Checking for understanding in a CI classroom is harder than it looks - in this episode of Comprehend THIS!, we break down why the confident nod lies and how to actually know what your students understood.

You'll learn why kids fake comprehension, which comprehension checks quietly tell you nothing, and the low-key checks that reveal what really landed without turning your lesson into a test.

The most dangerous moment in a comprehensible input classroom is the thumbs-up that means nothing. This week Pamela Parks and I are joined by guest host Stephanie Carbonneau, a middle school French teacher from York, Maine with 28 years in a deskless, acquisition-driven room and strong opinions about which comprehension checks work. Pamela spent years as a professional translator before becoming a world language teacher, so she knows exactly what it looks like when someone nods along and understands nothing. We get into checking for understanding as an actual craft, the checks that feel productive but aren't, and one check you can build before the school year starts.

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Pamela Parks - https://imim.us/pamela

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<b>Good morning everybody and</b>

<b>welcome to episode number 35.</b>

<b>You asked the class if</b>

<b>they got it, they nodded.</b>

<b>You believed them.</b>

<b>That was your first mistake.</b>

<b>This week, Pamela and I are joined by</b>

<b>Stephanie Carboneau, a</b>

<b>middle school French teacher</b>

<b>out of York, Maine, who's been running a</b>

<b>mostly deskless</b>

<b>acquisition driven room for 28 years</b>

<b>and has opinions about</b>

<b>comprehension checks.</b>

<b>Pamela spent a year as a professional</b>

<b>translator before teaching</b>

<b>so she knows exactly what</b>

<b>it looks like when someone smiles and</b>

<b>pretends to follow along.</b>

<b>Or that they always say yes to everything</b>

<b>because they have no</b>

<b>idea what you're saying.</b>

<b>Between the two of them, nobody at this</b>

<b>table is fooled by a thumbs up.</b>

<b>We're getting into the confident nod that</b>

<b>means absolutely nothing.</b>

<b>Why kids fake it instead of admitting</b>

<b>they're lost and the</b>

<b>checks you've been trusting</b>

<b>that have been quietly</b>

<b>lying to you for years.</b>

<b>If you ever moved on from a lesson</b>

<b>feeling great and gotten the</b>

<b>quiz back feeling betrayed,</b>

<b>this is the one for you.</b>

<b>We'll be back in just a short message.</b>

<b>Is it already August?</b>

<b>Again?</b>

<b>And you're supposed to have a fresh,</b>

<b>engaging, life changing</b>

<b>plan for the first week?</b>

<b>Cute.</b>

<b>Here's the deal.</b>

<b>Back to school boot</b>

<b>camp is your secret weapon.</b>

<b>Ten short, pre-recorded lessons you can</b>

<b>watch in pajamas while</b>

<b>hiding from your admin or</b>

<b>during that mysterious</b>

<b>planning period we keep hearing about.</b>

<b>You walk away with strategies, plans and</b>

<b>actual confidence, not</b>

<b>just a Pinterest board full</b>

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<b>Access it all for a full year.</b>

<b>Go to mm.us slash boot camp and get</b>

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<b>before the kids show up.</b>

<b>Welcome to comprehend this.</b>

<b>Real talk for real language teachers.</b>

<b>No drills, no dry theory, just honest</b>

<b>stories, practical ideas</b>

<b>and a reminder you're not</b>

<b>alone in the CI trenches.</b>

<b>Let's dive in.</b>

<b>Good morning and welcome to Pamela and</b>

<b>Stephanie this morning.</b>

<b>How is everybody doing</b>

<b>on this Sunday morning?</b>

<b>Good morning.</b>

<b>We're so happy to have Stephanie with us.</b>

<b>Yes, it's great to have her back.</b>

<b>She's been with us before, so it's been</b>

<b>amazing to have her back.</b>

<b>At least we've got someone representing</b>

<b>the East Coast this</b>

<b>morning coming from Maine</b>

<b>because both of us are West Coasters on</b>

<b>the other side of the country.</b>

<b>But that means it's really early for us</b>

<b>and much better for her.</b>

<b>Yeah, lunchtime.</b>

<b>Lunchtime.</b>

<b>I'm just getting up.</b>

<b>I get up at seven on these days.</b>

<b>So anything else you want to tell us</b>

<b>about yourself, Stephanie, before we go?</b>

<b>I also run a Mani Musicale.</b>

<b>I am the co-founder of a French Mani</b>

<b>Musicale that we had</b>

<b>7,000 schools participate last</b>

<b>year.</b>

<b>Awesome.</b>

<b>I love that.</b>

<b>That's awesome.</b>

<b>I'm a song person, but</b>

<b>I do mine differently.</b>

<b>I don't participate in the Spanish</b>

<b>version of that at all.</b>

<b>I never have.</b>

<b>Partly because, oh my gosh,</b>

<b>this is like a confession.</b>

<b>I should have my face blacked out for</b>

<b>what I'm about to say.</b>

<b>I don't listen to Spanish</b>

<b>or Hispanic music on my own.</b>

<b>I did when I was younger in my 20s, but</b>

<b>the kind of music I</b>

<b>listened to, I don't listen</b>

<b>to that music regularly.</b>

<b>I made a deal with myself as a kid that I</b>

<b>would never get stuck</b>

<b>in a decade or a time.</b>

<b>I'd always be up to date with</b>

<b>the music that I listened to.</b>

<b>So in the genre that I</b>

<b>listened to, I am up to date.</b>

<b>I am hearing the new</b>

<b>songs as they come out.</b>

<b>I'm not stuck in anything I've kept to</b>

<b>that, but the genre that I</b>

<b>listen to is not Hispanic</b>

<b>music, so I'm very</b>

<b>ignorant when it comes to that.</b>

<b>The songs I've been singing with my class</b>

<b>are songs that I got</b>

<b>from other teachers years</b>

<b>ago and I've been</b>

<b>using them for a long time.</b>

<b>Some of them, I treat it like it's a</b>

<b>brand new song, but it</b>

<b>came out in the early 2000s.</b>

<b>That's kind of what I've done.</b>

<b>I've stuck to it because it works and my</b>

<b>kids like the songs and</b>

<b>some of them they've heard</b>

<b>before somewhere else.</b>

<b>I don't know where they would have heard</b>

<b>them, but some of them</b>

<b>they're familiar with.</b>

<b>But yeah, I can't get into that.</b>

<b>I just can't get into that because we've</b>

<b>talked before, Pamela, if</b>

<b>I'm not into it, then my</b>

<b>kids aren't going to be into it either.</b>

<b>I don't do sports, so</b>

<b>I'm not a sports person.</b>

<b>So that idea of those competing, I always</b>

<b>go, "Well, because</b>

<b>America's Got Talent does</b>

<b>something similar at the end of the thing</b>

<b>where they just pair</b>

<b>them up and whoever wins</b>

<b>from the pair."</b>

<b>I'm like, "Well, that's not really fair</b>

<b>because if they had paired</b>

<b>up with someone else, they</b>

<b>might have won."</b>

<b>It's not like skill based.</b>

<b>It's just random based and that seems</b>

<b>kind of unfair and not</b>

<b>really skill based on there.</b>

<b>So that's not something I get into.</b>

<b>I would love to be able to be more, but</b>

<b>if I can't get behind</b>

<b>it, I can't ... I mean,</b>

<b>give me a Send Your Wooly song.</b>

<b>I can belt that out</b>

<b>like the best of them.</b>

<b>And the songs I've been</b>

<b>singing, I can belt them out.</b>

<b>I know them.</b>

<b>I've been singing them for years.</b>

<b>I know them by heart as we go along.</b>

<b>But yeah, I just not ...</b>

<b>I'm a strong believer in only doing what</b>

<b>you are comfortable with</b>

<b>because it's quite apparent</b>

<b>to the students.</b>

<b>I do movie talks and clip chats and that,</b>

<b>but I don't do any</b>

<b>story asking because I'm</b>

<b>not comfortable with that.</b>

<b>And anytime I've tried, it flops.</b>

<b>So I only ...</b>

<b>That was our last episode.</b>

<b>Well, Stephanie, I would like to</b>

<b>personally thank you</b>

<b>because I do Money Music Al and</b>

<b>my students love it so much.</b>

<b>I do it through Roxam, which is a music</b>

<b>learning app, and they</b>

<b>made it super easy for me to</b>

<b>just click on, "Oh, these</b>

<b>are the two songs today.</b>

<b>I'll just do that."</b>

<b>So I would like to personally thank you</b>

<b>for bringing that to my classroom.</b>

<b>So thank you.</b>

<b>You're welcome.</b>

<b>And I think that's a good thing,</b>

<b>Stephanie, that we all pick and choose.</b>

<b>Back in the early days of</b>

<b>CI, there was no choice.</b>

<b>All we had was TPRS and it was the story.</b>

<b>And it was PQA.</b>

<b>We've talked about this before.</b>

<b>PQA, for me, was difficult.</b>

<b>I didn't understand it.</b>

<b>They never demoed it</b>

<b>in any demonstrations.</b>

<b>So I skipped that part because I didn't</b>

<b>feel comfortable until</b>

<b>I read a book called PQA</b>

<b>and a Wink by Ben Slavik</b>

<b>and that got me into it.</b>

<b>So I do it now.</b>

<b>But now we have so many choices because</b>

<b>we didn't have movie talk back then.</b>

<b>We didn't have picture talk back then.</b>

<b>We didn't have any.</b>

<b>We didn't have "Sing</b>

<b>Your Woolly" back then.</b>

<b>I still use some of the songs I did back</b>

<b>then before "Sing Your Woolly."</b>

<b>Todd Hawkins is the guy that we used in</b>

<b>Spanish before that.</b>

<b>And he actually came to an</b>

<b>NTPRS and sang for us one time.</b>

<b>He's out of Indiana.</b>

<b>I still use some of his songs.</b>

<b>But now we have so many choices to give</b>

<b>comprehensible input to our</b>

<b>students that we don't have to</b>

<b>do things that we don't</b>

<b>feel comfortable with.</b>

<b>I do PQA.</b>

<b>I do stories.</b>

<b>I do picture talk.</b>

<b>And I do the traditional movie talk.</b>

<b>So I don't call it clip chat because I do</b>

<b>what the inventor originally said to do.</b>

<b>And he gave out a letter many</b>

<b>years ago before he retired.</b>

<b>Please stop calling what you do movie</b>

<b>talk because what you</b>

<b>do and what I do are not</b>

<b>the same thing.</b>

<b>And what he was really</b>

<b>talking about was targeted.</b>

<b>I'm doing a movie talk</b>

<b>and I've got to teach food.</b>

<b>So I need a food video clip.</b>

<b>He said that's not what movie talk is.</b>

<b>So that's where the clip</b>

<b>chat came from instead.</b>

<b>I do the movie talk where I just pick</b>

<b>something that's interesting to the kids.</b>

<b>It does not have to do with the</b>

<b>vocabulary at all necessarily.</b>

<b>But because I focus on high frequency</b>

<b>vocabulary, guess what?</b>

<b>Whatever I put up on the screen is going</b>

<b>to have high frequency vocabulary.</b>

<b>And so I do that and I kind of</b>

<b>do it as a break from stories.</b>

<b>After we've done a few stories, I'll do a</b>

<b>movie talk because it's not targeted</b>

<b>vocabulary at all.</b>

<b>So I still do the traditional movie talk.</b>

<b>But we have all these</b>

<b>choices and that's a great thing.</b>

<b>That is a great thing that we have.</b>

<b>And you can pick and choose.</b>

<b>So for those of you who might be on that</b>

<b>fence of going CI or banning the textbook</b>

<b>and doing something different, you don't</b>

<b>have to do everything.</b>

<b>Pick which what works for you and then</b>

<b>that will also be amazing.</b>

<b>Now, although I'm learning Maltese and I</b>

<b>just learned that Maltese is a category</b>

<b>for language and it is an ancient.</b>

<b>Yeah, for language,</b>

<b>which is the hardest ones.</b>

<b>It is an ancient Arabic dialect.</b>

<b>I do not read Arabic, so I apologize.</b>

<b>I've got someone up here</b>

<b>and she says, hello, everyone.</b>

<b>She is from Iran.</b>

<b>Wonderful.</b>

<b>Nice to have you.</b>

<b>Nice to have you.</b>

<b>Thanks for joining us.</b>

<b>So that might not even be Arabic.</b>

<b>I forgive me for not knowing the language</b>

<b>that that is spelled in.</b>

<b>But thank you for joining us.</b>

<b>We really appreciate it.</b>

<b>Oh, it is.</b>

<b>OK, perfect.</b>

<b>Perfect.</b>

<b>Yes, I'm learning Maltese, which has a</b>

<b>lot of Arabic words and all the grammar</b>

<b>comes from Arabic.</b>

<b>So and I just realized I was looking at</b>

<b>the other day and someone said that I</b>

<b>looked up and it said it was a category</b>

<b>four and I was like,</b>

<b>whoa, it's a category</b>

<b>four.</b>

<b>Oh, Farsi.</b>

<b>Farsi.</b>

<b>She's first language.</b>

<b>OK, so very interesting.</b>

<b>Anyway, let's get</b>

<b>started with today's topic.</b>

<b>I thought they spoke Farsi.</b>

<b>I thought that's what it was.</b>

<b>So thank you for correcting me.</b>

<b>She says he says Farsi is the language</b>

<b>that they're speaking.</b>

<b>So awesome.</b>

<b>Thank you so much.</b>

<b>OK, so we've got that most dangerous</b>

<b>moment in a CA</b>

<b>classroom is that confident</b>

<b>nod.</b>

<b>And I've been putting up some YouTube</b>

<b>videos about this lately because it's a</b>

<b>problem when kids just nod and you think</b>

<b>they're getting it and the problem with</b>

<b>assuming that they're getting it.</b>

<b>You think you're checking, you're doing</b>

<b>your comprehension</b>

<b>checks and if they don't</b>

<b>tell you the truth that they're lying to</b>

<b>you, you can go 20 minutes and then</b>

<b>realize way too late that the kids got</b>

<b>lost in minute three.</b>

<b>And so then you wasted</b>

<b>17 more minutes with that.</b>

<b>And so that's a problem.</b>

<b>And one of the things that I've been</b>

<b>working on really hard,</b>

<b>especially my level one</b>

<b>classes, which I found I've been talking</b>

<b>about this on my YouTube channel.</b>

<b>So if you want to hear more about that,</b>

<b>you can check some of the recent videos.</b>

<b>But don't ask open ended questions to</b>

<b>novices because they don't know.</b>

<b>I mean, they might know the answer, but</b>

<b>they don't either lack</b>

<b>the confidence to use the</b>

<b>words that they have to answer it and or</b>

<b>they don't have the</b>

<b>vocabulary that they think</b>

<b>they need to answer it because their idea</b>

<b>is going, I need to</b>

<b>say flies and I only know</b>

<b>how to say goes, but goes is not flies</b>

<b>and not thinking about</b>

<b>simplifying it along the</b>

<b>way.</b>

<b>So by giving them choices, it's a lot</b>

<b>easier for them to be able to answer.</b>

<b>Or if you ask if you're going to ask an</b>

<b>open ended question,</b>

<b>make sure there's only one</b>

<b>answer and it's not one that requires a</b>

<b>target language like</b>

<b>where are they target?</b>

<b>So then they can answer that really</b>

<b>easily because they don't</b>

<b>have to come up with and</b>

<b>say, oh, they're at the mall and I don't</b>

<b>know how to say the word mall.</b>

<b>So that's something that I have found</b>

<b>that works really, really well for me.</b>

<b>But I have made that mistake where I'm</b>

<b>assuming they're getting it.</b>

<b>They're telling me the nods are there.</b>

<b>They look like they're with me and</b>

<b>they're even lying in their</b>

<b>comprehension checks because</b>

<b>I'm not asking the right questions.</b>

<b>And so the questions I'm asking are blind</b>

<b>the actual true answer.</b>

<b>And then I find out too late.</b>

<b>Usually by the end of the period, I'm</b>

<b>like, oh, crap, they</b>

<b>didn't understand a word.</b>

<b>And they're all going, yep, we understand</b>

<b>because one of the</b>

<b>questions we always ask</b>

<b>is, do you understand?</b>

<b>And they just say, yes.</b>

<b>Of course they are.</b>

<b>So this is a typical</b>

<b>effective filter problem, right?</b>

<b>Where everybody I mean, this is a</b>

<b>foundational theory of linguistics.</b>

<b>You have this little voice in your head</b>

<b>that says, I'm going to</b>

<b>sound really stupid if</b>

<b>I say are allowed.</b>

<b>So oh, you know what?</b>

<b>I just won't say are allowed and nobody's</b>

<b>going to laugh at me.</b>

<b>And then what happens is, of course,</b>

<b>you've never learned to</b>

<b>say are ever because you're</b>

<b>not practicing it.</b>

<b>So this is I mean, this is so typical</b>

<b>when you're asking the</b>

<b>students, OK, did you get</b>

<b>it?</b>

<b>Of course they're going to say yes</b>

<b>because they don't want to look bad.</b>

<b>And it's not just our classrooms.</b>

<b>I think this is a real</b>

<b>societal problem right now.</b>

<b>We have a lot of students</b>

<b>who are just afraid of failure.</b>

<b>And so we have to make</b>

<b>our classrooms a safe place.</b>

<b>We have to model failure.</b>

<b>We have to explain why failure is</b>

<b>important in the</b>

<b>learning process, especially in</b>

<b>language learning.</b>

<b>And if we can just get our kids over</b>

<b>themselves, they'll do</b>

<b>better in all their classes, I</b>

<b>think.</b>

<b>Well, and you know,</b>

<b>it's very interesting.</b>

<b>I'm not a salesperson, but I've when I</b>

<b>watch videos before I'm</b>

<b>about to buy a car, I always</b>

<b>watch car videos so that I can learn how</b>

<b>to deal with the stupid</b>

<b>salespeople because they</b>

<b>have all these tricks.</b>

<b>One of the tricks that they do is they</b>

<b>start asking you easy</b>

<b>questions that you say naturally</b>

<b>say yes to because if they get you saying</b>

<b>yes on easy things,</b>

<b>you're more likely to say</b>

<b>yes because it's easier.</b>

<b>Plus, kids always default to that</b>

<b>whenever you ask them anything.</b>

<b>It could be an either or question.</b>

<b>They go see or we or yeah, you know, they</b>

<b>answer and like that</b>

<b>wasn't a yes or no question</b>

<b>because they feel comfortable with that.</b>

<b>So I think it's a universal thing that we</b>

<b>want to agree and be on</b>

<b>the right side of things.</b>

<b>And so that goes in there</b>

<b>and they don't understand.</b>

<b>I try to stress how important it is to</b>

<b>let me know when you don't understand.</b>

<b>I actually reward those questions about I</b>

<b>don't understand</b>

<b>something or slow me down.</b>

<b>Participation points.</b>

<b>I give them five whole points for that</b>

<b>for those questions.</b>

<b>I really want them to</b>

<b>realize this is important.</b>

<b>It's such an important thing.</b>

<b>And we also do the same thing.</b>

<b>We ask what's the question they say.</b>

<b>Oh, are there any questions?</b>

<b>And they nobody will</b>

<b>ever raise their hand.</b>

<b>And so they say to rephrase that question</b>

<b>to what questions do you have?</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And then you're more likely to get hands</b>

<b>up at that point when you do it that way.</b>

<b>So just rephrasing what we</b>

<b>say really, really does help.</b>

<b>What about you, Stephanie?</b>

<b>What's your perspective?</b>

<b>I agree.</b>

<b>I teach middle school.</b>

<b>So students in middle school are very</b>

<b>self-conscious about</b>

<b>not knowing the answer,</b>

<b>looking dumb in front</b>

<b>of their classmates.</b>

<b>So I do a lot of board scaffolding.</b>

<b>I have a lot of vocabulary and things</b>

<b>that we've been using on the board.</b>

<b>There's no English, but the structures</b>

<b>and things are the words that we've been</b>

<b>working with or targeting in that.</b>

<b>Quick chat or they're in the board so</b>

<b>that when I ask a question, they have</b>

<b>something to default to.</b>

<b>Give them a little bit more confidence.</b>

<b>They have to know what those words mean.</b>

<b>So that's a good way for me to see if</b>

<b>they actually know what those words are.</b>

<b>And I've instituted recently Ask a Friend</b>

<b>policy, almost like</b>

<b>remember that show, Call a Friend.</b>

<b>Oh, yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>They have to ask that</b>

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

<b>And then the target language.</b>

<b>Yep.</b>

<b>And then they can ask a friend, but the</b>

<b>friend doesn't give the answer.</b>

<b>They still have to give the answer.</b>

<b>So they've consulted with somebody and</b>

<b>then they can give the answer.</b>

<b>You don't want to let them off the hook.</b>

<b>You want to pressure them.</b>

<b>They've got that support.</b>

<b>They've got the board support.</b>

<b>And again, it's just building that</b>

<b>environment where kids</b>

<b>are comfortable, you know,</b>

<b>and I do a lot of think, pair, share</b>

<b>before calling or</b>

<b>asking questions to kids.</b>

<b>That helps a lot.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>I love your no opt out technique where</b>

<b>you're having them ask in the target</b>

<b>language and then I'm assuming they're</b>

<b>going to give it in the target language</b>

<b>and then you go back to that original</b>

<b>student and hey, you</b>

<b>were the one I called out.</b>

<b>You need to answer now.</b>

<b>Yeah, that is, that's beautiful.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>I like that.</b>

<b>So going your student levels, you know,</b>

<b>like asking a question to, you know, a</b>

<b>simpler question to a student who can</b>

<b>only provide that simple answer.</b>

<b>And then, you know, I won't say</b>

<b>delegating, but like picking who is</b>

<b>answering the questions to help.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Sure.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>I call that always asking the right</b>

<b>question to the right</b>

<b>student at the right time.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>So that differentiation piece comes in.</b>

<b>People think differentiation is creating</b>

<b>something new for each different student.</b>

<b>And that's not necessarily that's a lot</b>

<b>of work, but I can adapt what I'm already</b>

<b>doing and he asks your yes and no</b>

<b>questions to your lower, your slower</b>

<b>processing students.</b>

<b>And then you can ask your who, what,</b>

<b>where, while the simple one word answer</b>

<b>questions to your mid-level students, you</b>

<b>know, they can answer who</b>

<b>and they can answer what.</b>

<b>But they can't necessarily answer the how</b>

<b>or the why because those generally</b>

<b>require more language.</b>

<b>And so I'll put those on, you know, that</b>

<b>I'll ask that for my super flyers.</b>

<b>But like you, Stephanie said, I also</b>

<b>scaffold, but remember I, well, we talked</b>

<b>about this before we went on air.</b>

<b>I run my classroom from a slide deck.</b>

<b>So I don't have to</b>

<b>remember what we're doing.</b>

<b>I don't have to look at the agenda on the</b>

<b>board because all I do</b>

<b>is go, what am I doing?</b>

<b>Oh, click the next slide.</b>

<b>It tells me exactly what I'm doing.</b>

<b>If I have to make an announcement like if</b>

<b>they called me in first period and said</b>

<b>in second period, will you tell Johnny</b>

<b>that he's got to come to</b>

<b>the office right before lunch?</b>

<b>I'll forget that.</b>

<b>So I make a slide and I put it up there</b>

<b>and I was like, why is</b>

<b>my name on the board?</b>

<b>I love it.</b>

<b>I'm like, because I got to remind myself</b>

<b>I'm old and I might have the wrinkles</b>

<b>like an elephant, but I don't have the</b>

<b>memory like an elephant.</b>

<b>So I put I put all</b>

<b>that stuff on the board.</b>

<b>So when I do a movie talk or I do a</b>

<b>story, I have the key vocabulary, like</b>

<b>you said, instead of on my</b>

<b>board, I have it right up there.</b>

<b>So it's there and I can use my board for</b>

<b>other things, but I have it on the screen</b>

<b>for them as that scaffolding that they</b>

<b>may or may not need.</b>

<b>And the kids don't realize it.</b>

<b>And I'll tell you one thing that I</b>

<b>learned years ago and you we've all</b>

<b>experienced this because on a test, the</b>

<b>answer will be</b>

<b>somewhere on one of the walls.</b>

<b>And then one of the one of the perceived</b>

<b>really smart kids, the kids</b>

<b>who always get the A plus.</b>

<b>They raise their hands and goes, we</b>

<b>didn't have this word</b>

<b>or I don't remember this.</b>

<b>That question was unfair.</b>

<b>And then one of the slower processors</b>

<b>goes, it's on the board, dummy.</b>

<b>Yeah. And then they're like, oh, you're</b>

<b>like, it's true because the the lower</b>

<b>like I always tell kids, the kids who</b>

<b>turn to be doctors and lawyers are not</b>

<b>the A and B students from high school.</b>

<b>Those are the C students because C</b>

<b>students actually learn to study.</b>

<b>They had to to keep maintain those C's.</b>

<b>I was one of those A.B. students.</b>

<b>I aced through high school.</b>

<b>No problem. I never took a note.</b>

<b>I never studied.</b>

<b>That's it. When I got to college, I had</b>

<b>to adapt really quickly.</b>

<b>And a lot of A students don't.</b>

<b>I learned how to take notes in college.</b>

<b>And so then they drop out.</b>

<b>But those C students already had those</b>

<b>study skills so they can study and learn</b>

<b>to become doctors and lawyers and all</b>

<b>those top professions.</b>

<b>But what slower processors do or anybody</b>

<b>in a week who's weak in a subject area</b>

<b>like me math, we look for</b>

<b>those resources around the room.</b>

<b>We are desperately looking for help and</b>

<b>we use that help as our own scaffolding.</b>

<b>So the kid who was a slower processor saw</b>

<b>the word on the board because he was</b>

<b>using or she was using all the resources</b>

<b>around the room where the top kids</b>

<b>generally don't</b>

<b>require those scaffolding.</b>

<b>Even though it's there, they</b>

<b>don't take advantage of it.</b>

<b>And so I think that's also a really good</b>

<b>thing that we have it up there.</b>

<b>And we got a great question here.</b>

<b>We'll answer in just a second.</b>

<b>And then I'll point like if I know that</b>

<b>the the the slower processor is having</b>

<b>trouble with the even a yes or no answer,</b>

<b>I will just point and nobody else in the</b>

<b>room will notice I'm</b>

<b>pointing at the right answer.</b>

<b>But all the slower processors know I'm</b>

<b>pointing at the right answer because</b>

<b>they're always looking for that help.</b>

<b>And so it makes them look smart or as a</b>

<b>faster processor than they actually are</b>

<b>just because of that scaffolding.</b>

<b>Well, and that's differentiation.</b>

<b>Yeah, you're going to give your kids a</b>

<b>chat, Matt, or you've got it on the board</b>

<b>or you've got your word</b>

<b>wall or all three of those.</b>

<b>Those are all good to have.</b>

<b>The high flyers, they're</b>

<b>not going to glance at it.</b>

<b>They're going to take whatever handout</b>

<b>you gave them and shove it in their</b>

<b>backpack and they're</b>

<b>never going to look at it.</b>

<b>The middle of the road students, they</b>

<b>just need something in</b>

<b>their hand to feel confident.</b>

<b>They just need to know it's there.</b>

<b>Maybe they'll glance down,</b>

<b>but they won't actually read it.</b>

<b>They just kind of need</b>

<b>to feel that it's there.</b>

<b>And then your slower processors, they're</b>

<b>going to be reading the word wall.</b>

<b>They're going to be</b>

<b>looking at the chat, Matt.</b>

<b>They're going to be looking at the board</b>

<b>and whatever pictures you put up there to</b>

<b>scaffold and everything.</b>

<b>And it's self selection</b>

<b>and it's differentiation.</b>

<b>And it's not cheating to have the answers</b>

<b>up during a test, during an</b>

<b>assignment, during an activity.</b>

<b>It's not cheating.</b>

<b>It's the students selecting at what level</b>

<b>of scaffold they need.</b>

<b>It's perfect.</b>

<b>I found that when I switched my agenda to</b>

<b>being in English and really detailing</b>

<b>what was going to happen in class, the</b>

<b>comprehension changed.</b>

<b>They knew that we were going to do a</b>

<b>running dictation around this topic.</b>

<b>So I trained them to come</b>

<b>in and read that agenda.</b>

<b>And once class started, that agenda went</b>

<b>away, but they at least have an</b>

<b>inclination of what was going to happen,</b>

<b>which really, really helps the</b>

<b>comprehension later.</b>

<b>And, you know, even if they only had a</b>

<b>vague idea, they knew where I was going.</b>

<b>Yeah, that's very true because I learned</b>

<b>my very first year teaching the hard way</b>

<b>to always give my instructions in English</b>

<b>because I was teaching Japanese for and</b>

<b>we were playing a game.</b>

<b>And it's like we were two minutes into</b>

<b>the game and I saw one of the students in</b>

<b>the corner crying</b>

<b>because, again, effective filter.</b>

<b>She didn't want to admit that she didn't</b>

<b>understand the instructions and she</b>

<b>didn't know what everyone was doing now.</b>

<b>And I was like, oh, man, I just totally</b>

<b>now she shut down her</b>

<b>effective filters really high.</b>

<b>And now I have to work</b>

<b>extra hard from now on.</b>

<b>I'm only given instructions in English.</b>

<b>So that sounds like the exact same thing</b>

<b>you're doing by giving</b>

<b>your agenda in English.</b>

<b>I still give my instructions in the</b>

<b>target language, but they</b>

<b>have seen them and read them.</b>

<b>And then we have a</b>

<b>couple of signals in class.</b>

<b>Students will do this if they are not</b>

<b>following what I'm saying and they are</b>

<b>trained to if they see someone else do</b>

<b>this, they should all do this because</b>

<b>more than likely there are other people.</b>

<b>And then I always have a few students who</b>

<b>no matter how many times I've gone the</b>

<b>directions, even after somebody's done</b>

<b>this, they're still lost.</b>

<b>And our other signal is when we break up</b>

<b>to do the activity,</b>

<b>they kind of just do this.</b>

<b>And I will come over to see them and help</b>

<b>them out another level, you know, because</b>

<b>they sometimes need that.</b>

<b>Yeah. And I'll say I had a brilliant one</b>

<b>like instead of this,</b>

<b>I love Scott's idea.</b>

<b>I was just so I have</b>

<b>them stomped, stomping.</b>

<b>Yeah, stomping on the floor or slapping</b>

<b>their desk if they have a desk because my</b>

<b>back might be turned to one particular</b>

<b>part of the room and I don't want them</b>

<b>with their hand up and me</b>

<b>not noticing for even a minute.</b>

<b>I want to know right away.</b>

<b>So I have them stomp. It</b>

<b>makes it a little bit easier.</b>

<b>Plus, I learned at an NTP or one of our</b>

<b>we had there was a panel going in was</b>

<b>kind of embarrassed because the symbol</b>

<b>that she chose to use was</b>

<b>offensive in another culture.</b>

<b>And so you never know what the culture is</b>

<b>and what's going on with that.</b>

<b>Stomping or slapping, I can't you know,</b>

<b>it probably is offensive in</b>

<b>some culture, too, for something.</b>

<b>I don't know, but at least it's something</b>

<b>that we can recognize and</b>

<b>I can do from the sound.</b>

<b>And then there's something else I was</b>

<b>going to point I</b>

<b>should have written it down.</b>

<b>And I forgot what I was going to say, but</b>

<b>it would go crazy with that.</b>

<b>But that's what they all are.</b>

<b>Well, while you're trying to think about</b>

<b>it, I like the stomping also because the</b>

<b>kids just kind of need a little more</b>

<b>movement and that woke them up.</b>

<b>So, yeah, I thought</b>

<b>that was a brilliant idea.</b>

<b>And I started doing that as soon as you</b>

<b>told me about it last year. Yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah, it's it's all the instructions.</b>

<b>I was going to say, for me, my rule is</b>

<b>and it's nothing to do</b>

<b>with teaching languages.</b>

<b>It has to do with saving my job is</b>

<b>instructions and discipline are always</b>

<b>given in English because let's say a kid</b>

<b>did not get a good grade on an assignment</b>

<b>because they didn't</b>

<b>understand the direction.</b>

<b>And then the parent goes and complains,</b>

<b>but he didn't understand the directions,</b>

<b>even though you know full well that they</b>

<b>did because you've</b>

<b>always done it that way.</b>

<b>The principal is going to side with the</b>

<b>parent on that side and then you're going</b>

<b>to have this, you know, a little problem</b>

<b>or the same thing with discipline.</b>

<b>If I told the kid to be quiet in Spanish</b>

<b>and he says, well, I didn't understand</b>

<b>and he kept on talking and he got more</b>

<b>escalate and trouble, the parents are</b>

<b>going to say, but he didn't understand</b>

<b>what you're saying, even though you know</b>

<b>full well that he did.</b>

<b>So assessments, I always do, you know,</b>

<b>the directions in English.</b>

<b>Scott, you said we had a</b>

<b>question from our viewers.</b>

<b>Yes, we're going to answer because we</b>

<b>just lost Stephanie sound.</b>

<b>So we'll let her come back in just a</b>

<b>minute because she's moving.</b>

<b>We'll let her get</b>

<b>situated wherever she's going.</b>

<b>Here's our question.</b>

<b>And it's a really good one.</b>

<b>What is the difference between learning</b>

<b>and acquiring a language?</b>

<b>So Pamela, why don't you start?</b>

<b>I'll give my idea in a moment and we'll</b>

<b>let Stephanie go in on it as well.</b>

<b>But give us your idea on that.</b>

<b>Well, ideally, the end</b>

<b>result is going to be the same.</b>

<b>Learning, to me, implies a little more</b>

<b>regimented of these are the steps and</b>

<b>acquiring, to me, implies a little more.</b>

<b>And you're just kind of</b>

<b>picking it up by osmosis.</b>

<b>So that's like in a nutshell.</b>

<b>But ideally, they're both going to get</b>

<b>you at the end result.</b>

<b>Stephanie, do you have an opinion on it?</b>

<b>For me, acquiring is what remains after</b>

<b>all the lessons have gone through and</b>

<b>they retain when we</b>

<b>move on to something else.</b>

<b>That's a good definition.</b>

<b>Otherwise, they're just</b>

<b>learning for that segment.</b>

<b>And you know if they've acquired it, if</b>

<b>you move on to something else and they</b>

<b>can still use those</b>

<b>structures, those verbs, those words.</b>

<b>And I'm going to come at this from a</b>

<b>completely different aspect because I</b>

<b>don't think that they.</b>

<b>They're related, but</b>

<b>they're distant cousins.</b>

<b>Because for me, learning is</b>

<b>learning about the language.</b>

<b>It's on the linguistic side.</b>

<b>You're analyzing it, which</b>

<b>to me is very interesting.</b>

<b>I've watched this guy on YouTube.</b>

<b>He does shorts and it is amazing.</b>

<b>He's talking like I never</b>

<b>knew why, like in French,</b>

<b>cry starts with a P, but in Spanish, it</b>

<b>starts with a double L.</b>

<b>Double L?</b>

<b>Uh huh.</b>

<b>So.</b>

<b>What did he say?</b>

<b>Well, he said there's the</b>

<b>sounds back in the old times.</b>

<b>They couldn't pronounce certain sounds.</b>

<b>And so it sounded more like this.</b>

<b>So when they brought it into the</b>

<b>language, the sound interpreted it from</b>

<b>this particular way.</b>

<b>And you see it because in almost all the</b>

<b>European languages, the word for cry</b>

<b>starts with the letter</b>

<b>P, but not in Spanish.</b>

<b>And then same thing with the letter C,</b>

<b>it's these initial constants that have</b>

<b>changed in some of them because in</b>

<b>Spanish, it starts the key.</b>

<b>The word key is double L, but in most</b>

<b>other languages, it starts with a C or a</b>

<b>C sound, a sound in</b>

<b>there, even from Latin.</b>

<b>So that's where a lot</b>

<b>of this stuff comes from.</b>

<b>But he talks about a lot of these</b>

<b>different relationships and how, like</b>

<b>even from Arabic going to Spanish, how</b>

<b>some of the sounds, the Arabs could not</b>

<b>pronounce some of the Spanish letters.</b>

<b>And so they kind of mimic them.</b>

<b>And so they developed into two different</b>

<b>sounds in Spanish</b>

<b>when they put it back in.</b>

<b>So it's just really interesting.</b>

<b>I really learned a lot from.</b>

<b>So it's the linguistics part.</b>

<b>And the acquiring is</b>

<b>what we do naturally.</b>

<b>It's the passive part.</b>

<b>The learning a language is the active</b>

<b>part, the active conscious.</b>

<b>But then the acquiring is the passive.</b>

<b>Now, here's the part that I</b>

<b>disagree with some of you on.</b>

<b>I don't think that you</b>

<b>can learn a language.</b>

<b>I don't think that if you study the</b>

<b>vocabulary and you study the grammar</b>

<b>rules, that you are going to come out on</b>

<b>the other side, you being</b>

<b>able to use that language</b>

<b>in any real natural way.</b>

<b>So for me, this is my</b>

<b>analogy I always use.</b>

<b>And I think it really explains it well.</b>

<b>The difference for me is being able to</b>

<b>build or fix a car versus</b>

<b>being able to drive a car.</b>

<b>Are they related?</b>

<b>Yes.</b>

<b>They're distant cousins because a car is</b>

<b>involved in both of them.</b>

<b>But just because you know how to build a</b>

<b>car and you know how to fix a car, so you</b>

<b>know all the parts and what they're</b>

<b>called and where they go.</b>

<b>So you've got vocabulary, the name of the</b>

<b>grammar things, the syntax, all of that</b>

<b>does not mean you can get</b>

<b>behind the wheel and drive it.</b>

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

<b>It's not the same thing.</b>

<b>And so I may know all the grammar endings</b>

<b>and I may know all the rules and I may</b>

<b>know a whole lot of vocabulary.</b>

<b>But putting them together into a</b>

<b>functional car does not mean I can</b>

<b>actually drive it by itself.</b>

<b>So the driving is the other part where</b>

<b>you can get into a car and not know what</b>

<b>any of the parts are called.</b>

<b>I press on this one pedal and it goes and</b>

<b>I press on this other pedal and it stops</b>

<b>and I look in the mirror and I can see</b>

<b>behind myself and I take this thing and I</b>

<b>stick it in this hole and I turn it or I</b>

<b>press a button nowadays.</b>

<b>And it goes.</b>

<b>You don't have to know the different</b>

<b>parts to be able to drive a car.</b>

<b>So they're related, but they're not one</b>

<b>does not necessarily give just because</b>

<b>you're really good at building a car does</b>

<b>not mean you can drive it.</b>

<b>And just because you're really good at</b>

<b>driving a car does not</b>

<b>mean you can build it.</b>

<b>And so this is a classic example.</b>

<b>I had a story from a girl many, many</b>

<b>years ago when I first started teaching,</b>

<b>she had this weird bruise</b>

<b>on the back of her neck.</b>

<b>It was big and I was</b>

<b>like, what the heck are you?</b>

<b>How did you get that?</b>

<b>She goes, I got it from the rear view</b>

<b>mirror in my car and I am thinking how</b>

<b>the heck would the back of your neck get</b>

<b>hit by the rear view mirror of the car?</b>

<b>Because you'd have to be sitting</b>

<b>backwards facing the back seat and</b>

<b>sitting on the console.</b>

<b>And this was the time when all the gears</b>

<b>are on the console, not on</b>

<b>the side of the steering wheel.</b>

<b>So you're being what are you doing?</b>

<b>And she goes, no, I</b>

<b>wasn't inside the car.</b>

<b>I was outside the car when</b>

<b>the rear view mirror hit me.</b>

<b>And I'm like, you mean</b>

<b>the side view mirror?</b>

<b>Now, she was 16.</b>

<b>She could drive a car.</b>

<b>She had her license.</b>

<b>She passed her test, but she didn't know</b>

<b>the different parts because that's called</b>

<b>the side view mirror, not the rear.</b>

<b>She goes, but it looks to the rear.</b>

<b>I go, every mirror looks to the rear.</b>

<b>It looks to the rear.</b>

<b>So the rear view mirror looks to the rear</b>

<b>of your car and what's coming behind you.</b>

<b>The side view mirrors look to what's</b>

<b>coming on the side of you.</b>

<b>So that's my definition for me is that</b>

<b>learning is like learning all the parts</b>

<b>of a car, learning how to build it,</b>

<b>learning how to put it</b>

<b>together, learning how to fix it.</b>

<b>Because, you know,</b>

<b>that's what we teachers do.</b>

<b>We go through and we repair the the bad</b>

<b>mechanics of kids when they</b>

<b>write their sentences down.</b>

<b>And then the aqua, the acquiring, the</b>

<b>kids don't even realize it's happening.</b>

<b>And the classic</b>

<b>example that I get from this.</b>

<b>Is when kids ask me that they say to me</b>

<b>at the end of a level three.</b>

<b>So level one, it's really</b>

<b>obvious they learn something.</b>

<b>Even they can see that they learn</b>

<b>something because they couldn't speak.</b>

<b>Now they can.</b>

<b>Or they couldn't write.</b>

<b>Now they can.</b>

<b>But then they get to level two.</b>

<b>It's a little bit messier, but they still</b>

<b>see some development.</b>

<b>But by the time level three comes around</b>

<b>because they're now starting to dabble</b>

<b>into that intermediate area.</b>

<b>And takes a long time to get out of.</b>

<b>Yeah, it's got subtle changes that aren't</b>

<b>so obvious that they know that puts them</b>

<b>in that clear intermediate.</b>

<b>And it's not obvious to the kids.</b>

<b>So they go and we didn't</b>

<b>learn anything this year.</b>

<b>And I'm like, I've got your quick rights.</b>

<b>I can see exactly what you learn.</b>

<b>But they don't think</b>

<b>they learned anything.</b>

<b>And that's the acquisition happening</b>

<b>along in the background.</b>

<b>So that was a great question from it.</b>

<b>Don, I really appreciate that.</b>

<b>It's an excellent question because a lot</b>

<b>of people don't</b>

<b>understand the difference.</b>

<b>And lots of us, including myself, use</b>

<b>them interchangeably when I definitely</b>

<b>know the difference.</b>

<b>But I kind of use the word learn instead</b>

<b>of acquire because more people understand</b>

<b>learning a language than acquiring</b>

<b>language sounds kind of weird.</b>

<b>But I do know the difference.</b>

<b>And if someone asks,</b>

<b>I'll explain the difference.</b>

<b>But that's what it is</b>

<b>for me a little bit longer.</b>

<b>And I think what you learn, you forget,</b>

<b>like Stephanie said, what you acquire is</b>

<b>stuck in your head forever.</b>

<b>So that's the difference</b>

<b>along the way for me as well.</b>

<b>It's long term versus short term.</b>

<b>But I think it has nothing to do with I</b>

<b>think the long term versus short term is</b>

<b>the end result of that.</b>

<b>It's how you learned or acquired it that</b>

<b>makes that difference.</b>

<b>And learning stays on the surface of the</b>

<b>brain where acquiring gets deep into the</b>

<b>brain and stuck there.</b>

<b>So that was your sound, OK?</b>

<b>Yes, I just keep muting</b>

<b>because I have three dogs.</b>

<b>I was going to say, do you have puppies?</b>

<b>Are you asking about?</b>

<b>I've got two dogs, but they're being</b>

<b>quiet right now at the moment.</b>

<b>They're not always quiet.</b>

<b>They're not always quiet,</b>

<b>but they're quiet this morning.</b>

<b>OK, so we kind of talked about this, but</b>

<b>why do we think kids fake it?</b>

<b>The effective filter,</b>

<b>they're embarrassed.</b>

<b>They don't want to look bad.</b>

<b>They don't you know, I don't know.</b>

<b>Things have changed so much since when I</b>

<b>first started teaching</b>

<b>100 million years ago.</b>

<b>Like the kids are so afraid of failure.</b>

<b>They're so afraid of</b>

<b>looking bad right now.</b>

<b>I think the effective</b>

<b>filter is is a real issue.</b>

<b>And they second guess themselves.</b>

<b>They second guess themselves.</b>

<b>They're not sure. Do I know this right?</b>

<b>So I think that's part of it as well.</b>

<b>Yeah. And I will say.</b>

<b>Everybody says that kids learn</b>

<b>languages easier than adults.</b>

<b>And to an extent, I can understand that.</b>

<b>But here's the reason why it's not for</b>

<b>the right same reasons</b>

<b>that everybody might think.</b>

<b>I think it's because younger kids don't</b>

<b>care if they make a mistake.</b>

<b>Yeah, they will walk out and say, I go to</b>

<b>the bathroom all by myself today proudly</b>

<b>and don't care that it's the wrong tense,</b>

<b>the wrong form of the verb.</b>

<b>And they're not afraid to make mistakes.</b>

<b>And I think what's happening is our</b>

<b>teenagers are getting as they become</b>

<b>teenagers, getting more self-conscious,</b>

<b>not wanting to make those mistakes.</b>

<b>And so they are.</b>

<b>I rather keep my mouth quiet than to make</b>

<b>a mistake in public.</b>

<b>And I'll give this experience to I had an</b>

<b>incredible German</b>

<b>teacher in college, Frau Olson.</b>

<b>She was amazing.</b>

<b>But there is one thing that all of us did</b>

<b>not like that she did.</b>

<b>And it made us not want to talk.</b>

<b>So it brought that</b>

<b>effective filter way up.</b>

<b>She would stop us mid</b>

<b>sentence to correct our grammar.</b>

<b>Right. And that is part of</b>

<b>the audio lingual method.</b>

<b>And that's part of grammar translation.</b>

<b>And that's part like there's so many</b>

<b>linguistic methods that are like, oh, no,</b>

<b>your students are going to fossilize.</b>

<b>If you let them make this mistake and</b>

<b>that's the way I was trained.</b>

<b>So it took me a while to get over that.</b>

<b>But I have a very personal story about</b>

<b>the effective filter because you reminded</b>

<b>me how little kids, they</b>

<b>don't let things get in their way.</b>

<b>So 23 years ago, I was totally paralyzed</b>

<b>head to toe, totally,</b>

<b>completely paralyzed.</b>

<b>I mean, I've got my little scar here</b>

<b>because I was on a</b>

<b>ventilator because I couldn't breathe.</b>

<b>And I was learning to walk</b>

<b>again and I had my walker.</b>

<b>And I was trying to brush my teeth and my</b>

<b>two year old son runs into the bathroom</b>

<b>and, you know, he's a two</b>

<b>year old son full of energy.</b>

<b>And he jumps up onto the bathtub so he</b>

<b>can watch me and I'm</b>

<b>like, get down, kid, get down.</b>

<b>You're going to fall.</b>

<b>And I can't pick you up.</b>

<b>I am going to fall myself.</b>

<b>And I was so terrified of falling.</b>

<b>I'm like, Sterling, get down, get down.</b>

<b>You're going to hurt yourself.</b>

<b>And I was bringing him up in Japanese.</b>

<b>I'm trying to say this in</b>

<b>Japanese and everything.</b>

<b>And sure enough, Sterling falls into the</b>

<b>bathtub flat on his back and</b>

<b>I'm like, oh no, what do I do?</b>

<b>I cannot let go of the</b>

<b>walker to pick him up.</b>

<b>He jumps up, he laps.</b>

<b>He says something else to me.</b>

<b>He runs out of the bathroom and I'm like,</b>

<b>there is a lesson here for me because I</b>

<b>have been so terrified of falling.</b>

<b>You know, I'm five foot seven.</b>

<b>It's going to hurt the bigger they are,</b>

<b>the harder they fall.</b>

<b>I have been so terrified of falling.</b>

<b>Here's my little two year old son.</b>

<b>He just gets up, laughs it</b>

<b>off and goes on with his day.</b>

<b>So, yeah, I think you're</b>

<b>absolutely right, Scott.</b>

<b>It's the little kids just are fearless</b>

<b>and it's just as they kind of go through</b>

<b>society, kind of beat some down and then</b>

<b>they're afraid of making mistakes.</b>

<b>So.</b>

<b>And that's why I like to celebrate</b>

<b>mistakes when they make them.</b>

<b>Absolutely.</b>

<b>I like thank you for pointing that out.</b>

<b>I go, we've all made this mistake before.</b>

<b>And one, it was really funny because I</b>

<b>never thought about it because my native</b>

<b>language is English.</b>

<b>So I know the native mistakes that kids</b>

<b>make as they grow up.</b>

<b>I know that no kid comes out of the womb</b>

<b>saying I went or I sang.</b>

<b>They have to say I go</b>

<b>to and I sing first.</b>

<b>But then a native speaker was teaching,</b>

<b>doing a TPRS workshop and I was, you</b>

<b>know, talking about something.</b>

<b>Someone was saying, but you're only</b>

<b>teaching the third person singular and</b>

<b>now they're not going to know Tango and</b>

<b>they're going to make the mistake Tieno,</b>

<b>which those don't know Spanish.</b>

<b>That's a stem changing verb.</b>

<b>It's also irregular in the first person.</b>

<b>So it's got two things</b>

<b>coming at at the same time.</b>

<b>And the natives teacher came and said,</b>

<b>no, no, no, no, no, he's right because</b>

<b>every native Spanish kid does the same</b>

<b>thing that American kids do</b>

<b>or English speaking kids do.</b>

<b>They overgeneralize a grammar thing.</b>

<b>So they noticed in English that you add</b>

<b>to make the past tense and</b>

<b>so they added to everything.</b>

<b>And so they notice in Spanish that you</b>

<b>add an O to make the</b>

<b>first person singular.</b>

<b>So they add it to everything and they</b>

<b>know it's Tienes, Tienen, Tienen.</b>

<b>So then Tieno makes a lot of sense.</b>

<b>And so I used to harp on my kids for</b>

<b>making that mistake.</b>

<b>I'm like, we've talked about this.</b>

<b>We started with Tango</b>

<b>before I went to Tienen.</b>

<b>How are you making this mistake?</b>

<b>And then I had to forgive myself</b>

<b>realizing this is the</b>

<b>natural order of things.</b>

<b>And now it's a meme.</b>

<b>It's a joke.</b>

<b>The kids who go no sabo in Spanish.</b>

<b>Right.</b>

<b>It's now a meme, meaning that you're a</b>

<b>non-native speaker of Spanish, but you're</b>

<b>a heritage speaker of Spanish.</b>

<b>And you don't know that it's no say.</b>

<b>You just added the O to sabi.</b>

<b>I think it's a song.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>So that's something there.</b>

<b>It's the same thing.</b>

<b>They're overgeneralizing and it happens</b>

<b>in all these languages.</b>

<b>And we have to think about that.</b>

<b>And that's an old normal?</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>That thing.</b>

<b>That and I like what Vilben Patton says.</b>

<b>There are no errors.</b>

<b>They're just</b>

<b>non-native patterns that we use.</b>

<b>But he also pointed out and I never</b>

<b>thought of this that it doesn't matter</b>

<b>what language you're learning or what</b>

<b>order of language it is.</b>

<b>Is it your first language or native</b>

<b>language or second or third or fourth?</b>

<b>We all go through the</b>

<b>exact same learning stages.</b>

<b>So a native speaker of</b>

<b>Spanish makes that Tienen error.</b>

<b>A French person who already understands</b>

<b>conjugations better than English speakers</b>

<b>do makes that same air when learning</b>

<b>Spanish, even though</b>

<b>it's their fourth language.</b>

<b>And someone who's coming from an Asian or</b>

<b>an Arabic based language or a Russian</b>

<b>based language makes the same errors.</b>

<b>What changes, what's different and how</b>

<b>they get the categories of difficulty of</b>

<b>languages is how similar is that grammar</b>

<b>to your own grammar.</b>

<b>And it means how long</b>

<b>you stay in that stage.</b>

<b>So French people will because they</b>

<b>already understand the way the</b>

<b>conjugations they have the conjugations</b>

<b>very similar to French.</b>

<b>I mean Spanish except</b>

<b>they're written not here.</b>

<b>You can't hear them always.</b>

<b>They understand it.</b>

<b>So they're going to be in that phase a</b>

<b>lot shorter than English speakers who we</b>

<b>only have in present tense one</b>

<b>conjugation for a third person singular.</b>

<b>So everybody goes to</b>

<b>the exact same stages.</b>

<b>It's just how long you remain in that</b>

<b>stage depends on what your first language</b>

<b>was and how similar that grammar is to</b>

<b>the language that you're learning, which</b>

<b>I found was really interesting.</b>

<b>It was an aha moment to me.</b>

<b>And I also had this aha because when I</b>

<b>started teaching, I didn't have any kids.</b>

<b>I still don't have any kids.</b>

<b>I have kids.</b>

<b>I rent kids from August to June and I</b>

<b>give them back at the end.</b>

<b>And that's the best kind of kids to have.</b>

<b>Right.</b>

<b>It's like grandparent syndrome.</b>

<b>I have it.</b>

<b>I give them back.</b>

<b>But I learned through my niece and nephew</b>

<b>because I used to harp</b>

<b>on my kids too in class.</b>

<b>I'm like, you got to have a verb and they</b>

<b>drop the verb is out of the sentence.</b>

<b>I'm like, you got to have a verb Spanish.</b>

<b>You could have a one word sentence with</b>

<b>just a verb, but you got to have the verb</b>

<b>because we don't need to have subjects in</b>

<b>Spanish like you do in French and German.</b>

<b>So you've got to have the verb.</b>

<b>You've got to have it.</b>

<b>And they're leaving it.</b>

<b>They're just saying he</b>

<b>good looking she tall.</b>

<b>And then I heard my kid, my niece and</b>

<b>nephew say the same thing.</b>

<b>They dropped it out of English.</b>

<b>And Bill Van Patten explains this is does</b>

<b>not carry a lot of meaning.</b>

<b>It just links two things together.</b>

<b>Linking verb.</b>

<b>And in fact, in Arabic based languages,</b>

<b>there is no verb for is at</b>

<b>least in the present tense.</b>

<b>So in Maltese, we say I tall.</b>

<b>Yeah, that's how you say it.</b>

<b>So, um, you don't have to.</b>

<b>There's no verb for is.</b>

<b>And so once I learned that I stopped</b>

<b>harping on those kids who left it out, I</b>

<b>realized they know it's supposed to be</b>

<b>there, but they're just not ready to put</b>

<b>it back in just yet.</b>

<b>And it will come in on its own.</b>

<b>And the correction for this is not</b>

<b>telling them that you got to have a verb,</b>

<b>but for them to hear more</b>

<b>sentences with the verb in it.</b>

<b>And that was the big aha moment for me.</b>

<b>And that's the difference between</b>

<b>learning and acquiring.</b>

<b>Whoa, something just across my room.</b>

<b>No, it's high up on a shelf.</b>

<b>And I'm like, what happened?</b>

<b>Oh, now I see what happened.</b>

<b>I hold it down.</b>

<b>My whole curtain came off the wall.</b>

<b>So that's what felt so now</b>

<b>my back drop is all messed up.</b>

<b>So anyway, funny, funny, funny.</b>

<b>Providing kids safe ways to test things</b>

<b>out or make mistakes is really valuable.</b>

<b>Um, I also have kids close their eyes and</b>

<b>put their hands over and, you know, stand</b>

<b>up if you think the answer is this or,</b>

<b>you know, and then I can see</b>

<b>whether they understand or not.</b>

<b>Um, I also use, um, I'm not sure if</b>

<b>they're familiar with clickers.</b>

<b>Clickers is a clicker.</b>

<b>Okay.</b>

<b>It's a car.</b>

<b>It's a car they get that everybody's</b>

<b>shape on it is different.</b>

<b>And the way they hold it shows you their</b>

<b>answer a B C, you know, but they look</b>

<b>around and they can't see</b>

<b>what anybody else's answers are.</b>

<b>And then you scan it with your phone and</b>

<b>it'll be, and it says who</b>

<b>has it right, who has it wrong.</b>

<b>And you know, it's like three quarters of</b>

<b>the kids have it wrong.</b>

<b>That's really good indication.</b>

<b>And nobody is sticking out or being put</b>

<b>on the spot or standing out.</b>

<b>Um, so I find, you know, doing</b>

<b>comprehension checks that, uh, masks and</b>

<b>the other kids who knows what are very,</b>

<b>very helpful in, in that understanding.</b>

<b>Um, and if I can proceed and not keep</b>

<b>going for 10 minutes and they're lost.</b>

<b>Right.</b>

<b>Absolutely.</b>

<b>Absolutely.</b>

<b>So it's, it's really important that not</b>

<b>only do we do comprehension checks, but</b>

<b>we've got to think about the types of</b>

<b>comprehension checks that we're actually</b>

<b>doing so that the kids can't, cause</b>

<b>they're not deliberately trying to lie to</b>

<b>us and try to trick us.</b>

<b>Um, but we want to make it so that it's</b>

<b>more difficult for them to inadvertently</b>

<b>lie to us so that we</b>

<b>can actually get them.</b>

<b>I try to explain to them that by you</b>

<b>asking questions and you telling me that</b>

<b>you really don't understand or that I'm</b>

<b>really speaking too fast for you, you're</b>

<b>actually helping me do a better job than,</b>

<b>um, than I would have been otherwise.</b>

<b>And I give them this example.</b>

<b>It is.</b>

<b>It's informative.</b>

<b>Exactly.</b>

<b>It's informing your teaching.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And so I tell them how important it is</b>

<b>and I give them this example because</b>

<b>years ago, um, when I think I told this</b>

<b>story before on the</b>

<b>podcast, I'm not sure if I did so.</b>

<b>Um, but I had a kid who was undiagnosed</b>

<b>with Asperger's back then they called it</b>

<b>Asperger's a very high functioning autism</b>

<b>and he literally, I</b>

<b>kid you not fifth period.</b>

<b>It was fifth period Spanish one literally</b>

<b>stopped me every 15 to 20</b>

<b>seconds to ask a question.</b>

<b>Now, every single question</b>

<b>that he asked was on point.</b>

<b>They were not, it was not</b>

<b>trying to like derail my class.</b>

<b>He really needed to know and the way that</b>

<b>his brain worked, he could not move on.</b>

<b>Like some kids, you can say, I'll answer</b>

<b>your question in just a</b>

<b>minute, but he could not.</b>

<b>His brain would stall right there at that</b>

<b>moment and would not go forward until</b>

<b>that question was answered.</b>

<b>And it was really derailing my class in</b>

<b>an unintentional way that it was just</b>

<b>slowing me way down and I</b>

<b>never got through a lesson.</b>

<b>Not once did I ever get through a lesson</b>

<b>in period five, never</b>

<b>for the entire school year.</b>

<b>Never.</b>

<b>I made it to maybe 20 minutes of my hour</b>

<b>lesson every single day.</b>

<b>And we kind of came</b>

<b>out with a compromise.</b>

<b>He was a kid and his father was so</b>

<b>surprised because I guess he was a</b>

<b>troublemaker, but he wasn't in my class</b>

<b>and he had Tourette syndrome.</b>

<b>Not the infamous one where you cuss out,</b>

<b>but he had Tourette's in a different way.</b>

<b>And he said, I'll put me next to him and</b>

<b>I'll answer his questions first.</b>

<b>And then if I can't answer the question,</b>

<b>then I'll let him raise</b>

<b>his hand and then he can go.</b>

<b>So he tried that.</b>

<b>OK, so instead of every 10 to 15 seconds,</b>

<b>it went to every minute and a half.</b>

<b>So I still couldn't get through a lesson.</b>

<b>Improvement though.</b>

<b>So but what I found out and this is why I</b>

<b>tell my kids this because he slowed me</b>

<b>down naturally by asking me all these</b>

<b>questions and I had to work harder to</b>

<b>make everything more comprehended, not</b>

<b>just comprehensible.</b>

<b>Because just because you think it's</b>

<b>comprehensible does not</b>

<b>mean it was comprehended.</b>

<b>Big difference.</b>

<b>So thank you, Dr.</b>

<b>Terry Waltz for that.</b>

<b>But I noticed that my period five kids</b>

<b>who never got through a lesson the entire</b>

<b>year had a grade average one full letter</b>

<b>grade above every other class.</b>

<b>Because slowing down is so important.</b>

<b>It is.</b>

<b>It's a difficult skill to learn how to do</b>

<b>it because we want to, you know,</b>

<b>we were taught back in graduate school,</b>

<b>we were taught, here's the textbook.</b>

<b>You got to get through this much, you</b>

<b>know, use these traditional methods.</b>

<b>And it's a big shift for us to slow down</b>

<b>and make sure it's comprehended.</b>

<b>I mean, that was like a</b>

<b>huge mental shift for me.</b>

<b>Yeah, absolutely.</b>

<b>Absolutely. And I think that's a really</b>

<b>big, big difference there, because that's</b>

<b>the whole crux of what</b>

<b>we're talking about is</b>

<b>what we think we're being comprehensible,</b>

<b>but we're not being comprehended.</b>

<b>And then the kids answer in the way</b>

<b>that's most comfortable for them, which</b>

<b>belies the actual fact.</b>

<b>And I had this experience in I was</b>

<b>observing Michelle Whaley</b>

<b>in Alaska teaching Russian.</b>

<b>Now, I have no background in any Slavic</b>

<b>based language whatsoever.</b>

<b>To to get comprehended on, I had no</b>

<b>background in there and the</b>

<b>sounds were very different.</b>

<b>And obviously the</b>

<b>alphabet is very different.</b>

<b>So I had nothing.</b>

<b>So she asked me at the end of the lesson,</b>

<b>she goes, how comprehensible was that?</b>

<b>I'm like, I didn't want to insult her by</b>

<b>saying it wasn't comprehensible to me at</b>

<b>all, because I'm sure it was</b>

<b>comprehended to her students who had been</b>

<b>in her classroom all of this time.</b>

<b>But me coming from zero and walking into</b>

<b>her class and</b>

<b>listening to it, I had no idea.</b>

<b>And the only reason I knew what was going</b>

<b>on was I had my computer open to take</b>

<b>notes because I always like</b>

<b>to take notes in those things.</b>

<b>And I also had a screen</b>

<b>open with Google Translate.</b>

<b>And it was the old it was one that you</b>

<b>can put the sound on.</b>

<b>So it was listening to her Russian and</b>

<b>then typing the English below.</b>

<b>Was it perfect? It wasn't.</b>

<b>It made some really funny sentences.</b>

<b>But at least I got a gist of</b>

<b>what they were talking about.</b>

<b>They were talking about birthdays and</b>

<b>talking about that and whose birthday it</b>

<b>was and stuff like that.</b>

<b>But I would not have had a clue</b>

<b>otherwise, even though she was doing</b>

<b>everything right to make</b>

<b>herself comprehensible.</b>

<b>And I'm sure she was</b>

<b>the majority of her class.</b>

<b>But to me, being a non-Russian speaker,</b>

<b>not having any Slavic language</b>

<b>background, it was not</b>

<b>being comprehended by me.</b>

<b>And so that's really important.</b>

<b>I always emphasize with my kids, if you</b>

<b>don't understand or you think I'm going</b>

<b>too fast, then I'm not doing my job.</b>

<b>It's my fault. I am going too fast.</b>

<b>It doesn't matter if Joe</b>

<b>doesn't think I'm going too fast.</b>

<b>If you think I'm going too fast, then I</b>

<b>am going definitely too fast.</b>

<b>If you don't understand that I'm not</b>

<b>doing my job to make sure it's</b>

<b>comprehended by you.</b>

<b>And so it doesn't</b>

<b>matter if Joe understood it.</b>

<b>If you didn't</b>

<b>understand it, that's my fault.</b>

<b>And so that takes some of that effective</b>

<b>filter pressure off of them.</b>

<b>And I tell them, you</b>

<b>guys are my co-teachers.</b>

<b>You need to help me do my job better.</b>

<b>That's what your job is.</b>

<b>I love Bryce Hedstrom's quote.</b>

<b>He says, "My job is to teach you.</b>

<b>Your job is to tell me</b>

<b>when I'm not doing my job."</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>I've been really working hard at I use</b>

<b>embedded readings a lot.</b>

<b>Yeah.</b>

<b>And when I started to use embedded</b>

<b>readings orally, I also noticed their</b>

<b>comprehension became better</b>

<b>because there are words in French that</b>

<b>French people use all the time and are</b>

<b>not in our suite 16 or 7.</b>

<b>So I want them to be exposed to that.</b>

<b>So I will say something with that</b>

<b>language and then I'll say it with a</b>

<b>little less and bringing</b>

<b>it down and then reversing.</b>

<b>And that really helps with comprehension.</b>

<b>But sometimes I feel like I'm saying the</b>

<b>same thing like 12 times and I'm</b>

<b>struggling, but they're getting it.</b>

<b>But it's like, I have to do this again</b>

<b>with another sentence.</b>

<b>And we talked about this last week.</b>

<b>We talked about this last week that, you</b>

<b>know, if your kids can only produce short</b>

<b>choppy sentences because you're only</b>

<b>using short choppy sentences in your</b>

<b>classroom, I had a French teacher said,</b>

<b>"My kids never learned the word, but..."</b>

<b>And I don't understand how</b>

<b>your kids know it so well.</b>

<b>I go, "Do you use the</b>

<b>word, but in any sentences?"</b>

<b>And she goes, "No."</b>

<b>I go, "That's exactly why.</b>

<b>You've got to use them."</b>

<b>And back in the day, we only had pobriana</b>

<b>to start with, to read.</b>

<b>That's the only book we had.</b>

<b>I can't look at that book anymore.</b>

<b>It's like, you know, after you've eaten a</b>

<b>dish for too many years, you know, you're</b>

<b>like, "I can't do it anymore."</b>

<b>And that's how it is with pobriana.</b>

<b>But what I learned from pobriana is, or</b>

<b>pov-an, or arm-an, whatever language it</b>

<b>comes in, is two things.</b>

<b>What's comprehended and what's</b>

<b>comprehensible and</b>

<b>how to scaffold a story.</b>

<b>Because it'll say</b>

<b>something like, "Anne is a girl."</b>

<b>Anne is a normal girl.</b>

<b>Anne is a normal girl</b>

<b>from Torrance, California.</b>

<b>In Torrance, California, there is a</b>

<b>normal girl named Anna.</b>

<b>And it just kept repeating.</b>

<b>And then if you ask your</b>

<b>top kid, "Is this repetitive?"</b>

<b>They're like, "Oh my</b>

<b>gosh, it is so repetitive."</b>

<b>But if you ask your</b>

<b>struggling kid, "Is there a rep..."</b>

<b>No, not at all.</b>

<b>Because he needs, or she needs, all of</b>

<b>those exposures to get the meaning.</b>

<b>And that first paragraph, the only thing</b>

<b>it told you was, "She is a normal girl."</b>

<b>And she lives in Torrance, California.</b>

<b>And the second paragraph is,</b>

<b>"Anna has a lot of problems."</b>

<b>So that's the gist of the whole</b>

<b>paragraph, next paragraph.</b>

<b>And it goes, "Anna has</b>

<b>problems with her mom.</b>

<b>Anna has problems with her dad.</b>

<b>Anna has problems with her brother.</b>

<b>Anna has problems at school.</b>

<b>Anna has problems at home.</b>

<b>Anna has problems with her friends.</b>

<b>Anna has a lot of problems."</b>

<b>So it's that it's not exactly embedded</b>

<b>reading, but it's</b>

<b>building that scaffolding</b>

<b>that they need to be able to go.</b>

<b>And so it's really, really important to</b>

<b>do both things and</b>

<b>realize that you are the</b>

<b>expert. So like</b>

<b>Stephanie said, we are bored.</b>

<b>We are like, "Oh my God, do I got to do</b>

<b>this one more time</b>

<b>with sentence number two?</b>

<b>I've got nine sentences more to go."</b>

<b>And you're thinking about it.</b>

<b>But we have to understand that we</b>

<b>understand the language.</b>

<b>And for the most of our kids in the</b>

<b>classroom, that's not true.</b>

<b>They don't understand.</b>

<b>And so they're not going</b>

<b>to hear all the repetitions.</b>

<b>And even if they do, they desperately</b>

<b>need them to become</b>

<b>comprehended in that language.</b>

<b>And that's why it's so important.</b>

<b>Take a CI class in a language that you</b>

<b>don't know and</b>

<b>specifically one that's not related</b>

<b>to one you already speak.</b>

<b>So if you already speak Spanish or</b>

<b>French, please do not</b>

<b>take a French or a Spanish</b>

<b>class because you have so much already</b>

<b>knowledge that you can rely on.</b>

<b>Take something completely different.</b>

<b>Take an Asian language.</b>

<b>Take a Slavic language.</b>

<b>Take an Arabic based language so that you</b>

<b>really feel what your</b>

<b>kids feel like in the</b>

<b>beginning so you can</b>

<b>feel it and struggle.</b>

<b>I know when I used to be when I was a</b>

<b>coach at MTPRS and I'd</b>

<b>be coaching this group in</b>

<b>Japanese and then this person in Mandarin</b>

<b>and this person in</b>

<b>Russian and this person in</b>

<b>Latin. My head was hurting because I had</b>

<b>to be able to</b>

<b>understand what they're talking</b>

<b>about to help them</b>

<b>through their struggles.</b>

<b>And my head was physically hurting from</b>

<b>all those different languages.</b>

<b>But it makes a better teacher when you</b>

<b>actually get in there and</b>

<b>you realize this is what</b>

<b>your kids go through.</b>

<b>You may think Spanish or French is an</b>

<b>easy language because you picked it up.</b>

<b>But for them, a foreign</b>

<b>language is a foreign language.</b>

<b>They don't care if it's a</b>

<b>category one or a category four.</b>

<b>It is foreign to them.</b>

<b>And you can't rely on cognates either.</b>

<b>No.</b>

<b>What's a cognate to you</b>

<b>may not be a cognate to them.</b>

<b>I learned that very quickly because, you</b>

<b>know, in middle school,</b>

<b>you think their language</b>

<b>is high in their first</b>

<b>language, but really, it's not.</b>

<b>They're still learning.</b>

<b>There's the vocabulary.</b>

<b>And I remember trying</b>

<b>to do the word ancestor.</b>

<b>They had no idea what ancestor was.</b>

<b>I'm like, it's the same word, guys.</b>

<b>You know, what's an ancestor?</b>

<b>So they did.</b>

<b>We explain that in a simple way.</b>

<b>Also should be I can use</b>

<b>cognates, but I can't rely on it.</b>

<b>And yeah, absolutely.</b>

<b>Thank you for bringing that up because</b>

<b>this is where I argue with Blaine on.</b>

<b>He says, don't teach cognates.</b>

<b>They get them the</b>

<b>first time they hear them.</b>

<b>They get them passively.</b>

<b>Once you explain it to</b>

<b>them, they'll understand it.</b>

<b>But when they're reaching for a word,</b>

<b>they're not going to</b>

<b>pull that cognate out.</b>

<b>So I always said you have to teach a</b>

<b>cognate just like any other word.</b>

<b>If you want to turn it into active</b>

<b>vocabulary, stuff that</b>

<b>actually comes out of their</b>

<b>mouth, if it's only reading vocabulary,</b>

<b>what I call the</b>

<b>passive vocabulary is reading</b>

<b>vocabulary. You just have to</b>

<b>recognize it when you see it.</b>

<b>Who cares? I'm not going</b>

<b>to go after explaining it.</b>

<b>I'm done. But if it's a word I want them</b>

<b>to use again, I mean,</b>

<b>like idea in Spanish</b>

<b>is idea. So I tell them what it means.</b>

<b>But that's a word I expect them to be</b>

<b>able to use again and again.</b>

<b>So I can't just let it go at just saying</b>

<b>idea is idea because</b>

<b>they'll see it in the</b>

<b>word and they'll go and</b>

<b>they'll understand it.</b>

<b>But they won't go.</b>

<b>How do I say idea?</b>

<b>They're not going to</b>

<b>go the other way around.</b>

<b>The brain isn't going to bother encoding</b>

<b>it because it's too easy.</b>

<b>Yeah. Yeah. So I 100</b>

<b>percent agree with you, Stephanie.</b>

<b>That is a very important part.</b>

<b>And French, I think, has even more</b>

<b>cognates than Spanish does.</b>

<b>So you hear them.</b>

<b>So much from French.</b>

<b>Yeah. Most of the time we can't hear them</b>

<b>because the pronunciation doesn't match</b>

<b>the spelling. But seeing</b>

<b>them, seeing them as much there.</b>

<b>And I always tell kids, I go, there's two</b>

<b>things I tell them when they're reading.</b>

<b>I go, if it looks like English and I</b>

<b>haven't told you</b>

<b>different, assume that it means</b>

<b>what it looks like, because I'll point</b>

<b>out the false cognates when I see them.</b>

<b>I'll point those out. And number two,</b>

<b>like a middle school kid might not</b>

<b>know the word diversity or, you know, and</b>

<b>you think they're going to because they</b>

<b>look almost exactly</b>

<b>alike and they sound alike.</b>

<b>And but they don't have that vocabulary</b>

<b>in their native language.</b>

<b>In their native language.</b>

<b>And I always tell them, too, this is</b>

<b>especially true in French, that all the</b>

<b>cognates are what I call</b>

<b>SAT level words in English.</b>

<b>Yeah. Roconteur.</b>

<b>Yeah. Because in Spanish we don't find we</b>

<b>encounter, you know, there are, you know,</b>

<b>all those kind of words</b>

<b>are just more elevated.</b>

<b>We're not smart in Spanish.</b>

<b>We're intelligent.</b>

<b>These are all what I call the SAT, the</b>

<b>just the one step</b>

<b>upper vocabulary because</b>

<b>English is a Germanic</b>

<b>language, not a Latin language.</b>

<b>So all those root words come from German.</b>

<b>So German to find is Finden.</b>

<b>It comes right from there.</b>

<b>Hound, hundt.</b>

<b>So all those basic words, the regular</b>

<b>everyday words, those come from German.</b>

<b>But all the SAT words come from Spanish</b>

<b>by way of French and Latin.</b>

<b>But that's what I tell them all the time.</b>

<b>Go so you can impress your English</b>

<b>teacher because you now know these words</b>

<b>because they're the SAT words or the</b>

<b>words that are on the</b>

<b>5000 SAT list that you're</b>

<b>supposed to know, because now you can say</b>

<b>I encountered my keys</b>

<b>instead of I found my</b>

<b>keys, you know, just a</b>

<b>little bit better at that way.</b>

<b>Stephanie, I think what you said about</b>

<b>embedded reading and how</b>

<b>you're doing that a lot is</b>

<b>that is golden because especially now</b>

<b>that I have to take an</b>

<b>English class on, they</b>

<b>crammed thirty nine, thirty five to</b>

<b>thirty nine students in</b>

<b>all my other classes so</b>

<b>that I could squeeze in an English class.</b>

<b>Boy, the stamina, the reading stamina has</b>

<b>just plummeted and</b>

<b>it's because the kids all</b>

<b>have their cell phones in their hands and</b>

<b>they're not reading for</b>

<b>a long period of time.</b>

<b>They're reading little snippets.</b>

<b>So to get them to get through an actual</b>

<b>book, when I first</b>

<b>started teaching, let's see,</b>

<b>when I started teaching French 15 years</b>

<b>ago, I could read my</b>

<b>students a whole tanton.</b>

<b>I projected on the</b>

<b>board and they loved it.</b>

<b>They were eating it up after maybe seven</b>

<b>years of teaching French.</b>

<b>Suddenly I had to do embedded readings of</b>

<b>tanton because they</b>

<b>couldn't follow the story</b>

<b>anymore. And so I had to simplify it</b>

<b>before we could get to the</b>

<b>I mean, like this is tanton.</b>

<b>It's like so many people look at this and</b>

<b>say this is great</b>

<b>literature and my students</b>

<b>just couldn't get into it.</b>

<b>You know, so like every year I have to</b>

<b>make another embedded</b>

<b>reading simpler and simpler</b>

<b>just to get my students through tanton.</b>

<b>So I think that, you know, that was</b>

<b>invented by Laurie</b>

<b>Clark and Michelle Whaley.</b>

<b>And I think it was one of the great</b>

<b>additions to CI that we have.</b>

<b>And Bryce Headstrom also.</b>

<b>Yeah. And I use it as a as an assessment,</b>

<b>too, because I'll give a</b>

<b>stack of papers starting</b>

<b>from the easiest to the hardest.</b>

<b>And I'll tell my kids, I need you to</b>

<b>start at the one that.</b>

<b>It's easy with a little bit of challenge.</b>