I learned about Comprehensible Input from many professionals throughout the country. The one that sticks out is La Maestra Loca. I love, love, love her energy, enthusiasm, and positivity. She is so very creative and passionate about teaching languages. Check out her blog for interesting activities #lamaestraloca https://lamaestralocablog.com/
At ACTFL, I also attended many workshops on how to teach culture with CI, how to move away from the textbook, how to teach for proficiency and much much more. If you are a language teacher, you simply should go to the ACTFL conference each year to keep up with the best practices in language teaching.
Let me get On Point 2
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It was in NoLA that I became more interested in Integrated Performance Assessment and I have spent many hours this summer researching how to implement it in my classes. IPA goes hand in hand with Standards Based Grading and Assessment. It is about assessing what students can do with the language in the 3 communication modes: interpretive, interpersonal and presentational.
The key to a good IPA is backwards design. Decide what students will be assessed on at the end of a chapter or unit, then design and scaffold a lesson so that they will perform well on the assessment. For the IPA to be successful, teachers must offer students activities that are similar to the IPA during the unit and give them feedback on how to improve. Notice I said feedback, not necessarily grading them on formative assignments. Students should not be working towards getting points for doing an assignment. They should be trying to improve their performance so that they can "level up" in their proficiency.
Another component of IPA is that it should be real world task oriented. This means that students should not be simply memorizing a list of vocabulary or verb conjugations. Vocab and grammar should be integrated in the real world tasks. Asking students to memorize -er verb conjugations and regurgitate them on a test or quiz in a fill in the blank or multiple choice situation, is not a real world task and is not proficiency based. In this kind of assessment, students are assigned points based on a proportion of right answers vs wrong answers and not on showing what they can do with the language. However, negotiating their way through a shopping list at the grocery store or small merchants is something they might need to be able to do in the real world. And it uses that vocab and grammar as well. I already do a great deal or real world tasks with my students, so with a little revision of those activities I will be on my way. Real world tasks are meaningful AND motivate students to learn the content needed to perform well.
Feedback is extremely important throughout the unit. Notice I said feedback and not grades. Feedback could be given in writing or orally and should use the terminology in the rubric for IPA. It can come from the teacher, peers or from self-assessment. It is critical that the student is aware of where they are in the rubric and what they need to be able to do to level up. By leveling up, I mean increasing proficiency.
My research on IPA has given me the structure and guidance to go full on SBG and IPA in my classes this year. I am a little nervous about it, but also very excited. Nervous because it will require a good bit of time to completely make the switch in 4 completely different classes. Preparation is key and is usually what takes the most time in my day. Access to authentic documents and where to find this is essential. I enjoy researching and learning. It also gives me an opportunity to keep my proficiency en pointe too! I am excited to see what my students can do with the language and how I can be a better teacher.
Of course, this is the simplified version of what researchers and experts have been suggesting for years. I am finally in a mental and professional space where I can act on that knowledge and research for the benefit of my students.
Now, I need to work on what that is going to look like in my classes and get it down in writing. With 2 weeks left of summer, there is so little time.
If you are interested in IPA and SBG, here are some resources that I have found. I will be adding to this list! Maybe a different blog post. I invite your comments and questions. They will help me sort through how to implement IPA and SBG this year!
https://www.grahnforlang.com/assessment-in-world-languages.html
https://sites.google.com/a/weldre4.k12.co.us/mrsgilmore/home/french-1/unit-4---l-ecole/ipa---lcole
http://madameshepard.com/?p=316
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