Magister P, here, and I’m excited for the advent of the new Comprehensible Online conference! Aside from eliminating travel/lodging, I’m most interested in the idea of seeing EVERY presentation at my own pace. In the summer conferences, I always have to choose, sometimes just flipping a coin, but there’s no need with access to all presentations online. The long access window over three weeks should also minimize “conference fatigue” otherwise experience within 4 or 5 days.

I’ll be giving three presentations. My first one on setting up a classroom includes a tour of my own classroom, as well as a look into those of other presenters and teachers. I wanted to present on this topic because I found that having useful things in the wrong places was almost like having nothing at all! Watch this presentation for ideas and different ways to optimize management. Also, I strongly believe in achieving balance between school and life, and I like working with multimedia, so this video features some of my own music.

My second presentation is on the art of questioning. Questioning is at the core of every interactive method and strategy. Those familiar with TPRS know of circling, which is just one of three types of questioniong. Even then, circling not only can be comprised of comprehension checks, but also the more-communicative confirmation checks. The other types of questions, vertical and horizontal, both lead to more communicative interactions in the classroom. The video features different scenarios for viewers to practice their own questioning skills in real time.

My third presentation is on novel ways to present, and co-create stories using familiar storyasking skills. I developed this presentation after hearing that teachers were interested in storytelling alternatives without having to learn a new method or strategy. The video features demos and explanations of several alternatives, as well as a card magic trick in Latin.

See you in March!