iFLT (The International Forum on Language Teaching) was a mind changing conference for me. I have always been interested in the use of CI (Comprehensible Input) and TPRS in Spanish class. I had actually never attended a formal training on this topic before. I had even heard from other teachers that going to iFTL was a waste of money and time and that it was best to look for free videos and train myself that way. In fact, that’s what I have been doing all this time, but after attending iFLT I realized that I still had a long way to go and was far from perfection.
At the conference, I got to see the use of CI and TPRS firsthand in a live demo in an elementary classroom and even sneak a photo op with Dr. Stephen Krashen during “selfie time.”
Since I am a visual learner, it was best for me to spend time in the language labs. I visited Annabelle Allen and spent a lot of time watching Jason Fritze in action. After seeing both of them in action, I felt inspired and got so many ideas to put into practice in the new school year.
Jason Fritze in action during iFLT 2016
I used the word “challenge” in the title of this post because being able to use TPRS and CI in the classroom is not that an easy task. It requires a lot of planning, willingness to fail, humor, patience, stand up comedy skills and a lot of physical activity. Nothing that a teacher with passion lacks, but something that still requires repetition and practice to get closer to perfection.
My question for your now is: Are you willing to join the CI and TPRS challenge? If your answer is yes and you are feeling ready to start the journey, then I recommend that you visit the links below:
¡Hola! I am Carolina, a Colombian elementary Spanish teacher based in Boston, MA. Fun for Spanish Teachers is the result of my passion for teaching Spanish to children and my desire to inspire collaboration and creativity in a vibrant teaching and learning community. It’s the perfect stop if you are looking for songs, games, teaching tips, stories, and fun for your classes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.