This year Clairbourn’s Spanish teacher and French
teacher, Mary Drazic and Cara Barker, have both revolutionized their language classrooms
with the Comprehensible Input (CI) style of instruction (also known as TPRS®—Teach
Proficiency through Reading and Story-telling). Below, Mary Drazic provides
insights into how CI is applied in language classrooms, followed by a brief
history of the origins of CI (or TPRS®), as well as the research on its
effectiveness, by French teacher Cara Barker:
Spanish Teacher Mary Drazic Shares Her
Experience:
Clairbourn Spanish Teacher Mary Drazic
To prepare for this new style of teaching, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with the founder of the TPRS® method, Blaine Ray. He instructs in the CI (or TPRS®) style that we have brought to Clairbourn School, and the training was a game-changer! We learned German during the workshop. It was fantastic to not only learn the new instructional style, but also to be a successful product of it. By the end of the training, I could tell a story in German!
I am so happy to share with you my first impressions of this new instructional style as applied in Clairbourn’s language classes. The students’ engagement is through the roof. I have never seen students respond so well to Spanish—they are even laughing at jokes in their new language. When learning a topic, they can emote by acting out what is happening during instruction and they can practice having appropriate responses to situations. For example, they are asked to respond in the target language with expression like, “Oh no!,” “That’s gross,” or “Ridiculous!” Each student’s involvement enriches the overall experience.
On Tuesday, the 8th grade class participated in the annual Cardboard Regatta—a cardboard boat-making and racing competition held in the school pool. The eighth-graders studied the physics of buoyancy and tested their understanding by designing and building cardboard passenger boats. Working in teams of 4 to 5 students, they used sheets of cardboard, 6 rolls of duct tape, and a thin sheet of plastic wrap. During the race, five points was earned for every team member that crossed the pool in their boat. Coming in fourth place was the yellow team with half a lap. Tied for third place was the teal team and the pink team. Each of those boats carried two people one length of the pool, for a total of 10 points each. Coming in second place was the red team. Their team earned 35 points.
Artwork conceptualized and crafted by students during the school year were on display in the Annual Art Show, which took over the entire Multi-Purpose Building on the same night as the spring Open House. The expansive walls of the MPB were filled with hundreds of paintings, drawings, prints, and mixed-media works, while the center areas contained ceramic displays and additional groupings of more paintings and drawings. All grades had work in the show, and students in Grades K through 5 had at least two pieces plus a ceramic project on display.
Clairbourn appreciates the hard work of art teacher Hayley Ball and her team of volunteers who helped put on this impressive show. Her installers were middle school students Kristy S., Jessie K., Samantha F., Estella B., Barbra C., Piper K., Madison B., and Roxy P., along with the maintenance staff, and music teacher Mrs. Kiertzner.
Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.
Families turned out in large numbers for the Clairbourn Open House event on Tuesday May 21. The purpose was two-fold; to view special projects in the students’ current classrooms and to meet the teachers and preview the projects in the upcoming grade levels. Specialists for music, foreign language, and library were also on hand to show off their learning spaces and to show student activities from the 2018-2019 school year.The middle school was also open, and parents got to see science projects and had a chance to ask questions about curriculum, grading, teacher expectations, and much, much more!
Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.
New Clairbourn Trustee at Large Jane Marks with her husband Jerry and son Christian.
The Clairbourn Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of current Clairbourn parent Jane Marks to the Board. As the ultimate private school customer (having experienced a total of 19 consecutive school years since 1998 for all three of her children), she brings a wealth of knowledge to the table about private school education on both the parent-experience and student-experience sides.
Her oldest son is Jordan Marks, Class of 2008, who attended from Pre-K to 8th grade. Her daughter Taylor Marks, Class of 2011, started in 2001 and stayed for Pre-K to 8th grade. Christian Marks is her youngest son. He started in Junior Pre-K in the Fall of 2008 and is part of the graduating class of 2020.
When looking for schools almost 20 years ago, Jane and her husband Jerry were set on finding a great private school for their Children. Clairbourn stood out from the competition because they found it to have strong academics combined with a nurturing environment. Clairbourn was so welcoming and felt like home. They were also attracted to the public-speaking emphasis and appreciated the universal values shared at morning Chapel.
Taylor Marks (center) attended Clairbourn from preschool to 8th Grade and graduated in 2011
Even though all three of her children are very different people, Clairbourn turned out to be a right fit for each of them because she could see they were achieving academically, they were successful in other activities, and they loved going to school and loved the process of learning. This success has continued for her two older children through high school and college.
She also appreciates that this love of learning goes hand-in-hand with a powerful spirit of self-motivation to be one’s best without an undue sense of pressure or competition. Jane credits Clairbourn with hitting the right balance between study-time and cultivating the other sides of personal development which she considers to be deeply healthy for children.
As a long-time parent, Jane has been involved on campus as a volunteer in almost every available capacity including current secretary of the CFA Executive Board. She has volunteered at Cougar Corner, book fairs, carnivals, spring auctions, room parent activities, special lunches, dances, and more. She considers these school-focused years as very precious, and even though she serves on her neighborhood board and has served on the La Salle High School Mother’s Alumni Group, Clairbourn gets the lion’s share of her volunteer time.
Jordan Marks (back row, far right) attended Clairbourn from preschool to 8th Grade and graduated in 2008.
Jane shared, “There is nowhere else quite like Clairbourn. This school attracts people who appreciate balance, quality of life, and values in addition to top academic performance. We have nice families here and my children have nice friends. It is a great community. I feel lucky to be able to come on campus to volunteer and participate. It is my number one job. My children can see my commitment to the school and they have appreciated school even more as a result.”
If you see Jane around campus, be sure to say “Hi” and take a moment to get to know her better. Jane has a B.S. in Business from Cal State Los Angeles, has worked in sales in the Title Insurance Industry, and has a host of personal interests that range from Western horse riding, to gardening, skiing, running. We hope you will enjoy getting to know Jane and will join us in celebrating her appointment to our school board.
Clairbourn School Provides Private School Education for Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, and Middle School Grades | Serving Families in the Pasadena, California, Area and Surrounding Cities (K-12 Private Schools) | Clairbourn is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Click here to request information.
