Many readers will be surprised.
Many readers will NOT be surprised.
Some maybe will be shocked.

After having been an advocate for Genki English, especially for the homework program, for many many years, it is not easy to write what I am going to write.

Last spring, I more or less stopped working with Genki English.

I had been feeling that I need to make some changes in my teaching, for many years.

But the thought that this might mean 'teaching without Genki English' at first scared me like hell.

Then there were all kinds of rumors and problems around tech.  When I heard about the possibility that Genki English might stop working on certain gadgets, I suddenly got scared.  And I felt how dependent I had made myself AND my students. 
Dependent from a certain curriculum and program.  

I am a 'ditch textbooks' type teacher, and I don't like the idea of teaching a curriculum. 
I AM TEACHING STUDENTS, and I want to see each single student as they are on each day I meet them.  I want to flow with them, with each ones need and developmental stage.  
So, the feeling that I would be scared of losing a certain program;  this feeling itself told me that I HAVE to move forward and go on without.
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Is it  a coincidence that for 2 years I had no new class starting, where usually I have multiple?
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No moving forward.  

Just within this time of 'I want to move on, I need to move forward!'  COVID hit!
As you all know, I got ONLINE from March 1, 2020~and for me it was obvious, that I would not go on teaching Genki English in ONLINE classes.

My students all had the program at home, so they could play games and songs at home on their own;  doing this in class -a computer screen via a computer screen -  made no sense to me.

So, suddenly it was a given fact, that I need to figure out new ways and methods.  In the first month, I still told kids to check the GE homework program and prepare class, but eventually my assignments changed completely.  ​

I won't make a secret out of this:  it was MUCH MORE work.  Telling kids a topic to prepare, and play the game and song until they remember the vocab and phrases is one thing.  Genki English Homework Program works amazing well for this, and is fun.
Little work for the teacher.  And I am grateful I had this while my own kids were still little.

But the results with my new ideas during this last year, were amazing.
​  A completely new dimension for several reasons.
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One big reason was that with my new style, parents are involved.  They cannot just open the computer and say 'GO!'  
So it suddenly is like: whole families are learning English together.  

Also, my students now relate more to the content we learn together.  
It is their own.

Of course my own prep. has changed a lot, too.  I had been spoiled with 15 years of Genki English.  I know exactly what to teach in which situation/season/class, where to find it, what stories to tell, what are the best games to play. 
But I really do not like the same thing twice and always look for new ways and things. This is why I did so many projects over the years:  to escape a routine.
For classes, it was never hard for me to teach without even opening the program.  
I came from a background where I had learned a lot on improvisation, dance, presentation, verbal and non verbal communication.  So in class, with my students in front of me, Genki English was like a little treat. 
But for homework I didn't even want to think of any other options than the homework program.

Well, in February one full year of online and in person teaching ended and I had seen many new ways to teach and tried many new ideas.  BUT a big rock of uneasiness was still left:  
non of these classes I had been teaching so far were complete beginners.  They all had a base already.  

I decided to try it anyway and to start a new class without Genki English.

I felt very uncertain, but I happened to end up with 3 new classes instead of 1, as planned.

The way I needed to set things up was new for me, as so far I would simply sell the homework program USB and that was it, but now there was a lot to explain and demand from parents to get everyone on one platform.
​I was worried, but my motto :
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GO WITH THE FEAR!
Otherwise I wouldn't be where I am.  

I still think Genki English is a great program and I recommend it ,  especially to teachers who are just starting out.  It has system and structure, and we need to have these to find our own good ways of teaching.  

But I think, if we get too accustomed to ANY thing, this is where we start limiting ourselves.
We can always become better, and our students also can and have to always become better.  My 5 year olds today are different than my 5 year olds were 5 years ago, and those were already far beyond the 5 year olds I had taught 10 years ago.  
We should never limit ourselves to ONE textbook, ONE method, ONE teacher.  Even not myself.  I tell my students to move forward, do suggest other teachers at times, and definitely tell them to listen well to their English teachers in school, too~because these will and can teach them something I can't.

Today I listened to an amazing book, that reminded me that letting go is important to be able to move forward.  
I am grateful that the last year taught me many things.  Also how to let go and how to move forward.

I also know that I did loose many followers and fans, because of my silence around Genki English.  

Thanks for your interest and your posts and discussions over the years.
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For those who are still interested in my teaching and trainings, I will be happy to see you reading and asking questions.  I still have a lot to share, and will do so.

I guess there are very few who don't know Little Red Riding Hood.

It is one of my favorite stories since ever I am teaching kids (almost 30 years.

And I am always surprised of the new stories that come to be.

Today we got a bit into Mr Wolf's perspective.

​Here a tiny peek.

till April 14th it is still time to register.  Then, no more.  So, if you have been doubting, pushing it away, thinking you have too much to do, thinking there is so much free stuff out there, why care about paying a fee to listen to other teachers...it is probably the last time I post about it.  
And I don't post about it for you, to listen to me, although I must admit, rewatching my own presentation:  I like it a lot. (And btw, the rights for the presentation are all with Comprehended so you won't ever see it here😉)

But, no, I am not telling you about it for this, but for almost 50 other presenters with big names, as you can check yourself, and for their close to 100 presentations.  BTW, over 25 presentations are LIVE and you can ask or answer questions, take part in sessions and classes.  It is OH MY GOSH!  amazing.

I can't even tell you~
I just have worked through 25% of the conference and my classes are shining and glimmering with stories and laughter.  

Did I get the stories from the conference?

NO of course not.  Kids create them themselves.   I am the midwife, again a step closer to giving birth to these stories.

A step closer to mixing all kinds of methods and ideas into these giant interactive fun classes.

ONLINE       OFFLINE        TECH        NON TECH it doesn't matter.  
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When a child is due to be born, it doesn't ask about the place , right.  
Same with the language and stories in our students.  When they are ready to be born, we can only (and have to) help them to get out.  If we don't and let them get stuck~They die!

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Understanding all that interaction going on in some of the Spanish classes is also so thrilling as it is already over 30 years that I learned the language (and never used it after that)

HERE IS THE LINK>

Finally, after exactly one year of more than 80% Online, I am having classes come back, some of them full time.  YEAH!!!!!!  
IN PERSON IN PERSON IN PERSON IN PERSON 

So, more games again also for little ones, and here is as promised February's Game of the month!

You probably know this game already, it is called 'Dobble'.
The other day an American friend asked me about why it is called this way, I had thought it was obvious, but probably it isn't.  I THINK (In haven'T checked it up, so forgive me if I am wrong:
It means DOUBLE, and because you have to look for an image that is the same on two cards, it was called this way.  Some companies call it 'Spot it' ~probably because it is really hard to spot the double image.  

THIS is the game, which is great.  BUT

​Did you know that you can create it yourself.

Add images of any type of vocab you want to learn, or phonics reading words, or anything.

I did a mixture of school subjects, stationary and sports.
Then kids spotting the one image which is the same have to shout out:
I like + sports
I have + school subject
or 
May I borrow your + stationary.

Quite quite challenging!

Really fun for kids, they love it.

And a wonderful game on the side, for those days where you have left 5 minutes to fill.

Try it yourself.

Do you know the game 'Codenames'?  If not, go ahead and read, watch You Tube videos about it, and more than anything else TRY IT!

It is so much fun, gets your brain working and thinking out of the box.
It looks pretty easy until you actually become a 'Spymaster'.  

I've played it in all my teens classes last month, and the kids loved it so much, they are begging for 'just one more round', even though lesson time is over, it is 8h30 pm, they haven't had dinner yet, and are in the middle of their exams.

The other day we had class on Zoom, and we tried the online version, but unfortunately that one didn't work well, due to too much traffic, I suppose.

But it is easy to make one for online teaching as well, using just the words we would like to practice or review.

As you can guess from the picture ↓, I have been using different cards to play.  I admit, I didn't buy the game.

I will write about this↓game again in a different blog.
But for JANUARY definitely our game of the month was

Over the last year I have tried to get more comprehension into my Phonics instructions from a very early stage.
I am creating 4-frame-cartoon stories (without pictures), and the kids read them and draw the cartoons.

What I found most important for this is, that the kids can understand the story 100%.  No new vocabulary or grammar included.
It works a treat.  My kids have improved their reading in highest speed and confidence.

More about the story on the left below!

I learned about this video in last year's Comprehended Conference., from Madame Litten.
I looked into it this winter, and changed the lesson plan so it suits my needs.
Such a fun video.
And for next week, I entirely changed the Cartoon Story, still 100% comprehended.  I am looking forward to what the kids will come up with:
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I got requests from teachers to give some ideas on how to go about with the HUGE CONFERENCE, 'Comprehended Online' as there are sooooo many great!!! presenters and presentations.

There is no real formula, but from the eyes of me as a
PRIVATE ESL and GERMAN TEACHER & schoolowner, I am happy to share my thoughts.

Ahead, I must say, this year the conference is huge, it has always been, but never have I seen THIS amount of presenters, so there are many names, I myself don't know yet.  And I bet all of them are worth watching, so forgive me but in the end we all have to figure out ourselves.

I can tell you how I went ahead so far:

Who do you need ideas for?

Little kids?  Teenagers?  Adults?  

What are you looking for?

Writing?
Reading?
Speaking?
Online teaching (I think there is an extra section this year)

This one is big for me.
If a presenter just talks about what is done, or if he actually shows it, is such a difference.
So, I usually start here.

However, there are lots of gems of classdemonstrations in presentations, that are not listed under this section here.  MY OWN ONE AS WELL!  I have LOTS of Classroom videos from different ages and stages in my presentation, so make sure you don't stop after watching the demo section.

I also watch ANYTHING that seems to be about classroom games! 
Obvious!

I usually skip:
Classroom management (don't really have huge issues, and if I do they are so different from most teachers in the conference because most of them teach in regular schools)
same with 
Curriculum 
Assessments and grading (don't have to do this)

Movie talk
Reading related things.

This is soo hard.  Mostly all of them.
They are very different though, all of them.  No two alike.  And as the presentations are usually quite long I find it very important to find those that suit you.  Their style, way of talking, way of teaching....!

A good idea might be to check some of the names beforehand, most of them have websites.

I got the kick of it all through La Maestra Loca.
She is also teaching in 'regular schools', but her classroom just looks as 'crazy' as mine, without desks, often lying on the floor when writing, brainbreaks whenever possible, and just energizing!  

Getting more and more into the whole idea behind CI, last year I was very impressed with Madame Litten!  She also offers a wonderful amazing list of materials and just inspires.  I would check all of hers.

This year I am very curious about Ben Fisher, as he is a  German language teacher, and those are rare in CI.  But now I checked and WOW, there are a few more of them this year,  GREAT

Then the Jamboard presentation, as I just learned about it in the 
Ditch Summit and I  have had some great classes using Jamboard.

And of course the one about songs.  I think this will be the first one I jump into.

You should also make sure that, even if you don't listen to all of the presentations, do check the pdfs coming with them and download! There is a lot of great material!


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I hope this all helps a bit.

BTW, The conference starts on February 14 (HAPPY VALENTINE!  Do yourself a favor)
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you can still sign up HERE
And:
Use coupon code 25OFF to save $25

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Admitted, today I am being lazy.

I have been thinking all weekend about next week's classes.  Staying ONLINE, going OFFLINE.  And many things around that.  It made me so tired.

So, instead of writing a blogpost, I made another Jamboard I want to use in class next week.  And if you like, use it.

Kids interactively will drag the yellow tiles on the pictures.
Then, they will write a description of each character in slides 3-10.

Hope you can make use of it.  My kids love it.

​
​Here is the link

One month is over.  Have a great start of February, and a wonderful week.
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In one of my posts this week, I mentioned another way for a winter (snowman) topic.  

Read all through the end, because the big tips come further down!
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I've mentioned various ways of storytelling so far in past posts.  Kids love stories, and I do not get fixed on ONE method.  And there are many:

Reading a book.
Retelling a book.
Creating a story together from pictures, from videos,...
using Story Cubes
using songs.
And and and.

The one method I use most frequently now, and kids just get so creative about is movietalk.

I learned about Movie talk several years ago, in a CI Conference.
The way La Maestra Loca introduced it, fit excellently with my classes, so I started of doing it her way.

After a while little by little my own style and ideas came alive more and more, and ...that is what I will be presenting about this year myself at just that CI Conference.  So, if you want to learn more about the details of Movie talk, or learn and practice one of the hundreds way of storytelling, check that link and see if you can still get a slot to participate.  Regular registration was planned to be till midst of January, but because everything is different this year, you might have a chance.  No idea, but asking is free.

Anyway.  Let me share a few mini movies, I use around this time of year.

As with most of the videos, I learned, and love it the way, that you stop the video all few seconds and talk about the details in each little passage.
Who is there?
Where is she?
HOw old is she?
What is the weather like?
What is she doing? ...

Also lots of time for prediction:
Why is she doing this?
What is he going to do next?
Why ....


This movie is VERY moving!

This is another moving animation, with lots of vocab.  The great thing is that you can choose one of these videos for this year's season and then go with this one video for all levels.

For simpler questions here you could have them describe how Snowman A (We call him Frosty) makes Snowman B (WE call him Icy)

Or, what their favorite winter sports are.

For older kids you can get into feelings, and WHY Frosty feels sad, happy, etc.

If you are interested in this story's pdf, leave me a message and I will send it to you.

And another cute one, which goes well with Moral Education Class as well:
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And finally, in case you like to work with lyrics and songs and love SIA:

In my last post I talked about my favorite topic for ESL class, 'Let's make a snowman' >>>and why I use the Japanese word 'daruma' when talking to my students.

So, let me explain what 'daruma' is.
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It is one of these things with roots back in India.   
'Bodhidharma was a buddist monk, in the 5th or 6th century, and pretty little facts are known about him. 
However, he was the one who took Buddhism from India to China and from there to Japan, where it evolved into Zen.

According to my findings he is also the father of Martial Arts.

There seems no doubt about his look though.  Big eyes, thick eyebrows, beard and mustache, and a red (cape) covering his body.  
Please do read the Link I have added ↑‥There are some rather interesting legends and stories about him.

And finally  I can explain you a bit more, what a Japanese Daruma is.
In the foto I posted under the title you see a bunch of Daruma.
You get them in all sizes from mini to giant.
Most common is a 4,5 cm tall Daruma, usually made of wood.
It comes without the black eyes.  So, just white 'eyeholes'.

Why?

After buying it, one makes a wish and draws a black eye into the left white part.
When the wish comes true, -this may take time- the owner draws a black eye in the right part.　You maybe won't be able to read the Japanese, but have a look at some beautiful Daruma made of different materials, here.