“Passwords” stick with students long term. Check this out:

I ran into a couple of students the other night. Both were boys that were in my Latin class last year and will be entering sixth grade this fall. They excitedly asked me if I had seen the presidential debate. I asked why, and they said they had heard Latin in it. Both said they heard “Quid pro quo”, and that later a commentator said “non sequitur”. One boy also said he heard a commentator say “Deus ex machina”. They were so excited and pleased with themselves. They said if they hadn’t had Latin they would not have understood what the candidates or commentators were saying. I was very proud of them and told them so over and over. The boys were proud and their parents were amazed. We had used those three expressions (and 47 others) as “passwords” over the past two years in Latin class.

That two 11 year old schoolboys could hear Latin phrases used in an adult debate with no prompting, no warning, and no review, is evidence of how well “passwords” stick with students. Those lads instantly recognized the Latin sayings and knew what they meant in a streaming debate and in the commentary afterwards. That’s a rigorous real time, real life assessment. That’s acquisition, my friends.

This is evidence of how well “passwords” stick with students.

In case you’re not familiar with passwords, they are a way to greet students as they enter the classroom. Students say a prearranged “password” for the week (a phrase in the target language) to the teacher at the doorway.

Passwords are a great way to personally greet every student and make a connection before class even starts. It is part of the daily routine that I wouldn’t think of giving up.

In a modern language class, I use (click on these) common idiomatic expressions for novice students, useful expressions and significant cultural sayings for intermediate low/mid students, and wise authentic sayings for AP students.

In Latin class we use Latin mottos: Latin sayings that educated English speakers still use and Latin phrases that have been used over the centuries to express complex ideas in compact ways. I generally assign 25 passwords each school year—and students remember them. Almost every single password. Most students this year got 95% or better of a test of the 50 passwords over the past two years. The prompts were written in English, the students wrote in Latin. I’ll show samples of those tests in a later blog.

Here are some passwords I’m thinking about using this upcoming school year. What would you add? What would you omit?

If you haven’t used passwords, take some time this summer to brush up on them. Find out how here.

In a later blog I’ll explain what my passwords are, how I choose them, and how I reinforce them with students—with no class time lost. That even better than the 80/20 Pareto principle! Stay tuned.

Please share this post with a friend that could use help with classroom management or connecting with students.