Reflecting on Mitten CI
I've been home from Mitten CI for about 3 hours, and I'm so thankful for an incredible conference this year. Here are some of my reflections and takeaways from the fantastic language conference in Michigan!
1. Thank you to all of the organizers for their work in organizing the conference. Your efforts are SO APPRECIATED. Thank you for caring so much about language teachers.
2. Thank you to every single presenter who was willing to be vulnerable to stand up in front of their peers and share their passion. I am so thankful to belong to a community of wonderful human beings.
3. Thank you to every single person who encouraged and supported me as I prepared for my first presentation. I especially want to thank every person who came to my presentation about developing proficiency while using a textbook. Your applause, participation, kind words, and presence was SO encouraging.
Here are some of my top takeaways from the sessions I was able to attend:
Session 1: Chill Input with Justin Slocum Bailey
There was SO much incredible information about incorporating mindfulness and breathing exercises in your classroom using the TL, but my FAVORITE takeaway that I will try right away was the activity I believe was called 2nd person story asking. It's hard to get a lot of reps of the 2nd person verb forms and guiding students during a guided listening activity with the 2nd person is BRILLIANT. The students will close their eyes and picture their own space. "You are at a beach. You look to the left and see __. You look to the right and see __. Do you walk to the left or right?" (Students vote) "You turn to the right and see __. You walk to the __ and ..." and so on. I LOVE this chill idea that would provide tons of input and reps of that 2nd person form!!
Session 2: Spin A Story On Your Feet with Karen Rowan
Becoming more creative in my story telling abilities is something I've REALLY wanted to work on. I love stories, and Karen share TONS of ideas on how to personalize stories and really make them student-centered. Here are are a few of my favorite ideas from her session:
1. Gather info from your students through exit tickets, PQA, asking them to share what's going on in their lives. Focus on building that community and then you can use that knowledge in your stories.
2. Choose someone your students know as a character in the story (NOT a traditional celeb/musician/athlete) but don't make them the hero. Make your STUDENTS the hero of the story.
3. You can use something you've learned about them (what superpower they wish they had for example) to save the "celeb."
4. Blaine Ray added in this nugget of wisdom: Quantify & Specify!! Make your story more specific and that makes it more interesting. If you can add a number to a detail for dig deeper in the story for "what don't we know," it will be more engaging. For example if you have a story about a character who makes pizzas, include background information on WHY he does that. Were his parents from Italy? Did he learn from his grandpa? How many years has he done it? Does he want to keep doing it? etc.
5. Try to figure out your students' love languages and connect with them in the way that they need.
Session 3: Direct Teach of Vocabulary? with Dr. Stephen Krashen
I still can't believe I got to learn from THE MAN himself. During this session, Dr. Krashen shared research about the difference in picking up vocabulary through stories vs self-study and skill building. The results?! Direct study of vocabulary was less efficient (took longer per word) AND it didn't stick on a delayed test that was given 2 weeks later. The vocabulary learned via stories was retained better. Research also shows that each time a student encounters a word in context (more than just a sentence!) they acquire 5-10% more of the meaning of that word. Read, read, read!!
Session 4: Seamless CI with Bryan Kandel
Bryan shared a TON of strategies to mix things up in your classroom. A few of my favorites were:
1. Students write down guessed answers to "Who?" "How many?" or True/False questions (in the TL!!) about students in the classroom. For example: T/F Kyle has 3 dogs. How many dogs does Kyle have? Who has 3 dogs? The students would write down their guesses for a few of these questions and then they get a point for each one they get correct!
2. Trivia in the TL! Give background information related to the trivia question in the TL. Then give the trivia question in the TL. The class votes on an answer they believe to be correct. The class who gets it correct or is closest, wins a point. To prevent "cheating," make the trivia question about an upcoming event (how many goals with __ team score against __ tonight?)
3. You can get easy reps of different rejoinders by having a student share a situation with a partner that would fit that saying... for example: I forgot my lunch today, and their partner would respond: That's life! (in the TL) and then some would share with the whole class as the whole class responds with the correct rejoinder.
All in all, it was such an incredible time and I'm so sad it's over, but I'm so filled with joy and gratitude for all I learned.
1. Thank you to all of the organizers for their work in organizing the conference. Your efforts are SO APPRECIATED. Thank you for caring so much about language teachers.
2. Thank you to every single presenter who was willing to be vulnerable to stand up in front of their peers and share their passion. I am so thankful to belong to a community of wonderful human beings.
3. Thank you to every single person who encouraged and supported me as I prepared for my first presentation. I especially want to thank every person who came to my presentation about developing proficiency while using a textbook. Your applause, participation, kind words, and presence was SO encouraging.
Here are some of my top takeaways from the sessions I was able to attend:
Session 1: Chill Input with Justin Slocum Bailey
There was SO much incredible information about incorporating mindfulness and breathing exercises in your classroom using the TL, but my FAVORITE takeaway that I will try right away was the activity I believe was called 2nd person story asking. It's hard to get a lot of reps of the 2nd person verb forms and guiding students during a guided listening activity with the 2nd person is BRILLIANT. The students will close their eyes and picture their own space. "You are at a beach. You look to the left and see __. You look to the right and see __. Do you walk to the left or right?" (Students vote) "You turn to the right and see __. You walk to the __ and ..." and so on. I LOVE this chill idea that would provide tons of input and reps of that 2nd person form!!
Session 2: Spin A Story On Your Feet with Karen Rowan
Becoming more creative in my story telling abilities is something I've REALLY wanted to work on. I love stories, and Karen share TONS of ideas on how to personalize stories and really make them student-centered. Here are are a few of my favorite ideas from her session:
1. Gather info from your students through exit tickets, PQA, asking them to share what's going on in their lives. Focus on building that community and then you can use that knowledge in your stories.
2. Choose someone your students know as a character in the story (NOT a traditional celeb/musician/athlete) but don't make them the hero. Make your STUDENTS the hero of the story.
3. You can use something you've learned about them (what superpower they wish they had for example) to save the "celeb."
4. Blaine Ray added in this nugget of wisdom: Quantify & Specify!! Make your story more specific and that makes it more interesting. If you can add a number to a detail for dig deeper in the story for "what don't we know," it will be more engaging. For example if you have a story about a character who makes pizzas, include background information on WHY he does that. Were his parents from Italy? Did he learn from his grandpa? How many years has he done it? Does he want to keep doing it? etc.
5. Try to figure out your students' love languages and connect with them in the way that they need.
Session 3: Direct Teach of Vocabulary? with Dr. Stephen Krashen
I still can't believe I got to learn from THE MAN himself. During this session, Dr. Krashen shared research about the difference in picking up vocabulary through stories vs self-study and skill building. The results?! Direct study of vocabulary was less efficient (took longer per word) AND it didn't stick on a delayed test that was given 2 weeks later. The vocabulary learned via stories was retained better. Research also shows that each time a student encounters a word in context (more than just a sentence!) they acquire 5-10% more of the meaning of that word. Read, read, read!!
Session 4: Seamless CI with Bryan Kandel
Bryan shared a TON of strategies to mix things up in your classroom. A few of my favorites were:
1. Students write down guessed answers to "Who?" "How many?" or True/False questions (in the TL!!) about students in the classroom. For example: T/F Kyle has 3 dogs. How many dogs does Kyle have? Who has 3 dogs? The students would write down their guesses for a few of these questions and then they get a point for each one they get correct!
2. Trivia in the TL! Give background information related to the trivia question in the TL. Then give the trivia question in the TL. The class votes on an answer they believe to be correct. The class who gets it correct or is closest, wins a point. To prevent "cheating," make the trivia question about an upcoming event (how many goals with __ team score against __ tonight?)
3. You can get easy reps of different rejoinders by having a student share a situation with a partner that would fit that saying... for example: I forgot my lunch today, and their partner would respond: That's life! (in the TL) and then some would share with the whole class as the whole class responds with the correct rejoinder.
All in all, it was such an incredible time and I'm so sad it's over, but I'm so filled with joy and gratitude for all I learned.
Comments
Post a Comment