Last week's Story-Based Language Teaching Workshop welcomed 29 participants from 15 public, charter, Friends and other independent schools: Agnes Irwin, Delaware Valley Friends, Independence Charter, Japanese Language School of Philadelphia, Friends School Mullica Hill (NJ), Newtown Friends, Plymouth Meeting Friends, Princeton Day School (NJ), Rose Tree Media-Springton Lake MS, Russell Byers Charter, Salem HS (MI), Twin Valley HS/MS, Upattina's, Westtown and Widener University.
The language teachers among us teach ESL (1), French (1), Japanese (4), Mandarin (1), and Spanish (19); plus three interested Westtown colleagues: a 4th grade teacher, a lower school librarian and a school psychologist. We teach at the elementary (8), middle school (9), and high school (16) levels. Some of us had never seen story-based language teaching in action, while others are experienced practitioners and one is even a seasoned presenter on TPR (Total Physical Response language teaching). Some of us are the only language teachers in our schools or in our divisions. All of us came to learn from each other and to forge new connections.
Anny's morning session featured a step-by-step demonstration and discussion of Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling. With comprehensible input at every step, and a high level of learner engagement, the group built a story about a mouse in search of brussels sprouts, which they were able to narrate, act out, and read--entirely in Polish!--by the end of the morning.
In the afternoon session, Kate Hunt, a multi-level story-based HS Spanish teacher from MI, taught an introductory Spanish lesson to a mixed group consisting of sheer beginners all the way to native speakers. Through Kate's skillful differentiating of comprehensible input the whole group was able to narrate and participate in a hilarious scenario which required use of such structurally complex utterances as: "Si me diera la manzana, estaría contenta." (If he gave me the apple, I would be happy.) Two additional participants came just for the afternoon Spanish lesson. We are exploring the possibility of offering a story-based conversational Spanish class for the adult Westtown community.
In order to make the most of any professional development, there must be ongoing exchange and learning. Members of the group will continue to share ideas in an online wiki set up for the workshop. Many of them, as well as others who were unable to attend the workshop, are interested in trying to get together on a regular basis, both to practice and increase story-based teaching skills, and to consider issues of related interest, such as assessment and grading. We hope to plan regular meetings, hosted by language teachers at different schools around the area, and to grow our professional learning network through continued sharing online, in e-mail, and face to face.
The language teachers among us teach ESL (1), French (1), Japanese (4), Mandarin (1), and Spanish (19); plus three interested Westtown colleagues: a 4th grade teacher, a lower school librarian and a school psychologist. We teach at the elementary (8), middle school (9), and high school (16) levels. Some of us had never seen story-based language teaching in action, while others are experienced practitioners and one is even a seasoned presenter on TPR (Total Physical Response language teaching). Some of us are the only language teachers in our schools or in our divisions. All of us came to learn from each other and to forge new connections.
Anny's morning session featured a step-by-step demonstration and discussion of Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling. With comprehensible input at every step, and a high level of learner engagement, the group built a story about a mouse in search of brussels sprouts, which they were able to narrate, act out, and read--entirely in Polish!--by the end of the morning.
In the afternoon session, Kate Hunt, a multi-level story-based HS Spanish teacher from MI, taught an introductory Spanish lesson to a mixed group consisting of sheer beginners all the way to native speakers. Through Kate's skillful differentiating of comprehensible input the whole group was able to narrate and participate in a hilarious scenario which required use of such structurally complex utterances as: "Si me diera la manzana, estaría contenta." (If he gave me the apple, I would be happy.) Two additional participants came just for the afternoon Spanish lesson. We are exploring the possibility of offering a story-based conversational Spanish class for the adult Westtown community.
In order to make the most of any professional development, there must be ongoing exchange and learning. Members of the group will continue to share ideas in an online wiki set up for the workshop. Many of them, as well as others who were unable to attend the workshop, are interested in trying to get together on a regular basis, both to practice and increase story-based teaching skills, and to consider issues of related interest, such as assessment and grading. We hope to plan regular meetings, hosted by language teachers at different schools around the area, and to grow our professional learning network through continued sharing online, in e-mail, and face to face.
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