When it comes to Comprehensible Input teaching, nothing beats real teachers sharing real classroom takeaways — from epic CI wins to wild “this actually works!” moments.

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In this episode of Comprehend THIS!, guest hosts Vicki Schrader (ELL and CI educator from Surrey, BC, and author of multiple CI novels) and Pat Rolfes (26-year veteran high school Spanish teacher from Minnesota) join Scott Benedict to reflect on what CI has truly taught them — about teaching, language, and kids. From the “aha” moments that proved input really is everything, to the real-world hacks that keep CI sustainable when plans fall apart, this episode is full of heartfelt stories, teacher-to-teacher wisdom, and a little bit of caffeine-fueled honesty.

#ComprehensibleInput, #TPRS, #LanguageTeaching, #WorldLanguageTeachers, #CIPodcast, #TeachingTips, #SpanishTeachers, #FrenchTeachers, #GermanTeachers, #CISurvivalKit

Hosts:

• Scott Benedict - https://www.instagram.com/immediateimmersion
• Vicki Schrader - https://www.instagram.com/@vrsschrader
• Pat Rolfes - https://www.instagram.com/patrolfes73

Resources & Links:

• CI Survival Kit - https://imim.us/kit
• Webinar Club - https://imim.us/club
• Ben Slavic - https://benslavic.com
• Ian Video: https://youtu.be/Hz_d-cikWmI?si=DHUHCGpG-Cv3Ulu9

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<b>Okay language teachers, let's be honest.</b>

<b>Some days CI feels like pure magic,</b>

<b>and other days you're wondering if anyone</b>

<b>in your class even knows what day it is.</b>

<b>But here's the thing, it works.</b>

<b>And this week we've got proof.</b>

<b>Meet Vicky Schrader, the Grammar Queen</b>

<b>turned CI novelist from Canada.</b>

<b>Yes, she's gone from drilling verb charts</b>

<b>to publishing entire novels.</b>

<b>We're diving into the wild world of</b>

<b>comprehensible input in real classrooms.</b>

<b>Not the Pinterest, perfect kind, but the</b>

<b>my story crashed and burned</b>

<b>before second period kind.</b>

<b>You'll laugh, you'll nod,</b>

<b>you might even feel seen.</b>

<b>So grab your coffee, or like me, your</b>

<b>Diet Pepsi, or</b>

<b>whatever is keeping you alive,</b>

<b>because this episode will</b>

<b>remind you why CI is worth it.</b>

<b>Even when your students think TPRS stands</b>

<b>for Totally Pointless Random Stuff.</b>

<b>Let's do this, it's episode 10, CI in the</b>

<b>wild, my big takeaway.</b>

<b>Let's go ahead and welcome Vicky after</b>

<b>our short messages,</b>

<b>and we'll be right back.</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[MUSIC]</b>

<b>[LAUGHTER]</b>

<b>I think honestly, to me, it's the whole</b>

<b>idea of making sure that it's</b>

<b>comprehensible, making sure the kids are</b>

<b>on board and that they're understanding.</b>

<b>And I will still, to me, I think that</b>

<b>that was what made me excited about</b>

<b>grammar, when I was learning grammar,</b>

<b>was that for me, it unlocked a lot of</b>

<b>keys for what was</b>

<b>happening behind the scenes.</b>

<b>But when I was learning</b>

<b>grammar, I was in university.</b>

<b>I already had six years of French.</b>

<b>I already had a lifetime of English.</b>

<b>And they played off of each other.</b>

<b>It was like, "Oh, so that's what's</b>

<b>happening in English.</b>

<b>Oh, that's what's happening in French."</b>

<b>So for me, that was really exciting, and</b>

<b>I felt like that was a</b>

<b>really important thing.</b>

<b>But when we're just</b>

<b>starting out, it's too much.</b>

<b>Absolutely.</b>

<b>So then in the classroom, I've gone from,</b>

<b>you know, there were the days, I'm like,</b>

<b>"Okay, day one, here's your textbooks.</b>

<b>Let's sign it out and read the first</b>

<b>piece, you know, the first stop.</b>

<b>Oh, it's in context, right?</b>

<b>There's a story at the front.</b>

<b>So clearly, there's a context for it.</b>

<b>So that must make sense.</b>

<b>And the students that I teach are used to</b>

<b>doing worksheets and that sort of thing.</b>

<b>They usually have some sort of background</b>

<b>in the language before they come,</b>

<b>but it's like super, super dry from a</b>

<b>teacher who doesn't speak the language.</b>

<b>And they maybe never even</b>

<b>spoken a word of English.</b>

<b>So that style is something they can fall</b>

<b>into, but it doesn't</b>

<b>bring the language to life.</b>

<b>And that's what CI has done.</b>

<b>I have this year in my level</b>

<b>one class, there was a girl.</b>

<b>You can spot them right away.</b>

<b>The one who is the student that I just</b>

<b>described, some of them, you know, they</b>

<b>can answer your</b>

<b>questions right off the bat.</b>

<b>And you start thinking,</b>

<b>"Oh, why are you in level one?"</b>

<b>But then you see, you can see it.</b>

<b>But this one girl, she</b>

<b>was a true level one.</b>

<b>And she would turn to our friends, like,</b>

<b>"What did she say? What did she say?"</b>

<b>I'm like, "Okay, so there's my</b>

<b>barometer, right? Watch her."</b>

<b>She is now writing.</b>

<b>So we went from day one,</b>

<b>like circle the day of the week.</b>

<b>Like, "Can you point to it? Can you</b>

<b>repeat after me with the circling</b>

<b>questions and all that?"</b>

<b>She's now writing about a</b>

<b>hundred words in 10 minutes.</b>

<b>Right? In her daily journal, she can</b>

<b>write for me and tell me what's happening</b>

<b>if life's going sideways or what.</b>

<b>Which is really, really cool.</b>

<b>And that's the CI piece for it, is just</b>

<b>they don't need grammar rules.</b>

<b>They need to be able to communicate.</b>

<b>They need to be able to tell me that</b>

<b>there's a problem in another class.</b>

<b>They need to be able to tell me that</b>

<b>their teacher doesn't understand them.</b>

<b>And they'll feel like it's a racist</b>

<b>incident, but it's not.</b>

<b>It's a misunderstanding between teacher</b>

<b>expectations and student background</b>

<b>knowledge or past ways of</b>

<b>being, just the whole shift.</b>

<b>So it's easy, easy to sort out, but they</b>

<b>need to be able to have</b>

<b>those basic conversations.</b>

<b>Absolutely. And a couple of things that</b>

<b>you mentioned right off the bat about,</b>

<b>first of all, grammar.</b>

<b>When do we introduce grammar, even in</b>

<b>their native languages?</b>

<b>It's lower elementary school when it</b>

<b>starts to get, when they start actually</b>

<b>talking about grammar.</b>

<b>And what's the assumption already? That</b>

<b>they're relatively fluent</b>

<b>in the language already.</b>

<b>I mean, obviously not sophisticated</b>

<b>language, but they can talk. We can</b>

<b>understand them. We can</b>

<b>talk. They can understand us.</b>

<b>We don't have to do a lot of</b>

<b>simplification or modification of the</b>

<b>language back and forth.</b>

<b>You know, we don't have to do that pigeon</b>

<b>speak at all for them to be able to do.</b>

<b>So, but what we do when we have, we teach</b>

<b>from a textbook point of view or a</b>

<b>standard curriculum, a traditional</b>

<b>curriculum, we hit them</b>

<b>with grammar from day one.</b>

<b>And grammar, someone told me this, I</b>

<b>never really realized I'm going to fix my</b>

<b>camera because my</b>

<b>camera's got me off just a bit.</b>

<b>Bill Van Patten said, and I never really</b>

<b>thought of it this way, he goes,</b>

<b>textbooks are always ordered.</b>

<b>What's easiest to teach, not what's</b>

<b>easiest to learn. So what's the first</b>

<b>thing they throw at them?</b>

<b>Gender and gender agreement.</b>

<b>Which for, you know, you don't, we don't</b>

<b>have that. You don't have that teaching</b>

<b>English, but teaching other languages</b>

<b>that have gender, that's something that</b>

<b>English kids don't</b>

<b>understand and no concept.</b>

<b>So it's a really difficult thing to</b>

<b>learn. It's easy to teach. And then</b>

<b>subjunctive, which is relatively easy to</b>

<b>learn in French and Spanish.</b>

<b>It's relatively easy. It's one of the</b>

<b>earlier acquired things in</b>

<b>the native speaker world.</b>

<b>But it's really difficult to teach. They</b>

<b>put that off into level three or level</b>

<b>four because we don't have a similar</b>

<b>concept and it actually is going away in</b>

<b>English subjunctive.</b>

<b>I hear it hurts my ears every time I</b>

<b>said, if I was president, like, no, it's</b>

<b>if I were president because</b>

<b>you never were the president.</b>

<b>So that always irks me and I hear it all</b>

<b>the time and it stands out in my ears so</b>

<b>that you made that</b>

<b>point about the grammar.</b>

<b>You and I was funny that you pick</b>

<b>comprehension because you teach English</b>

<b>language, meaning you could have multiple</b>

<b>languages represented in your classroom</b>

<b>and you don't have a common language to</b>

<b>fall back on to make it comprehensible.</b>

<b>Which I find is really funny because, you</b>

<b>know, years ago, I was not part of the</b>

<b>story, but my best</b>

<b>friend was she was living it.</b>

<b>So she explained it to me and it was kind</b>

<b>of funny. If you've ever been to a</b>

<b>national conference, one of the things</b>

<b>they used to do was a native.</b>

<b>It was immersion dinners</b>

<b>is what they called them.</b>

<b>So you pick the language, either one you</b>

<b>already spoke or one that you were</b>

<b>learning and you went to</b>

<b>dinner with this group of people.</b>

<b>And the rule was you only spoke that</b>

<b>language during the evening.</b>

<b>So it was a way for us to be able to</b>

<b>relate with actual adults in the language</b>

<b>that we teach instead of with kids with</b>

<b>the language we teach.</b>

<b>And it was great. I like German and I</b>

<b>didn't I didn't want to</b>

<b>use my stuff with Spanish.</b>

<b>So I went always with the German group.</b>

<b>So I did not was not part of this one.</b>

<b>I was at that and TPRS, but I was not</b>

<b>part of the Spanish conversation one.</b>

<b>But it was Blaine Ray and it was Stephen</b>

<b>Krashen were at the same dinner tonight</b>

<b>that and it was Spanish.</b>

<b>So they were having this conversation.</b>

<b>The conversation was going well for like</b>

<b>30 minutes, no problem.</b>

<b>And then someone introduced the word.</b>

<b>I don't even know the context of how this</b>

<b>came up in conversation.</b>

<b>But the word Chispa, which means a spark</b>

<b>like either a spark from electricity or</b>

<b>like a spark in your brain that went off.</b>

<b>And so it came up and now they were lost.</b>

<b>Someone was lost.</b>

<b>They couldn't understand what Chispa was.</b>

<b>And so for next 10, 20</b>

<b>minutes, they were drawing pictures.</b>

<b>They were acting it out.</b>

<b>They were doing all kinds of things to</b>

<b>try to make this other</b>

<b>teacher understand what Chispa was.</b>

<b>And it wasn't working.</b>

<b>And then finally someone went about and</b>

<b>said, oh, my gosh, Chispa means spark.</b>

<b>She said it in English.</b>

<b>Chispa means spark.</b>

<b>Can we possibly move on from this?</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And a little bell went off and Stephen</b>

<b>Krashen's brain because Stephen Krashen,</b>

<b>you know, the whole impetus of what we do</b>

<b>and his idea originally because he came</b>

<b>up with also the natural approach.</b>

<b>He co-founded the natural approach where</b>

<b>you don't use translation.</b>

<b>And he was against translation.</b>

<b>He said no translation,</b>

<b>no first language at all.</b>

<b>And he was going about this.</b>

<b>And then Blaine says no, but sometimes</b>

<b>you just need translation.</b>

<b>And Stephen Krashen says no, you don't.</b>

<b>You absolutely do not need it.</b>

<b>And this is the time when a little Chispa</b>

<b>went off in his brain and goes, oh, I see</b>

<b>why you might need translation because</b>

<b>sometimes it's the simplest, most direct,</b>

<b>effective way to make</b>

<b>something comprehensible.</b>

<b>And we equated this to let's say you're</b>

<b>in class and you've been speaking and</b>

<b>trying to get this one kid</b>

<b>to understand this one word.</b>

<b>And you've wasted 30 minutes doing it.</b>

<b>And the other kids are like,</b>

<b>can we just move on from this?</b>

<b>We got this the first time.</b>

<b>And you've got that frustrated kid who</b>

<b>goes, it just means spark.</b>

<b>Let's move on and think about that when a</b>

<b>just if they didn't understand it, just</b>

<b>writing it on the board really quick.</b>

<b>Guess what?</b>

<b>Bingo.</b>

<b>It's done and we can move on.</b>

<b>So it came.</b>

<b>He goes, I can see</b>

<b>now where the point is.</b>

<b>And in your case, you don't have that</b>

<b>always to fall back on</b>

<b>because you're teaching English.</b>

<b>I know at my school, we have 43 different</b>

<b>languages represented at</b>

<b>our school, 43 of them.</b>

<b>And I couldn't imagine being an ELL</b>

<b>teacher and having, you know, 30 of those</b>

<b>43 languages</b>

<b>represented in one classroom.</b>

<b>How the heck am I going to</b>

<b>make something comprehensible?</b>

<b>So I find that funny that</b>

<b>you chose that particular one.</b>

<b>And then the thing that you said that</b>

<b>made me go ahead and think about was how</b>

<b>what's this non-native speaker?</b>

<b>Non-native speaker</b>

<b>doing teaching the grammar.</b>

<b>And I'm like, I'm the complete opposite.</b>

<b>I don't want a native speaker teaching me</b>

<b>the grammar because they</b>

<b>can't explain the grammar.</b>

<b>I can't explain in</b>

<b>English why go goes to went.</b>

<b>I know it's in a regular verb and I know</b>

<b>that the technical term in English,</b>

<b>because the same one's in</b>

<b>German, is weak and strong verbs.</b>

<b>And, you know, to go is a strong verb</b>

<b>because it goes from I go to I went.</b>

<b>But I can't explain the rhyme reason or</b>

<b>wherefore why it does that.</b>

<b>I can't do that.</b>

<b>Yet I can explain why the</b>

<b>accents move around in Spanish.</b>

<b>Why sometimes the word has an accent and</b>

<b>sometimes it doesn't.</b>

<b>It's actually to keep their pronunciation</b>

<b>consistent along the way.</b>

<b>I can explain those things,</b>

<b>but a native speaker can't.</b>

<b>They just go, well,</b>

<b>that's just the way that it is.</b>

<b>And so I never liked getting that grammar</b>

<b>explained to me from native speakers.</b>

<b>If you are the same as me, give me a</b>

<b>thumbs up in that chat box or in the</b>

<b>comment box if that's you as well,</b>

<b>because I always got frustrated.</b>

<b>I asked, you know, I took German, French</b>

<b>and Spanish and I would</b>

<b>ask the native speakers.</b>

<b>So why does it do that?</b>

<b>I don't know.</b>

<b>It just does.</b>

<b>You know, that's the answer.</b>

<b>And it's the same answer</b>

<b>I would give in English.</b>

<b>Yeah. And in English, if a student asked</b>

<b>me that, I could probably do it.</b>

<b>It'll probably take me about 30 minutes</b>

<b>and I'm going to use</b>

<b>words that are out of bounds.</b>

<b>So because it's a complicated thing, I'm</b>

<b>probably going to go into some language</b>

<b>history that is going to</b>

<b>completely bore them to tears.</b>

<b>Whereas if I tell a story that yesterday</b>

<b>she went to the store and today she is</b>

<b>going to the store, the kids are just</b>

<b>going to hear it and they're going to say</b>

<b>it and they're going to use it and</b>

<b>they're not going to question it.</b>

<b>Right.</b>

<b>They don't because it becomes so natural.</b>

<b>You packed a lot in there.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>I always have my sticky notes that I</b>

<b>write my little notes as you talk.</b>

<b>I'm like, look, I mentioned about that.</b>

<b>I got to mention my band.</b>

<b>OK, so let's see if I can go through and</b>

<b>figure out like the translation one.</b>

<b>Who is it who said maybe, you know, this</b>

<b>quote, when you speak, when you speak my</b>

<b>my second language or my my learned</b>

<b>languages, you speak to my head.</b>

<b>But when you speak my my first language,</b>

<b>you speak to my heart.</b>

<b>So your example of the spark word.</b>

<b>If if I do the song and dance and draw on</b>

<b>the board and try and do all of that</b>

<b>stuff, yeah, OK, they can get it.</b>

<b>But that translated word now</b>

<b>I've got the fullness of it.</b>

<b>Right.</b>

<b>And five, two seconds versus five, ten,</b>

<b>fifteen, twenty minutes.</b>

<b>Which one are you going to take?</b>

<b>Right. Like the song dance was fun.</b>

<b>It was entertaining for them, maybe.</b>

<b>But we just wasted a whole bunch of time.</b>

<b>It's like the play where they try and get</b>

<b>teachers to go on tangents.</b>

<b>They do it to us all the time. Right. And</b>

<b>then I like when I do</b>

<b>it and yeah, I do it.</b>

<b>I entertain the tangents.</b>

<b>And then I explain to them</b>

<b>what the word tangent is.</b>

<b>And I tell them, you know, I draw that on</b>

<b>the board for the tangent line.</b>

<b>And I say, that's what we just did.</b>

<b>And then I'll set a circle around that</b>

<b>and we'll bring it back in other lessons.</b>

<b>I'm like, all right. So that was a 10</b>

<b>minute. What was it?</b>

<b>Where did we go? Was that art? And</b>

<b>they're like, what was the tangent?</b>

<b>But yeah, if you can speak to their heart</b>

<b>in two seconds versus the song and dance,</b>

<b>then why wouldn't you do that?</b>

<b>So for me, I've been in the class where</b>

<b>every student speaks a</b>

<b>different first language.</b>

<b>That was much more</b>

<b>common in my last school.</b>

<b>The school I'm at now, it's</b>

<b>predominantly Mandarin speakers.</b>

<b>So I've actually I finally, after 20</b>

<b>years of teaching,</b>

<b>started actually learning.</b>

<b>So for all of my parent meetings, an hour</b>

<b>and a half where everybody</b>

<b>else's take 30 to 45 minutes.</b>

<b>Translator mine help all of the efforts</b>

<b>to use language with</b>

<b>whatever the hell is there.</b>

<b>I thought, you know what, let's actually</b>

<b>try and learn some of this.</b>

<b>I just do a lingo. I need to. I've</b>

<b>listened to I love to the C.I. sample</b>

<b>classes in Mandarin, like</b>

<b>Linda Lee has one on YouTube.</b>

<b>And I just love it because I start to</b>

<b>soak up a little bit more.</b>

<b>But I really need a Mandarin CI language</b>

<b>class that I can join.</b>

<b>But I have been doing my Duolingo and I</b>

<b>wouldn't face my pick up the words.</b>

<b>And then with that, and I can say to the</b>

<b>students, OK, well, in in</b>

<b>Chinese, it's like this, right?</b>

<b>And I'm guessing they know</b>

<b>I'm guessing. I'm like, right.</b>

<b>You know how that works. They're like,</b>

<b>yeah, yeah, that's right.</b>

<b>I say, OK, so then in English, we can use</b>

<b>some of those</b>

<b>comparisons and it saves time.</b>

<b>Yeah, it does. So we don't need to just</b>

<b>resort to circling questions.</b>

<b>We can do, you know, it's</b>

<b>like this whole toolkit.</b>

<b>So I haven't I haven't abandoned</b>

<b>everything that I used to do.</b>

<b>I've just added to it and see</b>

<b>I becomes more of my default.</b>

<b>And if it's not my default for a</b>

<b>particular lesson, it's</b>

<b>definitely the undercurrent.</b>

<b>Right. It's definitely the undercurrent.</b>

<b>The third person, S,</b>

<b>is the one for English.</b>

<b>Yeah. Right. It'll be the first unit in</b>

<b>the grammar textbook.</b>

<b>And yet it's late acquired. We</b>

<b>know that it's late acquired.</b>

<b>So that same level one class, they did</b>

<b>some writing earlier this</b>

<b>week for our Halloween story.</b>

<b>And I haven't I haven't given it back to</b>

<b>them. All I did was I went through and I</b>

<b>made a PowerPoint slide with some of the</b>

<b>things that they're doing in the writing.</b>

<b>And I just pulled sentences straight from</b>

<b>their writing and I targeted a couple of</b>

<b>different structures just because I</b>

<b>wanted to do, you know,</b>

<b>maybe a grammar commercial.</b>

<b>But I'm actually the whole lesson.</b>

<b>But they were completely leaned in on it.</b>

<b>It was on the PowerPoint.</b>

<b>I said, OK, here's here's actually the</b>

<b>grammar label on what's happening here.</b>

<b>Like third person S. But before we did</b>

<b>that, we actually like it ended up being</b>

<b>actually building because in one they had</b>

<b>like no one that they were like, like,</b>

<b>she is like ice cream.</b>

<b>Like she likes ice cream. You know,</b>

<b>they're those kinds of things so they</b>

<b>could completely see it.</b>

<b>And then I said, OK, now the next one I</b>

<b>need you to know. And I</b>

<b>actually talked to them.</b>

<b>This is my level one class. I talked</b>

<b>about how, you know, when you learned by</b>

<b>by worksheets, that's language learning.</b>

<b>There's this other thing, language</b>

<b>acquisition. And I talked to them about</b>

<b>those two strategies and they can see how</b>

<b>I use both of those in class.</b>

<b>I said this one, I'm going to show you</b>

<b>this. And some of you know it. You do it.</b>

<b>I know you know it, even though it's</b>

<b>something that takes longer. And the rest</b>

<b>of you, I just need you to learn it</b>

<b>because your other teachers, because</b>

<b>everywhere they go in the school, they're</b>

<b>using the language I'm</b>

<b>teaching them or trying to.</b>

<b>Yes, because it's English. They're in an</b>

<b>English speaking school.</b>

<b>So I said, I just need you to do this</b>

<b>because this is what your teachers are</b>

<b>going to be looking for.</b>

<b>They expect you to do this, but they'll</b>

<b>never tell you. So hear it right now.</b>

<b>So we actually made that really, really</b>

<b>explicit from their writing. And I can</b>

<b>hear around the class. They're like, I</b>

<b>think that's my sentence.</b>

<b>That's my. Yes, this one's yours. Pay</b>

<b>attention. This one's yours.</b>

<b>I had a kid who was like every sentence</b>

<b>was mixing present and past.</b>

<b>And but he saw it and it was really,</b>

<b>really cool. And yeah,</b>

<b>level one, really, really cool.</b>

<b>My level three class is</b>

<b>they're a little higher.</b>

<b>So I do a little bit more. They get a</b>

<b>little bit more grammar stuff in there.</b>

<b>But yeah, trying to build a common</b>

<b>language so that I can start pulling on</b>

<b>some of those differences for them has</b>

<b>actually made a big difference.</b>

<b>Yeah. And you said something</b>

<b>about that third person. S.</b>

<b>And English, I use that as an example a</b>

<b>lot in my classroom, you</b>

<b>know, that we don't have verb.</b>

<b>We don't have verb endings in English and</b>

<b>we do in Spanish. And unlike French,</b>

<b>because I know that's the other language</b>

<b>you you learned, at least.</b>

<b>What what Bill then point out to me as</b>

<b>well about that, what's late acquired and</b>

<b>what's early acquired is stuff that is</b>

<b>early acquired is stuff</b>

<b>that actually changes meaning.</b>

<b>And what's late acquired is stuff that</b>

<b>doesn't change meaning. So someone can</b>

<b>still understand English if</b>

<b>he goes he talk or she talk.</b>

<b>Totally. Because we have that subject</b>

<b>built that we have to add that subject</b>

<b>and then the verb is there.</b>

<b>Whereas and French needs that and German</b>

<b>needs that they need the subjects because</b>

<b>in French, although they're all spelled</b>

<b>differently, they most of</b>

<b>the verb sound the same.</b>

<b>They're all spelled differently, but they</b>

<b>sound the same. So you need the subject</b>

<b>pronoun to differentiate</b>

<b>who's doing the talking.</b>

<b>German's the same way because in third</b>

<b>and in plural, the we and the they form</b>

<b>are the same verb form. It's</b>

<b>the same as the infinitive.</b>

<b>So, again, you need the subject there to</b>

<b>tell. But in Spanish, we don't need the</b>

<b>subjects because every verb is different.</b>

<b>And you hear the differences. So we don't</b>

<b>need the subjects. We can leave them</b>

<b>completely away and go on there. And I</b>

<b>use the same thing in English.</b>

<b>So, yes, they forget to put the S on the</b>

<b>third person singular because why it if</b>

<b>you leave it off, it</b>

<b>doesn't change the meaning gender.</b>

<b>If you say El Chico versus La Chico, it</b>

<b>doesn't change the meaning at all. It's</b>

<b>still the boy, whether you said that with</b>

<b>the right gender or</b>

<b>not, it's still the boy.</b>

<b>So it didn't change the meaning. So the</b>

<b>brain saying not as important, not as</b>

<b>important, not as important, but other</b>

<b>things that actually change the meaning</b>

<b>of what you're saying, the brain says,</b>

<b>oh, I need to key into that because</b>

<b>that's making a major,</b>

<b>whether I make a left or I make a right.</b>

<b>I've got to know that decision point. So</b>

<b>I think that's really, really</b>

<b>interesting that we go through.</b>

<b>And it's funny that English got rid of</b>

<b>all of our endings because we came from</b>

<b>German and German is full of endings. And</b>

<b>so we have simplified.</b>

<b>They always say make a joke. German say,</b>

<b>if you take away all the grammar rules</b>

<b>from German, you're left with English.</b>

<b>And that's kind of like what it is.</b>

<b>I was also going to talk about it. You</b>

<b>mentioned you need a C.I. class in</b>

<b>Mandarin. One of my dear friends, Dr.</b>

<b>Terri Waltz, she</b>

<b>turned me on to italki.com.</b>

<b>And what italki.com is, it's a kind of</b>

<b>like Uber for language teachers. So</b>

<b>people join this program and you get</b>

<b>native speakers from around the world.</b>

<b>You want, you know, Ukrainian versus</b>

<b>Russian or you want Colombian Spanish or</b>

<b>Quebecian Spanish versus I mean, Quebec</b>

<b>and Spanish, Quebec and</b>

<b>French versus Parisian French.</b>

<b>You can find the actual dialects that you</b>

<b>want. You're paying them in their local</b>

<b>currency and they have different rates</b>

<b>depending on what they want.</b>

<b>And you can do traditional tutoring with</b>

<b>them. But what she did is she told them</b>

<b>the basic what she wanted</b>

<b>them to do in the lesson.</b>

<b>She says, I want you to tell me a story</b>

<b>and I want you to ask me lots of</b>

<b>questions about who, what, where, when</b>

<b>either or yes or no about a story.</b>

<b>And I want you to do this. And she</b>

<b>trained them how to do C.I. And then when</b>

<b>she paid them, that's</b>

<b>what they did for her lesson.</b>

<b>And they're relatively cheap because what</b>

<b>we think is cheap is really expensive in</b>

<b>their own currency when they think about</b>

<b>it in their own currency.</b>

<b>You know, they don't the cost of living</b>

<b>in Colombia is a lot different than it is</b>

<b>in America or Canada. So they don't need</b>

<b>as much money and you</b>

<b>can find different ranges.</b>

<b>They've got reviews. But I really like</b>

<b>that. I also recommend to my students to</b>

<b>if they need some tutoring practice.</b>

<b>It's a lot cheaper than the sixty dollars</b>

<b>an hour that they might be charged here</b>

<b>in America when you can get it for maybe</b>

<b>ten dollars an hour and get an actual</b>

<b>native speaker in there.</b>

<b>So that's another thing I was just going</b>

<b>to mention. You can find that in</b>

<b>Mandarin. Yeah, that's good. Go ahead.</b>

<b>Oh, no, just that's cool.</b>

<b>Now, I was just saying my biggest thing</b>

<b>because we never even got to my answer to</b>

<b>that. For me, it's that personalization.</b>

<b>Because the textbook isn't personalized</b>

<b>and it's dry and they say it's pretty</b>

<b>their personalized questions.</b>

<b>They're just asked the same question to</b>

<b>every kid. That's not personalized</b>

<b>because I know that</b>

<b>kid doesn't play sports.</b>

<b>So why am I asking if he plays hockey? I</b>

<b>know what his answer is going to be. No,</b>

<b>you know, he's a skateboarder or she's a</b>

<b>reader or, you know, he likes art or</b>

<b>whatever the concept may be.</b>

<b>So that personalization is one of the</b>

<b>things because I can connect the language</b>

<b>to the student. And when I make that</b>

<b>connection, that was the biggest takeaway</b>

<b>for me, partly because I didn't have a</b>

<b>lot of experience with the textbook.</b>

<b>So I didn't have anything to compare it</b>

<b>with. But that personalization was such a</b>

<b>big thing for me to get the kids to want</b>

<b>to pay attention long enough so that the</b>

<b>acquisition can happen.</b>

<b>And if I talked about some random Juan</b>

<b>and Maria and no offense to anybody, Juan</b>

<b>and Maria, but every Spanish textbook,</b>

<b>those are the common names they put in</b>

<b>every story is Juan and Maria or Carlos.</b>

<b>You know, it's the same ones and nobody</b>

<b>cares about those people because they</b>

<b>don't know those people.</b>

<b>And so the personalization was a really</b>

<b>big thing for me because that got my kids</b>

<b>to click and to understand and to know</b>

<b>what's going on and want to listen to the</b>

<b>story because it was about them.</b>

<b>And if it wasn't about them, it was about</b>

<b>one of their friends. And it was about</b>

<b>topics that they were under that they</b>

<b>wanted to know more about.</b>

<b>So they were more apt. And you talked</b>

<b>about tangents. My kids always want to go</b>

<b>in tangents. What was your first prom?</b>

<b>What was your prom like?</b>

<b>How did you go to your first driver? What</b>

<b>was your first date like? And I'm like</b>

<b>you. I go right into them. But my trick</b>

<b>is I go into them in Spanish.</b>

<b>And I have every kid on the edge of their</b>

<b>seats going, I want to hear because I</b>

<b>asked this question. I want to know the</b>

<b>answers. So they're</b>

<b>really trying to comprehend.</b>

<b>And so those tangents are teaching</b>

<b>moments for me and they're great teaching</b>

<b>moments. And they think we got them off</b>

<b>topic. And I'm like, we had a win because</b>

<b>I got them all engaged in</b>

<b>Spanish for the whole period.</b>

<b>So, you know, it's</b>

<b>kind of funny that way.</b>

<b>You did not just.</b>

<b>No. And you know what? Personalization</b>

<b>has actually I would count that in part</b>

<b>in my field column because there was a</b>

<b>long time where I was doing the person.</b>

<b>I'm like, I'm doing it. I'm doing it. But</b>

<b>they're not leaning into it because when</b>

<b>I'm talking to you, this darling over</b>

<b>here is like, you know, well, we're not</b>

<b>going to listen to him.</b>

<b>Right. And you go around the class like</b>

<b>that with a whole bunch of people, you</b>

<b>know, they're still building their own</b>

<b>relationships. They're really not</b>

<b>connected to each other yet because</b>

<b>they're in my class because</b>

<b>they're all new to the like.</b>

<b>They just come from some other place.</b>

<b>So they're not really connected. So they</b>

<b>don't really care. So then for me, is it</b>

<b>triangulation when you start like, I'm</b>

<b>like, all right. So who who is the</b>

<b>skateboarder? Who's the hockey player?</b>

<b>What what sport does does this student</b>

<b>play? What's what sport does that? Who</b>

<b>doesn't play sports, you know?</b>

<b>And I started throwing it back to them.</b>

<b>And that was when the personalized</b>

<b>questions, they started a little bit more</b>

<b>attention. Oh, she's</b>

<b>going to test us on the right.</b>

<b>Always is they're going to be a test.</b>

<b>Well, there is it's going to be live. And</b>

<b>the tangent, as long as they're in the</b>

<b>target language, they're in line with</b>

<b>what you're interested in.</b>

<b>Well, that's your engaging, right? It</b>

<b>again, Dr. Krashen talks about how it has</b>

<b>to be compelling, right?</b>

<b>Yeah. A comprehensible and compelling. So</b>

<b>if it's what the students are asking and</b>

<b>they're all in. So if one kid is asking</b>

<b>and the rest of them are sitting back and</b>

<b>they're like, how can we do this?</b>

<b>And play video games underneath the</b>

<b>table. Well, then that's not the time to</b>

<b>go on. But if they're</b>

<b>all leaning in, go for it.</b>

<b>Absolutely. And then you bring up</b>

<b>something I hate jargon. I</b>

<b>am one who just hates jargon.</b>

<b>Now, because like, triangling and</b>

<b>circling, if I have to explain what that</b>

<b>is, and it's a</b>

<b>concept people already know.</b>

<b>When you tell them what PQA is and you</b>

<b>tell them what circling is and you tell</b>

<b>them what triangling is, it's something</b>

<b>they already know and probably</b>

<b>already do in their classroom.</b>

<b>But we added this weird word that I had</b>

<b>to explain. I can't stand that. And I</b>

<b>apologize. I know Blaine and works really</b>

<b>hard in coming up with</b>

<b>these words, but they're not.</b>

<b>I don't find them helpful. And the people</b>

<b>I teach don't find them helpful. I mean,</b>

<b>I didn't understand what PQA was for</b>

<b>many, many, many, many, many,</b>

<b>many, many, many, many years.</b>

<b>I think I understood the words,</b>

<b>personalized questions and answers, but</b>

<b>they never demoed it in demonstrations</b>

<b>because they went right into the story.</b>

<b>Until I learned, I read Ben Slavik's book</b>

<b>PQA in a week and I'm like, oh, that's</b>

<b>just conversations. That's having a</b>

<b>conversation with a kid.</b>

<b>Can we not just say that's what it is?</b>

<b>Because now you don't have to explain to</b>

<b>me a term. It's a conversation.</b>

<b>As soon as you say conversation with a</b>

<b>kid, everybody in the room got what</b>

<b>you're talking about. We didn't have to</b>

<b>go and explain this whole technique.</b>

<b>And same thing with circling. That's just</b>

<b>scaffold of differentiated questions. We</b>

<b>all do it as teachers. Yes, no, either,</b>

<b>or what, where, when, how questions.</b>

<b>Can we not just say what it is? Why do we</b>

<b>have to come up with a term that we have</b>

<b>to explain to do that? And</b>

<b>triangling was another one.</b>

<b>That's just using your teaching verbs. So</b>

<b>it comes from the point of using the I,</b>

<b>then the you, and then some form of third</b>

<b>person. They or he or she.</b>

<b>So you're getting all forms of the verb,</b>

<b>first, second, and third, three points of</b>

<b>a triangle. But why, why</b>

<b>give it a name? Triangling.</b>

<b>When I can just say, we got to make sure</b>

<b>we ask first person, second person, and</b>

<b>third person questions to</b>

<b>get that verbs in there.</b>

<b>So I always find that funny. So I put</b>

<b>that in the chat there so people can</b>

<b>understand who didn't ever heard that</b>

<b>term, triangling, but it's a really</b>

<b>effective technique.</b>

<b>And it's something that we, a lot of us</b>

<b>naturally do, but then we had to add a</b>

<b>term to and then we have to explain the</b>

<b>term and which makes it more confusing.</b>

<b>I'm sorry, I went off on my own little</b>

<b>tangent there, but it's okay.</b>

<b>It actually took me a long time to see</b>

<b>triangling and circling as forms of</b>

<b>scaffolding. Yeah. And it was like a</b>

<b>little epiphany moment. I'm like, oh, so</b>

<b>really what I'm doing is I'm just putting</b>

<b>more rungs in that ladder so</b>

<b>that I can make it accessible.</b>

<b>Because that's one thing I'll draw for</b>

<b>students or parents who are arguing</b>

<b>about, you know, like, why can't they go</b>

<b>to level three? Why can't they go to this</b>

<b>level? It's like, well, would you go to</b>

<b>grade 10 now straight out of grade seven</b>

<b>now? No, you wouldn't. Right.</b>

<b>But I draw that ladder. You've probably</b>

<b>seen that image where it's like huge,</b>

<b>huge distance between the runs. I'm like,</b>

<b>we want to put these in. Like, don't you</b>

<b>want to climb this ladder? Isn't that a</b>

<b>whole lot easier? So that, that was a</b>

<b>nice little moment to realize that it's</b>

<b>really, I'm going to make it easier.</b>

<b>And trialing is a really great, effective</b>

<b>way and more effective to teach it in</b>

<b>context, verb conjugations. As they hear</b>

<b>them, they see them. It's physical</b>

<b>because you're pointing to the people.</b>

<b>What do you do? I do this. What does he</b>

<b>or she do? Same kind of thing. And that's</b>

<b>where you get to the conversations too.</b>

<b>Because like you said, when you're</b>

<b>talking and you're focusing on that one</b>

<b>kid, if that kid is not in, if another</b>

<b>kid in the classroom, that they're not in their friend group, they don't know.</b>

<b>They're not in their friend group. They</b>

<b>don't care. But then when you bring it</b>

<b>back to them and I call it, you know,</b>

<b>it's kind of like fishing and then</b>

<b>gossiping. So I'm fishing for information</b>

<b>from the kid and I'm focused on that one</b>

<b>kid. But then we gossip about that kid.</b>

<b>Did you just hear that? What was his</b>

<b>activity that he liked to do? Class, what</b>

<b>would he like to do? Like he's not even</b>

<b>in the room. We're talking about him. Oh,</b>

<b>he liked to skateboard. Right. He liked</b>

<b>to skateboard. Now I bring it back to</b>

<b>them. Does anybody</b>

<b>else like to skateboard?</b>

<b>So I'm bringing that other class in. So</b>

<b>I'm focusing on the kid to give him his</b>

<b>10 minutes of fame. And then I bring it</b>

<b>back with the rest of the class. So it's</b>

<b>that constant juggling and back and</b>

<b>forth, back and forth. But that's how you</b>

<b>get the other class in there. But it's a</b>

<b>really, like you said, it's a really good</b>

<b>technique to be able to do that. And it's</b>

<b>scaffolding. We're constantly scaffolding</b>

<b>so that kids don't have to make those</b>

<b>giant leaps from one level to the next.</b>

<b>That they're able, we're giving them</b>

<b>enough holding points to be able to do that.</b>

<b>Holding points to be able to move along.</b>

<b>Like, you know, ladder is so much more of</b>

<b>a tame representation of it. Think about</b>

<b>like mountain climbing. Those kids who</b>

<b>like to climb the mountain walls at the</b>

<b>gyms. Can you imagine if, you know, each</b>

<b>little stepping thing you had to go is</b>

<b>six feet apart from each other? You know,</b>

<b>some kids got a stretch. Yeah.</b>

<b>Try it now. And they're like, I can't.</b>

<b>Well, same thing. Exactly. Exactly.</b>

<b>So I was thinking it's um, I like I like</b>

<b>your term gossiping. I was thinking it</b>

<b>was it's like being a good host. Yeah.</b>

<b>Right. So I'm talking to you. But as</b>

<b>teachers were never there's I know, we</b>

<b>teach the eyes. So then we're looking at</b>

<b>that student in the eyes. But as</b>

<b>teachers, we're never only looking there.</b>

<b>We're also surveying what's happening in</b>

<b>the whole entire room. So</b>

<b>like a good host at a party.</b>

<b>You've got your one person that you're</b>

<b>greeting and you're giving them your</b>

<b>heart, you're giving all your attention.</b>

<b>But you're also having all your</b>

<b>attention, but not all your attention</b>

<b>because you're of other people at your</b>

<b>party that you need to. So what do we do?</b>

<b>We bring them in. Like, oh, so and so</b>

<b>have you met so and so so and like so and</b>

<b>so enjoy some things. What do you enjoy?</b>

<b>Do you enjoy skateboarding? Oh, you enjoy</b>

<b>mountain climbing? You know, like, oh,</b>

<b>you know, and you make that conversation.</b>

<b>You're trying to build</b>

<b>that that connection.</b>

<b>And same thing in the textbook. So if I</b>

<b>do actually go to a textbook and I do</b>

<b>grab a textbook story or I do, okay, we</b>

<b>need to do this unit and grammar or</b>

<b>whatever. Right. And so just speaking to</b>

<b>the teachers who are doing that, like if</b>

<b>you've got that article in the front that</b>

<b>you textualizes the grammar, whatever</b>

<b>that story is, you then</b>

<b>pull it into the class.</b>

<b>Anybody else here are famous scientists?</b>

<b>Anybody else here want to be a famous</b>

<b>scientist? Have you done research? Have</b>

<b>you, you know, and you bring that</b>

<b>whatever they've used as their novel</b>

<b>article or short story. Triangulate it.</b>

<b>Do the same thing. Circle. Do all your</b>

<b>circling questions, pull it into the</b>

<b>classroom and make it real. And that's</b>

<b>that's one of my bridges. If I do</b>

<b>actually go grab one of those resources</b>

<b>for whatever reasons.</b>

<b>Yeah. And you know, it's funny you go</b>

<b>party because I used to call PQA. It's</b>

<b>like, cause people never understood it.</b>

<b>And they're like, I don't understand</b>

<b>small talk. I don't do small talk. I</b>

<b>think it's like at a party. You meet</b>

<b>someone. So that's your first student you</b>

<b>do. You talk and they go, well, how long</b>

<b>did I talk for? I'm gonna</b>

<b>go until it gets boring.</b>

<b>And then you use yourself to go to the</b>

<b>bathroom or get another drink to</b>

<b>refreshing your drink and you find</b>

<b>someone more interesting to talk about.</b>

<b>It's the same thing in the classroom.</b>

<b>Obviously we're not gonna leave the</b>

<b>classroom and go pee and we're not gonna</b>

<b>go get a drink in the classroom. But you</b>

<b>know, when it, when the conversation</b>

<b>starts to get boring, that's when you</b>

<b>know you need to move on to a new</b>

<b>student. And then you compare and</b>

<b>contrast and you bring the other class in</b>

<b>to make everybody back as a whole. So I</b>

<b>used to use that party as an analogy a</b>

<b>lot because it's kind of like what it is</b>

<b>when you're meeting someone.</b>

<b>You find them interesting, you talk and</b>

<b>then when it starts to get boring, you</b>

<b>know, I gotta go use the restroom. I'll</b>

<b>be right back or I'm gonna go get some</b>

<b>more drink. I'll see around, you know,</b>

<b>something and you find someone else talk</b>

<b>to. So it's kind of the same kind of an</b>

<b>idea. And I think it's really, you know,</b>

<b>these are really great techniques and</b>

<b>strategies to be able to use that I</b>

<b>didn't really have before CI. That they</b>

<b>were not even a possibility and the</b>

<b>textbook doesn't really allow for it.</b>

<b>They talk about the PQA personalized</b>

<b>questions, but they, their version of</b>

<b>personalized is that you ask the same</b>

<b>question to all 30</b>

<b>kids. So I'm gonna ask.</b>

<b>Well you can also, sorry, you can also</b>

<b>hand it off, right? So with the party</b>

<b>analogy, what's the other trick for</b>

<b>getting away? You do the introduction</b>

<b>thing. Yeah, right. Oh, look, here's</b>

<b>this, you know, here's so and so let me</b>

<b>introduce you. Do you want to ask them a</b>

<b>question? Do you want to ask them what</b>

<b>they like? And you feed the question to</b>

<b>the student and then the student has to</b>

<b>ask the question and then the other student has to ask the question.</b>

<b>And then the other student has to answer.</b>

<b>Well, there you go. Now I can sneak away,</b>

<b>right? But I mean, obviously not as a</b>

<b>teacher, not sneaking away, but going</b>

<b>back. Right. And yeah, just make them</b>

<b>talk. It's just you want</b>

<b>to ask that question of.</b>

<b>It's just basic human skills that we do</b>

<b>with just social skills that we need to</b>

<b>do. Just bring them in the classroom. I</b>

<b>can't believe we already spent 40 minutes</b>

<b>on the first question.</b>

<b>All right, what's next? The</b>

<b>conversations really go good.</b>

<b>This is a good question. The moment you</b>

<b>knew this works, what was that one moment</b>

<b>that convinced you this is how kids</b>

<b>really acquire</b>

<b>language, not just memorize it?</b>

<b>And is there a student or a class that</b>

<b>you're never forget?</b>

<b>This is not going to be the first moment.</b>

<b>I got to think about that one. But that</b>

<b>girl that I mentioned this year, right?</b>

<b>She's leaning over. Oh, oh, I can. Okay.</b>

<b>So there was a kid last year too. Right</b>

<b>from day one, they're leaning over to</b>

<b>their friends for everything. What did</b>

<b>she say? What did she</b>

<b>say? What did she say?</b>

<b>And now she's writing here we are. What</b>

<b>we've been in school for eight weeks with</b>

<b>a whole lot of holidays and professional</b>

<b>days in there, too, actually. So lots of</b>

<b>four day weeks and five day weeks. And</b>

<b>she's she can write half a page in 10</b>

<b>minutes of meaningful information about</b>

<b>her life or about the story. How cool is</b>

<b>that? I had another kid last</b>

<b>year. That's the same thing.</b>

<b>At the end of the year, he's the same.</b>

<b>And then at the end of the year, I was</b>

<b>marking their final writings. And I was</b>

<b>reading one. I'm like, this is fantastic.</b>

<b>This is absolutely fantastic. It was so</b>

<b>beautiful. I took up my phone and I</b>

<b>actually took a picture of it and my</b>

<b>exemplary work. And then I learned the</b>

<b>name. I'm like, I'm gonna be kidding.</b>

<b>It's him. Right? Like just it's this</b>

<b>growth is beautiful.</b>

<b>And they start speaking up for their</b>

<b>friends. And I'm just like, wow, you are</b>

<b>just leaned in and this is beautiful. So</b>

<b>so that's I mean, how can that not</b>

<b>convince you? I've had kids who can grow</b>

<b>with grammar, too. But you know what? The</b>

<b>kid that stands out who really grew up,</b>

<b>like super, super grammy.</b>

<b>He was with me for grammar. He was with</b>

<b>Adriana, a real parent for his other ELL</b>

<b>block. He had two ELL blocks. He was he</b>

<b>was teaching ELL in our school at that</b>

<b>time, too. So he was with me for his</b>

<b>grammar block. And</b>

<b>then he was with her for</b>

<b>for TPRS style English block. And he was</b>

<b>listening to music in English. And he was</b>

<b>doing all this stuff. I'm like, he's</b>

<b>growing so well. I must be an amazing</b>

<b>team. Like, well, no, I'm like the</b>

<b>smallest piece of that.</b>

<b>He'd be late to my class because he's</b>

<b>still writing her story for a for a quick</b>

<b>break. He's like, I gotta get more in.</b>

<b>And then he would tell me about it. I'm</b>

<b>like, oh, he grew so much.</b>

<b>Like, no, that was not me.</b>

<b>I would say for me, she was I'm sorry,</b>

<b>she was so kind and gracious with my</b>

<b>approach back then. She said, you should</b>

<b>try this. Yes, yes, I should.</b>

<b>She is amazing. She is amazing. The thing</b>

<b>for me was like that second semester I</b>

<b>taught in a school that majority Asian</b>

<b>kids, 80 percent Asian and most of them</b>

<b>were fresh off the plane Asians.</b>

<b>And so there is like no interaction with</b>

<b>the textbook. It was just boring</b>

<b>crickets. It was boring. They did their</b>

<b>work, but they you know, nothing really</b>

<b>happened with it. There's no growth. But</b>

<b>then second semester, I couldn't get them</b>

<b>to shut up on a speaking quiz. You know,</b>

<b>I only wanted 30 seconds. No, five</b>

<b>minutes set. I'm like, okay, we need to</b>

<b>move on. I need to be able to get to the</b>

<b>next kid. You've said enough.</b>

<b>And I don't know. It was my first year</b>

<b>teaching. So I didn't even know what a</b>

<b>clock was. So I'm like, my second year</b>

<b>teaching, like, why don't I just set a</b>

<b>timer? And when the timer goes off, they</b>

<b>have to stop. I never thought of that. I</b>

<b>just kept letting them talk. And I have</b>

<b>some kids talk for seven minutes. Some</b>

<b>kids talk for eight minutes. And I'm</b>

<b>like, that was just a matter of weeks</b>

<b>between first semester and second</b>

<b>semester. What was happening because of</b>

<b>this? So that said to me, this works. I</b>

<b>got kids to be able to actually talk and</b>

<b>not shut up. That was the big thing.</b>

<b>And then is there a student or that I'll</b>

<b>never forget there is he I had an amazing</b>

<b>kid. He was amazing. I had him in Spanish</b>

<b>class. But in our school, we had</b>

<b>something called enrichment or</b>

<b>intervention. Couldn't think of another</b>

<b>word. Enrichment intervention. So kids</b>

<b>who had poor grades in a class, they were</b>

<b>pulled in for intervention. But as a</b>

<b>school, we're like, well,</b>

<b>what do we do with the other 85?</b>

<b>85% of the kids who didn't need that</b>

<b>intervention. Well, that was where</b>

<b>enrichment. So teachers would choose</b>

<b>whether they were going to do a</b>

<b>enrichment or a intervention class. And</b>

<b>we made sure that classes like math and</b>

<b>English were on opposite week. So they</b>

<b>weren't trying to pull the same kids.</b>

<b>Well, in Spanish, I didn't have very many</b>

<b>interventions. So I did my intervention</b>

<b>maybe once every every other month, I did</b>

<b>it probably there. But I did a lot of</b>

<b>enrichment. A lot of teachers would</b>

<b>choose fun enrichment things didn't have</b>

<b>to even be with your</b>

<b>with what you taught.</b>

<b>Like some did kid teachers like films,</b>

<b>they did film studies in class, they'd</b>

<b>watch a movie during this time, this</b>

<b>block of an hour and a half, they would</b>

<b>do a film study about it. So all</b>

<b>different kinds of enrichment that kids</b>

<b>would like to want to go to</b>

<b>if they have good intervention.</b>

<b>Well, I did one time, I did TPRS, but in</b>

<b>German, for we didn't have a German</b>

<b>class. So for kids who want to learn</b>

<b>another language, I thought maybe this</b>

<b>would be fun. Well, this kid picked up. I</b>

<b>mean, this is only an hour and a half.</b>

<b>This is only an hour and a half one</b>

<b>class. And I did it for four weeks in a</b>

<b>row. So you're talking about an hour and</b>

<b>a half times four, but space seven days</b>

<b>apart from each other. And he was picking</b>

<b>up the German endings, like you wouldn't</b>

<b>believe not just the verb endings, but</b>

<b>the adjective endings.</b>

<b>And unlike, you know, French or Spanish,</b>

<b>where the adjective endings, you know,</b>

<b>are relatively consistent in German, they</b>

<b>change depending on if it's a noun. I'm</b>

<b>sorry, if it's a subject, if it's an</b>

<b>indirect object, if it's an indirect</b>

<b>object, or it's showing</b>

<b>possession, the endings change.</b>

<b>Same ones. And then you got gender to</b>

<b>worry about as well on there. So and we</b>

<b>have three genders in German. So it gets</b>

<b>really complicated. But he was picking up</b>

<b>on them just from hearing it. Because we</b>

<b>didn't do any of the normal stuff. We</b>

<b>were just doing oral stories. We didn't</b>

<b>do any readings. We didn't do anything</b>

<b>else. We just did story after story after</b>

<b>story. So he had no answering questions.</b>

<b>No, I mean, like writing them down. No</b>

<b>reading. He was just hearing the stories</b>

<b>and he was picking up on these endings.</b>

<b>And I'm like, this is what it's all</b>

<b>about. I mean, obviously, he was a</b>

<b>talented language acquirer. But it just</b>

<b>shows that no grammar was needed. I</b>

<b>didn't explain what a direct what</b>

<b>genitive case was a nominative case were.</b>

<b>And you know, all the different cases</b>

<b>that we have in German, I had to explain</b>

<b>any of that his ear is picking up on the</b>

<b>endings. And it was so that kind of those</b>

<b>two things together. And they were</b>

<b>decades apart from each other, because</b>

<b>that kid was maybe</b>

<b>seven or eight years ago.</b>

<b>And then the other thing happened in</b>

<b>2002. So you know, it's a long time</b>

<b>apart. But those are two big things that</b>

<b>say this works, what we're doing actually</b>

<b>is working. And it's</b>

<b>just powerful that way.</b>

<b>I love it. I love it.</b>

<b>Now we are getting towards the end. So I</b>

<b>let's see this fight try to find a good</b>

<b>motivational question that we can get</b>

<b>other teachers involved here.</b>

<b>What would you shout out to teachers</b>

<b>still stuck in the textbook? What do you</b>

<b>wish you could tell every teacher who's</b>

<b>scared to ditch the worksheets? What big</b>

<b>myth or do you wish that you could just</b>

<b>erase forever something that gets them</b>

<b>unstuck from wherever they are because</b>

<b>they're here because they</b>

<b>have some kind of interest in CI.</b>

<b>They may not made the jump yet. What's</b>

<b>something that you can help them feel</b>

<b>more safe and secure</b>

<b>about making the leap?</b>

<b>Yeah, so we've got different</b>

<b>personalities, right? There's some of us.</b>

<b>I laugh when in your intro, you talk</b>

<b>about that Pinterest. Perfect lesson.</b>

<b>That is not my losses.</b>

<b>No, it's not my style.</b>

<b>I dream of being that teacher. I am not</b>

<b>that teacher. I never will be that</b>

<b>teacher and I don't need to be that</b>

<b>teacher. Absolutely. There are some</b>

<b>people I think they're really gifted at</b>

<b>that and it's beautiful.</b>

<b>That's that's great. It's not me.</b>

<b>So we've got those teachers. So you might</b>

<b>the people listening, we might have</b>

<b>somebody out there who's like, I want it</b>

<b>to look perfect. I want to be perfect</b>

<b>before. And we won't</b>

<b>mention any names like Adriana.</b>

<b>She's amazing. Just.</b>

<b>That's the person I want to grow up to</b>

<b>be. Yeah, me too.</b>

<b>Yeah, I'm already older.</b>

<b>Older. And then and then there's the</b>

<b>people who are a little bit more</b>

<b>adventurous and they're willing to just</b>

<b>jump in. I would say like just if you're</b>

<b>more tentative, if you're you're scared,</b>

<b>you're like, I can't make the perfect</b>

<b>lesson, but I want to try sort of some of</b>

<b>this stuff. Just</b>

<b>bring the questioning in.</b>

<b>Right. So when you're when you're doing</b>

<b>the reading from the textbook, whatever</b>

<b>it is, bring in your circling questions,</b>

<b>stretch it out beyond, find out what</b>

<b>those vocabulary look at your look at</b>

<b>your reading. There's probably a million</b>

<b>vocabulary words that are going to be out</b>

<b>of bounds for your students.</b>

<b>And of course, we want to teach them</b>

<b>every single one of those. But two ones</b>

<b>that are important. Bring them in your</b>

<b>conversation like all week, make them a</b>

<b>part of just things that come up. How can</b>

<b>you you've got those words in your mind?</b>

<b>Like, how can I sneak that word in this</b>

<b>into the conversation? How can I sneak</b>

<b>this word into a question? How can we</b>

<b>bring this up? And for or the topic,</b>

<b>because of course, it's the</b>

<b>comprehension, it's got to be meaningful.</b>

<b>So like my my earlier when I talked about</b>

<b>I have this one article in my mind, where</b>

<b>it talks about Marie and Pierre Curry as</b>

<b>an example. It's for verb tense, of</b>

<b>course, it's got nothing to do with</b>

<b>radioactivity or amazing discoveries of</b>

<b>reading. But it's, it's about verb tense.</b>

<b>But how can I bring that in, you know,</b>

<b>and it talks about horse and a carrot. He</b>

<b>was hit by a horse and carriage. That's</b>

<b>how he died. But you can bring those</b>

<b>sorts of things into the classroom and</b>

<b>make them a little bit more relevant, a</b>

<b>little more real. And then those words</b>

<b>are just going to get</b>

<b>in there because it's CI.</b>

<b>That same, that same grammar unit has</b>

<b>examples of superheroes, which that's how</b>

<b>Marie and Pierre Curry come</b>

<b>in just being super people.</b>

<b>But superheroes, and that's something</b>

<b>that students relate to with Marvel</b>

<b>movies and cosplay and just some of the</b>

<b>different things that are relevant. Like</b>

<b>they connect to it. So start with those</b>

<b>start with those questions.</b>

<b>Yes, no questions, the either or</b>

<b>questions. What about you? What about,</b>

<b>you know, a couple of QA ones out the</b>

<b>different students and then connecting</b>

<b>them so that they're asking each other or</b>

<b>turning to each other, interested in each</b>

<b>other around the structure that you're</b>

<b>looking for and the vocabulary looking</b>

<b>for to get it in there.</b>

<b>The other one, if you are more</b>

<b>adventurous and willing just to jump in</b>

<b>is to try write yourself a</b>

<b>super, super simple story.</b>

<b>And without a ton of detail, you just</b>

<b>kind of know what your and just try it.</b>

<b>The first time I did an Ask a Story, the</b>

<b>Halloween story that I did this, I've</b>

<b>done it a few times now.</b>

<b>I've got a few renditions of it.</b>

<b>But it started just a simple story. And I</b>

<b>thought, you know what, I'm just going to</b>

<b>do it. It's going to be a mess. But I</b>

<b>wrote, I think I had maybe five lines on</b>

<b>the page. And I had a couple of targets</b>

<b>that I kind of wanted.</b>

<b>I wanted to teach them about Halloween</b>

<b>candy and traditional candy and the fact</b>

<b>that they needed to actually knock on the</b>

<b>door and say, my family laughs at me for</b>

<b>Halloween because I have a few rules.</b>

<b>And they're, I swear they're, they're</b>

<b>right now upstairs. It has to be in</b>

<b>costume and they have to say trick or</b>

<b>treat. Right. And of course you get kids</b>

<b>and people are getting at me.</b>

<b>They're going to give me. But even the</b>

<b>kids who show up without a costume, like,</b>

<b>and they're one kid</b>

<b>said, he's like, I'm a human.</b>

<b>Well, let's look at this, right? Like,</b>

<b>are you, you're dressed as an adult now?</b>

<b>Or he's like, yeah, yeah, I'm an adult.</b>

<b>Well, you know, clearly he's not. Okay.</b>

<b>Well, now you got, now you have a</b>

<b>costume, right? Like we</b>

<b>try and figure it out.</b>

<b>But because I'm dealing with newcomers in</b>

<b>my classroom, I'm teaching them, it's one</b>

<b>of my cultural pieces. I have no problem</b>

<b>with an 18 year old. I have no age limit.</b>

<b>I've given them to adult. I've given</b>

<b>candy to adults. I have no problem. You</b>

<b>show up at my door. You knock on the</b>

<b>door. I open the door. You say trick or</b>

<b>treat. I give you candy.</b>

<b>If you're in a costume.</b>

<b>I give them candy. Like, let's be honest,</b>

<b>but, but my family is like, you need to</b>

<b>like, these are the rules. This is the</b>

<b>engagement. So then that becomes my</b>

<b>story, part of my story, right? So the</b>

<b>first time I ever did it, if I get off my</b>

<b>tangent and got to the point, I told the</b>

<b>kids, I said, okay, I wanted to, I wanted</b>

<b>to try the down this thing. So I said,</b>

<b>bring your chairs up. And I cleared space</b>

<b>at the front of the room.</b>

<b>And they're like, what are we doing? And</b>

<b>I had them sit in the stadium kind of</b>

<b>seating. Every time I do this story, it</b>

<b>works. They bring it, they bring their</b>

<b>chairs up. It's totally different.</b>

<b>They're away from their desks. They don't</b>

<b>know what I'm doing. And I start with</b>

<b>like, there is a family. I said, who's in</b>

<b>the family. And this, they told me there</b>

<b>were five people in the, in the family.</b>

<b>And I'm thinking there's never been five</b>

<b>people in my family.</b>

<b>And in my mind, I'm thinking, what am I</b>

<b>going to do with this? There's five</b>

<b>people in the story. All of a sudden, but</b>

<b>I went with it. Because I still had my</b>

<b>character, I'd pre taught a little bit of</b>

<b>vocabulary. And I have two boys who won't</b>

<b>stop talking in the room. They're always</b>

<b>talking. And it's a behavior issue. It's</b>

<b>not, it's not a</b>

<b>comprehension. It's actually, oh,</b>

<b>so we made them the twin little brothers</b>

<b>in the story. So what's a twin? Okay,</b>

<b>they know that. Um, but just the message</b>

<b>to the teachers would be to jump in.</b>

<b>You've got your structure, you will pull</b>

<b>yourself back in line. You know, if you</b>

<b>get too far off your story, and you're</b>

<b>not comfortable, you just will. And it's</b>

<b>going to be easy to do.</b>

<b>And it's going to be awkward because</b>

<b>you're going to get to a point, you're</b>

<b>going to be like, Oh my, I went on a</b>

<b>tangent too. And now I'm lost my story. I</b>

<b>don't know where I am. And so you're</b>

<b>going to force it back because you're</b>

<b>freaking out in front of the kids. It's</b>

<b>going to be okay. It's fine. They're</b>

<b>going to, they might give you something</b>

<b>that you want to work with. They might</b>

<b>give you something you don't want to work</b>

<b>with. You're just going to tell them no,</b>

<b>and it'll be fine. Or you're going to run</b>

<b>with it. Your story's going to end up in</b>

<b>a crazy place. It's fine.</b>

<b>Because they're listening to you. You're</b>

<b>doing something weird and different. Kids</b>

<b>love different. They love things that are</b>

<b>weird. They were not in the textbook.</b>

<b>They're like, Miss, can't we go back to</b>

<b>the textbook? I really want to go back to</b>

<b>my desk and just write things. They're</b>

<b>not going to do it. They're going to be</b>

<b>with you. And then at the end, when</b>

<b>you're thinking, Oh my goodness, this</b>

<b>took so much energy. I know what the CI</b>

<b>program is. Send them back to their desks</b>

<b>and tell them to write it down. Right?</b>

<b>And they're going to, then they're going</b>

<b>to say, Oh, how do I spell this? How do I</b>

<b>spell that? That's okay. Every word they</b>

<b>ask you, just write it up on the board.</b>

<b>Just try it. So my shout out. If you're</b>

<b>stuck, either stick with what you know</b>

<b>and just start circling and triangulating</b>

<b>a little bit more. And if you are more</b>

<b>adventurous, write yourself a little ask</b>

<b>a story with what you want them to learn.</b>

<b>Make sure it shows up in the story</b>

<b>somehow or somewhere or some way.</b>

<b>Mine is, I like getting traditional in</b>

<b>that Halloween story. I like getting</b>

<b>traditional candy. Candy has to be</b>

<b>wrapped. Right? You know,</b>

<b>modern day, it has to be like.</b>

<b>And you're teaching culture.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Yep. So we get traditional, we get</b>

<b>typical, like typical Halloween costumes</b>

<b>and typical. She's a typical, responsible</b>

<b>daughter and, and anyway, we have</b>

<b>keywords. It doesn't matter. Whatever</b>

<b>your structure is, figure that out. And</b>

<b>then build and have fun with it and let</b>

<b>it be okay. And you know what? If you</b>

<b>spend two blocks on it and it's a total</b>

<b>disaster. First off, I promise you, it's</b>

<b>not a total disaster.</b>

<b>That's probably in your head. You tried</b>

<b>it. And then next time, because we are</b>

<b>who we are, you're going to think about</b>

<b>it. You're going to think, I'm going to</b>

<b>do it again. But you're going to get a</b>

<b>few more skills out of it.</b>

<b>Absolutely. And I'll add to that. My two</b>

<b>things. One of them is not my own idea. I</b>

<b>got it from Susie Gross many, many years</b>

<b>ago, the wisest woman that I know in CI.</b>

<b>And I try to get her to come on with us</b>

<b>this year. I'm too old. Nobody can</b>

<b>benefit from my knowledge. I'm like, Oh,</b>

<b>no, you're aren't too old. Number one.</b>

<b>And yes, people can</b>

<b>benefit from your knowledge.</b>

<b>She said, because I don't understand this</b>

<b>because I was a I just jumped right in</b>

<b>100%. I gave up a textbook completely and</b>

<b>went right in. But I know most people are</b>

<b>not like that. So she said replace one</b>

<b>activity a week with a CI activity.</b>

<b>Just look in your way. What you're going</b>

<b>to do that week. Find either modify it to</b>

<b>make it more CI, or if it's not doable,</b>

<b>you can't modify it, make it CI. Take it</b>

<b>completely out and put in an easy CI</b>

<b>activity that you can put in the place.</b>

<b>Maybe it's just conversations. Maybe</b>

<b>that's all that it is. Maybe it's a</b>

<b>picture talk. That's all you can do.</b>

<b>That's fine. And then as you master that</b>

<b>activity, it may take you a couple weeks.</b>

<b>It may take you a couple months. Then you</b>

<b>add, you take out another activity and</b>

<b>you replace it with another CI activity.</b>

<b>So eventually you'll start going, you</b>

<b>know, from 90 10 to 20 80 to 30 70 to 40</b>

<b>60 to 50 50. And then now you're mostly</b>

<b>CI because you're going 60</b>

<b>40. And then you're going 70 30.</b>

<b>And a really good book, and I think he</b>

<b>still makes it if you go to ben</b>

<b>slavik.com is TPRS in a year.</b>

<b>The idea is that you add one other</b>

<b>strategy and over a course of a year</b>

<b>you'll have become a TPRS</b>

<b>teacher. It may not take.</b>

<b>It may take you longer than a year.</b>

<b>That's okay. It doesn't really matter</b>

<b>that it's just a cute title TPRS in a</b>

<b>year. But as you do it, and I'm gonna put</b>

<b>Ben slavik slavik.com in the chat, put it</b>

<b>up there so people can see it.</b>

<b>The point is you're doing it slowly. And</b>

<b>once you master a technique, a strategy,</b>

<b>then you can add something else instead</b>

<b>of trying to add all of it and everything</b>

<b>be new and be overwhelming to you.</b>

<b>My second is kind of a thing and</b>

<b>piggyback off what Vicki's already said</b>

<b>about your story. But let's say you're</b>

<b>you don't think you're creative enough to</b>

<b>come up with your story. I have my simple</b>

<b>framework and I'll</b>

<b>type it in here as well.</b>

<b>It's a four point framework character.</b>

<b>If I can type two is problem.</b>

<b>Three is failure.</b>

<b>And four is success. This is how every</b>

<b>story in the world, regardless of</b>

<b>language, regardless of platform, whether</b>

<b>it's a story, an oral story, a written</b>

<b>story, a commercial, a movie, a TV</b>

<b>program, is a story.</b>

<b>It doesn't matter. Everything follows</b>

<b>this this formula. And I was just</b>

<b>watching some I love 70s disaster movies</b>

<b>and I was watching them</b>

<b>and I'm seeing it here.</b>

<b>The characters in the first 15 to 20</b>

<b>minutes of the movie, they give you some</b>

<b>kind of historic problem, the disaster</b>

<b>that comes in and all the times they try</b>

<b>to fix the disaster</b>

<b>and fail miserably at it.</b>

<b>So there might be multiple step threes in</b>

<b>there and then you finally find something</b>

<b>that works and that's when the movie</b>

<b>ends. So it's the same kind of thing in</b>

<b>everything that you do. So you can if you</b>

<b>can't come up with that on your own.</b>

<b>And that means you only have four</b>

<b>sentences. There there is a boy. He has a</b>

<b>problem and say what the problem is. He</b>

<b>tries to solve this problem but fails and</b>

<b>then he tries to solve the problem</b>

<b>succeeds. If that's too much for you.</b>

<b>What I always call the stories with</b>

<b>training wheels is a movie talk. Movie</b>

<b>talk for the win or a comic strip because</b>

<b>I turn my movie talks</b>

<b>into a comic strip anyway.</b>

<b>So you might work from a comic strip.</b>

<b>Just take away all the text and just work</b>

<b>from the pictures or you can do what I</b>

<b>do. Take a movie talk. Take a two to</b>

<b>three minute video you find on YouTube.</b>

<b>Take screenshots of the most poignant</b>

<b>parts. Talk about those. There's your</b>

<b>story and at the end is a reward. Let him</b>

<b>watch the video and that way you've done</b>

<b>it. You don't have to</b>

<b>come up with anything.</b>

<b>The story is there for you. All you have</b>

<b>to do is ask the questions. So that's</b>

<b>another way that you can start slowly in</b>

<b>there and get the kids engaged.</b>

<b>And I just find stories that are going to</b>

<b>be pertaining interesting to my students.</b>

<b>I'm not looking. I'm going to teach</b>

<b>family vocabulary. Let me find a family</b>

<b>story because no then then the kids know</b>

<b>that you're teaching them rather than</b>

<b>just doing the story.</b>

<b>I can put any vocabulary in a story.</b>

<b>Whatever I need to teach and because I</b>

<b>work with high frequency words anything I</b>

<b>put up on the screen is going to have</b>

<b>those high frequency is has wants goes</b>

<b>all that stuff is in</b>

<b>every story you find.</b>

<b>But if I need to teach family vocabulary</b>

<b>that week instead of making there is a</b>

<b>boy there is a brother.</b>

<b>And does he have a mom and a dad or just</b>

<b>a mom or just a dad or two dads and two</b>

<b>or two moms is one dad a step dad and one</b>

<b>dad's a real you know I can bring all of</b>

<b>that in without even trying and using the</b>

<b>same story and maybe next year this story</b>

<b>comes up during the food</b>

<b>chapter and not the family chapter.</b>

<b>Family chapter. Well I can say there is a</b>

<b>boy. What's his favorite foods. What is</b>

<b>he like to eat for breath. You can do</b>

<b>anything you want with the story that's</b>

<b>there. So those are the two things I</b>

<b>would suggest take one</b>

<b>activity swap it out.</b>

<b>And if you want to do a story do a movie</b>

<b>talk or comic strip but if you do a comic</b>

<b>strip take away all the text.</b>

<b>It doesn't matter what language the comic</b>

<b>strip was originally in because you're</b>

<b>taking away the text anyway and you can</b>

<b>just tell the story. I like to use for</b>

<b>movie talks animated shorts. I go on</b>

<b>YouTube and I search animated shorts.</b>

<b>They're usually two to four minutes in</b>

<b>length. They have very</b>

<b>minimal language in them if at all.</b>

<b>But they'll have sound effects and</b>

<b>they'll have music in the background and</b>

<b>I leave that in there but they don't have</b>

<b>any dialogue or any language in there so</b>

<b>it's perfect. You can teach Mandarin with</b>

<b>it. You can teach Russian with it Spanish</b>

<b>French English doesn't matter because</b>

<b>there's no language in there.</b>

<b>So that's what I like and I look for ones</b>

<b>that I think my kids are going to be</b>

<b>interested in. Like right now my kids are</b>

<b>all about TikTok. So I go and look for</b>

<b>animated shorts with TikTok in them and</b>

<b>then the kids have to get</b>

<b>more engagement that way.</b>

<b>I laugh a little bit at the oh I have to</b>

<b>do a food unit. You can get that in</b>

<b>anyway. I do a story often in early</b>

<b>October called Ian. It's a movie talk.</b>

<b>And the first time I ever watched and so</b>

<b>if you're listening and you're wondering</b>

<b>what is it? It's search CGI</b>

<b>animation Ian or Ian IAN CGI.</b>

<b>The first time I ever watched I thought</b>

<b>what am I going to do with this or am I</b>

<b>going to use it because the kid goes</b>

<b>flying backwards and shatters into a</b>

<b>million pieces in the fence. What do I do with that? That's kind of traumatic.</b>

<b>But there's so much you can do with it.</b>

<b>And then over the years we build the</b>

<b>story. I dove in pretty quick and hard</b>

<b>once I actually decided to switch and try</b>

<b>and just go. I tried to go from like 90</b>

<b>knot CI to 10 percent CI like from that</b>

<b>to like almost a total flip</b>

<b>to like 90 CI and 10 knot.</b>

<b>It's kind of funny too I laugh because if</b>

<b>what you're giving the students isn't</b>

<b>comprehensible, what's the point? But</b>

<b>with that if I use that back to Ian over</b>

<b>the years you know you build up the story</b>

<b>and I have a book form for it.</b>

<b>Right. I just I took the story that we</b>

<b>wrote and I cleaned it up and I make sure</b>

<b>we've got the repetition of the language</b>

<b>in there. The vocabulary is given</b>

<b>multiple. They get multiple exposed</b>

<b>multiple points of</b>

<b>exposure to the words in there.</b>

<b>And then when we're all done the movie</b>

<b>talk part of it and they've done their</b>

<b>quick right and they've</b>

<b>learned exclusion exclusion.</b>

<b>Yes, they students said he's excluded. It</b>

<b>took me a while before I actually figured</b>

<b>out I hadn't actually taught them left</b>

<b>out. He's left out like he's excluded.</b>

<b>He's being left out.</b>

<b>They need to include him.</b>

<b>So there was that. And then in the end I</b>

<b>give it to them in a book form and</b>

<b>they're like, oh, here's an actual like</b>

<b>like because a book is</b>

<b>always so much more formal.</b>

<b>You can present the different formats to</b>

<b>them and all the kids are on the</b>

<b>playground. So where are the parents?</b>

<b>Well, the parents aren't there. Why</b>

<b>aren't the parents there? You know, oh,</b>

<b>it's independent time</b>

<b>or there's playtime.</b>

<b>You know, you can bring in all of that</b>

<b>vocabulary, whatever you need. But the</b>

<b>rest of it just comes up.</b>

<b>Yeah, I always go for the interest</b>

<b>because I always see like on Facebook</b>

<b>groups who were saying I need a picture</b>

<b>talk about family or some other obscure</b>

<b>thematic topic. And I'm like, go for the</b>

<b>interest. You can always add the thematic</b>

<b>stuff in as you go along.</b>

<b>You don't need to find because it's going</b>

<b>to be really boring if you find a video</b>

<b>just on food. You're just going to or on</b>

<b>family. It's going to</b>

<b>be very, very boring.</b>

<b>But if you find another story that's more</b>

<b>engaging to them and then bring it in and</b>

<b>bring on the vocabulary you have to</b>

<b>teach, it's much more engaging that way</b>

<b>than trying to force</b>

<b>feed them the vocabulary.</b>

<b>And then they know that you're trying to</b>

<b>teach them something where if they go,</b>

<b>oh, we're just watching a fun video and</b>

<b>he happens to be talking about it in</b>

<b>Spanish, you know, we're not really learning anything.</b>

<b>We're just my kids always say we haven't</b>

<b>done anything in class today. We didn't</b>

<b>learn anything. I'm like, really? Really?</b>

<b>It's because it just doesn't look like</b>

<b>traditional work, like traditional</b>

<b>classes where teacher teaches something,</b>

<b>kids do work, kids turn something in.</b>

<b>You know, it's not that standard type of</b>

<b>a thing. Well, we are over time. Is there</b>

<b>anything that you want to just part</b>

<b>everybody with today?</b>

<b>Just try it. Just try it. Yes,</b>

<b>absolutely. Absolutely. So I want to</b>

<b>thank you for joining us today and let's</b>

<b>get ready for our output here today. So</b>

<b>that is a wrap on today's</b>

<b>episode of comprehend this.</b>

<b>Thanks for hanging out with us and</b>

<b>pretending you're grading while you're</b>

<b>listening. I see you.</b>

<b>Huge thanks to our guest, Vicki Schrader</b>

<b>for keeping it real and reminding us that</b>

<b>CI doesn't have to be</b>

<b>perfect. It just has to be human.</b>

<b>If you got a laugh, a new idea, or just</b>

<b>felt a little less alone in the chaos, do</b>

<b>me a favor, subscribe, leave a review and</b>

<b>share this episode with that one teacher</b>

<b>who still thinks grammar</b>

<b>drills build character.</b>

<b>You can watch us live on YouTube or catch</b>

<b>the replay anytime on your favorite</b>

<b>podcast app because we know you're</b>

<b>multitasking anyway.</b>

<b>And remember, ditch the drills, trust the</b>

<b>process, and I'll see you next time on</b>

<b>comprehend this. Have</b>

<b>a good one, everybody.</b>

<b>My button's not working. Hello button.</b>

<b>Thank you.</b>