If this has happened to you, you know the feeling. I could actually hear an echo inside my head saying, "abort, abort, move on", but as strange as it may sound, aborting a story that is flatlining and moving onto something new, can be even more scarier than forging ahead with a deadbeat story. (By the way, Why is it called deadbeat? If it's dead, there isn't a beat, right?)
Well, there was no life in the story, and hoping it would revive was a utter waste of my time. Wishful thinking, but no chance of revival. The clear signs were:
Glazed eyes.
Slowed pulse.
Contagious yawns.
Glances at the clock.
(That's describing the students, by the way, not me, or at least I hope it didn't describe me.)
It was the last period of the day, so after students left, my first instinct was to talk to my trusty colleague for some feedback, but unfortunately she had another commitment at the end of the day. So tomorrow, I will try again. I'll review the basics of story-asking and look for the missing link, and hopefully, this situation doesn't repeat itself tomorrow.
We all have an bad day, an off day, a day where striving to provide the "compelling" in Compelling Comprehensible Input feels way out of reach. I'm going to view this as evidence that there is a lot of room for growth and learning on my part. And that may explain the expression "growing pains", it's a it of a painful experience.
I observed a great teacher once during a story like this. He stopped and just asked the class, in English, "Is this story really lame? Let's take a break." He went to another activity and made use of the class time for other things. I think it shows respect for our students when we show them we're sensing the mood.
ReplyDeleteBut it's a delicate balance, because they truly are reassured as well when they know that it is the teacher running the class. Their moods will pass, a "lame" moment will perhaps evolve into a better one, and the teacher is the one who gets to decide.
Jennie Kelly, Alaska
It definitely is a delicate balance: one that isn't always obvious at that moment in time. Fortunately, the next day was completely different and things flowed - no residue fe the previous day.
DeleteWhen you mentioned Alaska my first thought was it was probably Michele Whaley, or Martina Bex, or Betsy Paskvan, but then I read on and saw you said "he". Was it Mike Peto or Grant Boulanger by any chance? They're great teachers in my opinion and they would be ones to know when to stop the story and move on.
I'm thankful there many great CI teachers throughout the US and beyond from which to learn!
Thanks for you comment. :-)
Hi Jennie! (Cynthia, I am certain that you met Jennie in Whittier! Actually, were we all sleeping in the same room that weekend? I think so!) Cynthia, have you seen this post from Kristy? http://kplacido.com/2013/02/27/top-10-reasons-your-tprs-story-just-bombed/ Doesn't beat talking to a colleague cause it's not you-specific but I have consulted it many a time after a flopped story!
ReplyDeleteMartina, When I saw the name "Jennie" from Alaska, I wondered if she was the same Jennie from the conference. The 3 of us, plus Michele, had a good talk that evening! What fun times at AFLA!
DeleteI've read Kristy's post before but after I saw your comment I went to her blog and read it again. Very helpful - indeed.
:-)
Señorita Hitz,
ReplyDeleteI am currently a student teacher working in a high school Spanish classroom that uses TPRS. Since I am new to the process of TPRS stories, I have enjoyed reading about your experiences with stories in your class. This post especially resonated with me because as a student teacher I have had many times where I felt the story wasn't going the way it should be going and I've felt bad about it. This post is a nice reminder that there is always room for growth and learning throughout any teaching career and that I shouldn't get discouraged when I find TPRS particularly challenging. Thank you for sharing this post with an aspiring TPRS teacher :-)
Elizabeth, Michigan.
Señorita Hitz,
ReplyDeleteI am currently a student teacher working in a high school Spanish classroom that uses TPRS. Since I am new to the process of TPRS stories, I have enjoyed reading about your experiences with stories in your class. This post especially resonated with me because as a student teacher I have had many times where I felt the story wasn't going the way it should be going and I've felt bad about it. This post is a nice reminder that there is always room for growth and learning throughout any teaching career and that I shouldn't get discouraged when I find TPRS particularly challenging. Thank you for sharing this post with an aspiring TPRS teacher :-)
Elizabeth, Michigan.