New School Year

     After a very busy summer during which I didn't do much actual schoolwork (even though I thought about it a lot), I feel refreshed and ready to roll. I attended a meeting Friday afternoon with my dear colleague, Cynthia Hitz, in Bryn Mawr, PA, organized by Carol Hill, Lori Belinksy, Anny Ewing, and La for the Tri-State TPRS/TCI Teachers Peer Network.  
     This was an awesome jump-start to my school year because it reminded me of how exciting those first few weeks of newness are. Since beginning my TPRS/CI journey, the first month of school is always my favorite. I start with Ben Slavic's circling with balls activity and just let the language flow. 
     For French I and Latin I, I plan to explicitly teach the students what I want them to do, and as Carol Hill put it, "Norm the class". This is the fourth year I've taught using the TPRS/CI strategy and I usually wait to teach them how to act until we are in the moment.  This leads to frustration later in the semester when I still have students who don't respond to my directions and questions, still blurt out in English, still don't sit with their heads up and eyes up. So from day one, I plan to teach them and tell them what I want from them every day. In both level I classes, I plan to start with a mini-story introducing "She has" and "She wants" just to get students into the groove of what a usual TPRS class will look like. From there I will move into circling with balls and toss in some TPR to get them out of their seats.
     For French III, I plan to review expected behaviors before moving into CI with student-provided pictures of summer activities.  These are students who came directly from French II in the spring, so I know them well. Last year's French II class was the best of my career, so I am eager to talk to them about their summer activities. 
     By this time tomorrow I will be one hour away from completing my 16th first day of school (well...34th if you count my own schooling--haha). I'm ready and excited to meet this year's students. Hope you are too!