Part 1: Strategy 1

This strategy is so smart to me. Being in an elementary school and having contact with kids in the hallway all day long, I feel I have a great opportunity to use this a lot. I do not have a specific example, but as students are practicing their skills in the gym, I definitely walk around and have regular conversations with kids. Asking a question about something they did at home or talking about a comparison they have with my own children is very common and they love it. I use many words that are uncommon for them and I love when they ask me what it means. 

Informal conversations
This is actually my favorite part of teaching.  I love those incidental conversations that tend to happen before I formally start teaching or when there are a couple of minutes of the end.  So much info is shared during these unplanned conversations.  I not only learn to connect with the kids as humans, but they get to learn something about me as well, sort of leveling the human playing filed.    I get intensely interested when there are holiday being celebrated that I am less familiar with.   I have learned much first hand information about Ramadan and Kwanza that I would have only been able to get from Wikipedia otherwise.   
I also can use these conversations to have the kids reflect on my teaching.  A simple "how'd I do explaining" can really help guide my instruction for the next day, by learning where I may not have been as clear as I had thought.

Incidental teaching often leads to incidental learning. This happens regularly. It’s a wonderful way to build vocabulary for your own children at home and for your students in school. Using uncommon “SAT” type words to substitute more common words is a great way implement incidental teaching. Casual conversations with kids can lead to great learning opportunities for all.  It also helps with Social Emotional Learning. An example of incidental learning was when my son was little he loved cars. All cars. The Disney movie Cars, Hot Wheels, Monster Trucks, all cars. He collected hundreds of cars. I am not a car person, but because of him and his passion for cars, I can quote every line of the Disney movie and name most vehicles and models of Hot Wheels. An example where  where incidental learning led to explicit instruction was when I was 16 years old and I first drove in the snow. I drove too fast for the conditions and spun out. When I got home I asked my dad what I should do in that situation so it doesn’t happen again. He took me back out in the snow and taught me how to drive in those conditions. 

As an ENL teacher, I am constantly capitalizing on informal moments during the day when vocabulary comes up and needs clarifying and/or teaching. I personally believe a good portion of our vocabulary learning happens during the informal moments in the day when a word naturally comes up in teaching and/or conversation. Students then are able to better take on the word and even try to use it in their own day-to-day language. 
This way of learning vocabulary is a way that allows teachers to sprinkle words in throughout the day and not have to dedicate a part of the literacy block to specifically teaching vocab. 
Recently we were learning about weather in one of my co-taught classes and the word "snowplow" was mentioned and one of my ELLs had no idea what that was, so we had to stop and explain and the student was able to take that new word on to his own vocabulary.  

This portion of the podcast resonates a lot with me both as an educator and a parent.  The mimicking and absorbing of vocabulary simply from hearing and repetitive use are so important.  This is something that can be incorporated and practiced daily and kids do not even realize they are learning so much rich language.  I tend to repeat words a lot with my DI classes so that the consistent use organically becomes a part of their Social Studies language.  They all of a sudden just know it and apply it. I also try to apply the Social Studies vocab in “non” social studies settings/scenarios to incidentally teach how it can be applied elsewhere.  I think this gives it more value and meaning when they can see it connect to their lives.  I often show clips from tv shows, tik tocks, or even the news that display the meaning of a vocab word but in a different context.  It often gets them laughing at the connection but they also admit it helps them remember it for sure.  For example when teaching imperialism (strong nations dominating the weak), I often show them various clips throughout the unit to help them.  I show one of a bullying incident on Seinfeld, one the Simpsons, and another animal attack video.  For studies of appeasement we show clips on parenting from Super Nanny.  It is fun and it gives them an outside frame of reference and solidifies their understanding of the vocab. Also, just using words as a reference in class spanning multiple units helps them to add more vocab to their deck.  One example that stands out that we often use is alliances.  We teach it in reference to WWI but then I repeatedly use it in coordination with groups of kids in class and joke how they are forming against or for me.  How at some points they have an agenda or want to sway class a certain way… They get a kick out of it and get the meaning of the word for sure due to this application.

I think the informal moments when students are interacting with one another are paramount because they often bring rich conversation that can lead to explicit instruction. Engaging with students in these informal conversations can build great relationships and build great conversations. Not only does this interaction build language, but it builds social awareness among students. Additionally, by participating in these informal conversations with students, I can capitalize on the students interests and areas of need from their conversations in explicit instruction lessons. For example, if students are having a conversation about a book, but need help using the right terminology, I may give an explicit lesson using visual sentence stems when discussing books. As an educator it is important to understand that every moment is valuable, even the informal moments.

I couldn't agree more that sometimes the down times (not direct instruction) are key times for students to build on skills and vocabulary. Angela said she used to try to use synonyms for different words each day. I have done this, but not as consistently as I should. The kids like it and will ask "What are you talking about?" which then leads to great word discussions. I often get caught up on the direct instruction of vocabulary and need to capitalize more on the everyday conversations I have with my students. I greet each student at the door every morning and this is one of my favorite parts of the day because I get to build stronger relationships with them. Now I realize it is also a wonderful opportunity to build vocabulary. 

I do often point out to students that they teach me new things every day and am now thinking maybe it would be beneficial to have some sort of interactive sharing board where students can share new words they have learned from others. 

As stated in the podcast, kids often mimic the adults in their lives and this is also important to remember. Students will use the words we do, so if I start using a variety of words they will too. 

I love how the podcaster emphasized the use of oral language as a way to foster the development of vocabulary through incidental language.  When you think about how we acquire language as a baby - it's through oracy first.  Of course, as we get older we can also learn new words through reading but conversations and discussion can be used to help cement the meaning.  

While I am very strategic with my vocabulary instruction, I like to capitalize on language used by my students during class as a way to move their focus to their word choice/ power.   For example, if a student is describing a dystopian book as "totalitarian" then I might say "that's a great word to describe it! what does it mean?" to foster that incidental language.  

One of my best incidental language exposures was to use the word "I apologize for..." instead of "My bad/I'm sorry."  Students would ask what that meant and then would use it in their own vocabulary eventually. 

I love the emphasis on how to use the informal moments in the classroom to enhance students' vocabulary.  When I was a freshman in English, I remember my teaching using words that we all laughed at - "put your moniker on the paper," "this is a real conundrum" - and even though this vocabulary instruction was informal and sometimes silly, I still remember those words all these years later.  So I feel like that's perfect evidence for how effective these moments can be!
I try to use verbs that often trump students in my slides and directions - "I'd like to emphasize that the homework is due tonight" - or something like that, because the more they hear and see the words, the sooner they'll start to mimic them.  The podcast reminded me so much of my freshman English teacher and how I can capitalize on my always corny, sometimes funny, delivery in my class and add in some of my favorite words that can double as opportunities to build students' vocabulary.
I like to create space for class discussions - whole group and small group - in my English 10 class as often as I can.  It might be neat to choose a word of the day each discussion day and encourage students to try to use that word as often as possible!
I also like in the podcast how they suggested even incorporating some of these words into exchanges in the hall/signs in the hallways.  When I think of vocabulary instruction, I usually think explicit ways to teach it directly, but this strategy often results in longer-lasting retention!

Incidental learning to me is crucial to the language development for my students.  I teach an elementary 8:1:1 classroom and they thrive on multiple exposures to new words.  Any down times should be seen and instructional opportunities.  For example due to these times, my buses generally run 15-30 minutes late.  As we are waiting for the bus, I use this time to try to expose my students to different language.  Something I have not thought of, but would like to add to my classroom is creating a chart of the new words that I am exposing the students to (and maybe include a picture) in order for them to visualize the word better.

As a parent of 3, I couldn't agree more that our children pick up on so many things- they mimic our tone of voice, phrases and vocabulary.  At Christmas time when my son spilled his entire bowl of cheerios on the floor, he yelled out, "Son of A Nutcracker."  This came straight from the holiday movie Elf we had been watching days before.  This reaffirmed to me that our children's vocabulary has grown immensely just by listening to conversations amongst their family members, friends & even media. 

Many of our students are not intrinsically motivated to look up words that they do not understand when it comes up in class.  I have become that obnoxious teacher that asks a student to look up a definition on their phone or ask Siri.  We have taken the time to define it.

I also try to incorporate new vocab in our discussions.  While we are teaching WWI & WWII, I ask students to appease me and put their phones away or participate to read.  Or when not wanting student input, I tease and say "this is a dictatorship, not a democracy".  While some students smile or laugh, others haven't picked up on the meaning yet. 

There are also so many phrases and terms that my students use on a regular basis and have taught me over the years.  I specifically remember a student telling her friend and me about an ex-boyfriend.  She was a victim of "Ghosting" and "Gaslighting." I had no idea what these were at first.  When terms come up, I may ask them,  "what does that mean?" and they usually laugh at me.  However, teaching and learning is a two-way street.  We have to learn from each other and can laugh along the way.