Well, I’m back. Posting only every few months on this website was not my plan, but the time I have not been writing here has been well spent elsewhere. February and March were wonderfully productive this year. I started important work on my book, and I made much more progressed than I dreamed possible on my vocabulary learning app. Through researching the book, I am getting to rethink all of my own assumptions about language learning and second language acquisition. The book brings together second language acquisition research and popular language learning methods and techniques from YouTubers, authors, and other language enthusiasts who are not involved in second language acquisition formally. So, on the one hand, I have been reviewing the most popular language learning books based on Amazon reviews or other notoriety. Books like Fluent Forever (Wyner, 2014), How to Speak Any Language Fluently (Rawlings, 2017) and, though not a language learning book per se, Babel No More: The Search for the World’s Most Extraordinary Language Learners (Erard, 2012). It’s great mapping what they are saying onto what has been written by researchers/professors about second language acquisition. The popular language learning books are squarely focused on suggesting practical, concrete ways to learn languages, whereas much of the SLA “research” can seem impractical or not clearly applicable to learning. At the same time, reading back through a book like Ortega’s (2009) Second Language Acquisition makes me realize the value of the research. So, that’s what I hope I can bring together in my book.
The vocabulary app is equally exciting, and I have to admit that it just would not be possible without Claude Code. I have been absolutely blown away at how much of the app I have been able to create with Claude Code’s help and my rudimentary coding skills. I almost have the app in a testable state. I just need to finish creating in-app dictionary, which I think is key for making it useful for students. Once I pilot a local-device version with students, then next steps will be to develop the cloud version and have it reviewed by an expert to make sure it meets security standards and there are no bugs that I am not seeing. Building this app is the experience that most convinces me of what AI tools will give to us teachers. They’re NOT going to give us more time. Rather, they will allow us to do things we could not or would not do before. So, things that would have taken too much time to even conceive of now become possibilities. So, yes, that means there is just more to do now, which just makes us busier. But I still think this is empowering for teachers. We have the knowledge about how to teach, and now, rather than having to search for the right materials or hope for a useful technical tool, we can create our dream materials and tools for teaching.
I have read that AI is actually making people feel BUSIER than before. I can understand that, and I also can understand that people might feel stressed depending whether they are feeling empowered or threatened. I initially felt that AI was going to be threatening teachers, but my mind is starting to change. We do not want our children sitting in front of computers all day, or robots for that matter. In fact, I feel that AI is increasing the value of face-to-face human time. I’m not holding my breath thinking that it is going to lead to increased salaries for teachers, but I feel like we are on the front lines of humanity, as dramatic as that might sound. Kids have home, and they have school. As much as I want my kids to hang out and talk with me and read books at home, they want to do their thing when they get home, which sometimes involves their devices, or very often, studying alone. So, school is the major place in their lives where they are interacting face-to-face with others. And teachers are the conductors of that face-to-face. Maybe I particularly feel this way because I am a language teacher, but I think a teacher of any subject should be aware of how important their position is as an in-person, human influence in peoples lives that have become too dominated by screens. Ok, a bit of a soapbox, but I so strongly believe that the teaching profession is about much more than teaching “math” or “English” or whatever it is. So, on the one hand, teachers are not being sufficiently valued (i.e., $$), but I’ll also say there is no excuse to be a bad teacher–it’s too important to not be great.
I’m probably not alone these days in wanting more time. Time is unfortunately difficult to come by this semester. With an overload of classes this semester (the most ever), my days are consumed with preparation, evaluations, and the classes themselves. As always, I love teaching, and we have great students, so it is gratifying to teach. But, I feel the other projects pulling at me, and as my long-time friend recently said to me about the book, “It’s so exciting to begin, but it is hard to finish!” I am aware of the unfinished state of the book and the app, and this website has taken a backseat both of those. But, I used to think that what you need to get work done is time, but now I’d say energy is more importnat. And that, I do not lack! I hope you’re equallly excited about the educational projects or learning you are doing now too. Feel free to leave a comment to talk about it!