So, I spent Friday and Saturday at an OWL I workshop near Columbus. Friday was a school day, and we got to see OWL in action in real classes, then debrief after. My head is so full of great stuff I can hardly wait 'til tomorrow when I can put it to use!
And there are SOOOO many ideas! This takes 100% WAY beyond where I was with it!
On the plus side, I got affirmation for what I was doing. Being free of the textbook, even if my slides are like a textbook, is a good thing.
I'm going to start tomorrow with a discussion with my students about what we are doing and why. I will explain to them what my intentions are.
...
I have three days of teaching in the OWL method, and Wednesday was great!
I already got rid of my desks, and 2 of my three tables are folded up and put at the side of the room. Chairs are circled around the room; that's where we start from with our realia sharing. Then we get into a circle-- codo a codo, and even pie a pie. I introduce a question or activity-- greet three people by name, etc.-- they pair up, and talk! We come back to the circle to share out. I remembered to give applause for good answers, and we learned a new expression --Ay, Dios mío-- when someone said something that warranted the exclamation (we also learned "pobrecita" to sympathize with Josefina's cold symptoms). We sang the pirate song, and talked about what body parts we used to play people's favorite sports. We had a guest in the class-- Gu Lao Shi was visiting from across the hall-- so it was very cool that things flowed so well.
What makes OWL different is that it's comprehensible input, but it's not contrived. It's organic so the language comes from the students. It's high energy. It's engaging. It's personal. It's community. It's exciting! It's fun! And it works!
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