be hard. We only use certain numbers regularly and, unless you are used to the patterns presented in the language, learning how to form numbers doesn't come naturally (think of someone learning English who might say, "oneteen" instead of "eleven" or saying "eleventy"). By providing these safety nets and feigning hearing issues, I ensure students will take the risk and succeed. There are plenty of other opportunities to reinforce the numbers. 

Via Math

For this activity, I combined what is commonly called a "Tea Party" and math equations in the target language (only addition). Here is how it worked:

The Set Up

I made pairs of equations that had the same answer; for example: duo et tres = 5 = quattuor et unus. Then I cut up each equation separately. I wrote out to the side the answer in Roman numerals just to help me keep track of what I was doing. I mixed up the equations so that no two pairs were near each other. Then, I gave each student an equation.

The Game

I told students they had to find their "equation buddy", but there were rules. These are also the rules for the general "Tea Party" activity. 

1.  Fine the person who has the matching piece to yours. 
2. You may only speak Latin.
3. You may only say what is on your card. 
4. When you find your partner, sit down. 

So, for example. If I have the cad that says, "duo et tres". I need to find the person whose card matches (in answer) mine, but I can only say, "duo et tres" to each person. 

The Added Bonus

When students found their partners, I added a second step, with the promise of a sticker for the first 5 teams done. Students and their partners must solve the equation and write the answer in Roman numerals. So, students who had the example equation above would come show me the Roman numeral V.

Reflections

Numbers can be interesting, and also boring, all at once. Often, since they aren't super high frequency, they are easily forgotten, and yet, at the same time, we need them, especially if we use the target language in our classroom every day. Class flew by today, for me and my students and they walked out feeling successful and having practiced numbers a variety of ways.

Building safety nets allows students to feel, and be, successful, which is key to learning. Allowing students to "make a deal" lets them be in control of their own learning and tells you about their confidence and skill level. "Making the deal" also lets you see how they work as a community. Hopefully, students will work together, lift each other up, support each other, and laugh together when mistakes are made. 

The First Ten - TPR in Two Weeks

I am often asked how I start a level I class (or any level) using Comprehensible Input and using no textbook. Certainly the beginning of the year is overwhelming, even ignoring the question of what your curriculum/vocabulary list may be, so my hope is that this post provides some insight into what I do, and why I do it, as well as an easy to follow lesson plan for those who with to make use of it.

The What

TPR stands for Total Physical Response. There are a variety of ways this is employed, but the key components of this technique involve spoken language and/or commands in the target language and a physical response, usually involving the entire body. The benefits of this technique vary, depending on the way you do it. For this post, I am going to talk about a basic version that involves giving commands and completing actions in various ways (whole body response). Other ways of doing this include:

• using American Sign Language or another form of sign language to communicate while speaking in the target language.* 
• assigning gestures and signs (often made up by the class) to teach vocabulary and communicate.*
• assigning gestures and signs to help students connect with grammar while communicating in the target language.* 
• assigning gestures and whole body responses for key words to help tell a story

There are probably more ways to employ this technique, so feel free to share them in the comments! 

*I distinguish between ASL and gestures. ASL is a language and I treat it as such, employing communication using Latin and ASL. Gestures are non-ASL signs often made by particular teachers, groups, and/or students to serve a unique purpose. 

The Why

I love this technique. It is the first thing I did when I started teaching on the recommendation of my father because it was an easy way to give Comprehensible Input, builds community, and is a very easy way to quickly assess understanding. In addition to these reasons, I start every year with a little TPR because:

• It give students quick and easy success, building language confidence and skill.
• It serves to remind students of what they already know and our daily processes.
• It sets the expectation for time in the target language. 
• It allows first time students (whether you have a level I class, or some new additions) to quickly build vocabulary and early success (which I think is key for setting the tone for the year). 
• It is easily changeable based on class size, ability, etc on a moment to moment basis. 

This is why I love TPR and use if often. It is a great activity for a day when I am feeling tired, or want to review vocabulary quickly. 

The How

To begin, I take stock of what's in my room and use this list that Bob Patrick shares to help form the vocabulary we'll learn during the two weeks (roughly 10 hours). There are some things I bear in mind when choosing which vocabulary to teach and focus on:

Is it high frequency AND/OR will we use it frequently in class? 

We base our vocabulary choices, in writing novellas, stories, and our lesson plans based on a few high frequency lists:

1. Dickenson's Frequency List
2. 50 Most Important Verbs
3. Super Set Vocabulary (I developed this based on the frequency lists above AND on the Super Seven set that languages like Spanish and French have)
4. Essential Latin Vocabulary

The second piece of this is to consider if we'll use it frequently in class. This will vary from class to class (e.g. if you have a window or separate chairs from desks), but the 50 Most Important Verbs can be very helpful here ask well. If it is high frequency and/or will be used often in class, I will teach it in the TPR session as an important word to know, rather than an icing word. 

Are there other words that go hand in hand?

This can be very useful when building which 4-5 words you will focus on in a day and can help with making connections. These can be verbs that work together or opposite each other, nouns and verbs that go together, etc. Some obvious pairs are:

• open - close (door - window)
• hit/knock - touch - demonstrate
• draw - write - erase
• marker - pen - pencil
•  sit - stand (desk - chair)
• floor - ceiling
• walk - run

I may then teach these pairs on the same day or on subsequent days, which allows for review on a daily basis.

In what order will I teach these words?

If I bear in mind the goals of: being in Latin 90%+ of the day, giving kids easy and quick successes, and showing students they can understand Latin from the beginning, I will start with the very basics:

• sit
• stand
• chair
• desk

Already this builds for a very easy, and fun day. Especially if you add the icing words (words that you are using, but that kids don't need to know yet): quickly, slowly (more on this below). 

I will then build off that list and slowly add things so that each day I can review a little and introduce new things. 

The Plan

Below I link to and detail two lesson plans (Latin I and Latin II). I have left each document open to comments, so feel free to leave any comments or questions and I'll answer them on the document. Each lesson plan contains:

1. key words in Latin
2. icing words in Latin
3. notes and sample scripts

Level I Class

Here is a link to the lesson plans I used last year when teaching Latin I using this TPR method for the first ten days (approximately 10 hours). I have left it so that anyone can comment on it. Please feel free to leave comments and questions. A few caveats to this link:

• You'll notice the first day has more than 4-5 words. What we discovered was that this particular group of ones was ready that day for more and we improvised and then edited the list. You may find your students are also the same, OR that they need more limiting of vocabulary. 
• We also required students to complete a picture dictionary that had to include: the Latin word, the English word, a picture defining the word. I maintained this the entire year. 
• These words reflect the objects in my room. You may wish to edit the Bob Patrick's list (linked above) to make your own list. 
• At the end of these two weeks, we did a TPR quiz. I took role this day (and, was also observed this day surprisingly) and when I called a student's name, I asked them to stand up and do something like open the door, demonstrate their pen, etc. 

Student progressed very quickly this year using this method. By the end, they knew a lot of words that were easily accessible to them and were used fairly regularly. 

During these two weeks, we also used "Circling with Balls" to teach words like to have, to want, to give, etc. You can see more on this below in the Latin II Class description. I like Circling with Balls (even though I don't use balls, but rather stuffed animals) because it lets individual students shine as well as allows for one on one interaction. I also like this because it forces me to learn student names actively, rather than looking at pictures, lists, or alphabetical things (which I'm not super at anyways). 

Here are some nifty things that I do to liven up class:

• use adverbs to describe how students should sit/stand/run/walk/etc.
• make students sit or stand VERY slowly or VERY quickly and scold if they do not follow exactly.
• have students walk outside the room while people say goodbye
• have students turn in circles while touching a desk or chair

Latin II Class

Here is a guide to the TPR I am doing currently with my IIs this year. Please note that this will update this and next week as I teach and add my notes. I have left it so that anyone can comment on it. Please feel free to leave comments and questions. I will answer them as I see them. I am really relying on circling this year, partially because I have new students whose names I want to learn and partially because I want to really drive home the idea of doing specific actions repeatedly in various contexts with students. Some caveats to these lessons:

• I am working with my former students, students I inherited from my colleague, and a handful of students from other schools who have varying degrees of ability with CI, oral practice, etc. 
• I am working with students who have a variety of vocabulary. For example, I usually use "sic" to mean yes, while some of my colleagues use "certe" or "ita". So, students are gaining some icing knowledge in how words are used differently. 
• My colleagues this year are using a variety of ways to teach and review this vocabulary via my lessons. While I love TPR and circling, Rachel prefers TPRS, which works great for her and her students. We work together and collaborate, but still maintain freedom to work in a way best for us. 

This year relies heavily on Circling with Balls and uses TPR as an introduction and reinforcement of what we are doing. Students indicated one of their goals this year was to have more daily Latin and use Latin more often in our daily routine. To this end, I'm targeting words I know I will need to deliver instruction, help students get materials and complete assignments, etc. 

Reflection

What you will find, in both years, is that certain students will lend themselves to being the "stars" of the day while others take a back seat and ride along This is okay! What this means is that some days will be really rich with circling and other days will rely on TPR and teacher direction. This may even vary from class to class. 

Some classes will move slowly and require some more prompting, and some classes will move quickly and may want more words or may be able to have a deeper discussion. This may also vary from day to day or student to student. Personally, I use those high flyers to deepen the discussion and provide more repetitions. 

Students LOVE stuffed animals. They like to hold them, play with them, tell stories with them, trade them, no matter the students' age. Use this to your advantage. 

If you use TPR in a different way or have other reflections, I'd love to hear them! I'd also love to see some discussions on the documents on how we can use this and expand this!