An excellent bio from Lea:
My name is Lea Ekeberg, and I teach Chinese in an independent school in Washington, DC. I’m in my eighth year of teaching now, and I first experienced TPRS two years ago at ACTFL in one of Carol Gaab’s ACTFL sessions. The chance to experience the method as a learner was really transformative; I’ve always liked learning languages, but this was way more intriguing than any classes I’d taken. Since then, I’ve been to several more workshops, including NTPRS this past summer, and infiltrating the Wisconsin Chinese TPRS cell whenever possible. I’m using full-on TPRS in my Chinese I class this year – no textbook! – and it’s been a dream. This is in contrast to my first attempt last year, when I ran back to the book around about November, but workshops and blogs have really helped me to figure out some of the stumbling blocks. A big struggle for me this year is teaching Chinese II and V in the traditional way, and experiencing the frustration of doing something that is NOT WORKING. It’s incredibly painful. I’m looking forward to switching the whole curriculum over in the next few years. I have a tendency to make lots of lists, but I loved John’s post from earlier in the year about simplifying, decluttering, and making room for being present and connecting with the students. I think they can tell if I’m thinking about lists or thinking about them. So that’s my focus for the time being – making room.