iBienvenidos!

Welcome! My goal for this blog is to document my learning process at I attempt to become a successful TCI   teacher! What is TCI you ask? TCI stands for Total Comprehensible Input and it's kind of the way we do things here in Denver Public Schools. TCI means that instead of speaking in English ABOUT the language, we just use the language and have fun with it! It's meant to help students acquire the language more naturally, rather than forcing them to memorize conjugation charts and lists of vocabulary. Classrooms that are taught using TCI are conducted in the target language 90% of the time. The difference is that all the language we're using is comprehensible to the students. They understand it. We, as teachers, have to put the effort in and be purposeful with the language in order to make it understandable. Many (not all) of the language teachers that you may come across from DPS teach using TCI. 

This is my 3rd year teaching, and my 1st year using TCI. It has been quite the learning curve. I started with DPS in August and have been submerging myself in all things TCI to help me learn how to become one of these amazing teachers I have the privilege to observe on occasion. It's incredible to see how much the kids learn, and how much fun they can have while learning. I have been reading books and blogs, watching videos, observing other teachers, and attending professional development to help grow the TCI in me. So far, I've learned a lot but I know that I have a lot left to learn. 

I'm hoping to keep track of new things that I learn as well as ways to improve things I already know on this blog. I'm changing a few things this semester. I plan to adapt Ben Slavic's rules into my own classroom and well as some of his jobs for students. I have had the awesome opportunity to observe Ben in action and I'm pretty sure my jaw was just chilling on the floor of his classroom the entire time. Pure magic. I've changed around my seating chart a bit to help students have a little bit more elbow room. I'm also hoping this year to go off more from high-frequency verbs rather than use Karen Rowan books as a guide. Nothing wrong with Karen Rowan books by the way, (we just finished the 1st novela in my classes) I just want to try and go off of the structures alone and see how I do. 

I'll continue to (try) to keep this updated throughout the 2nd semester with new ideas, frustrations, and encouraging outcomes. In the meantime, check out some of these videos on schooltube that show some DPS rockstars using TCI.