The author continues:
These last 3 years I have been beaten down pretty badly by these few kids. I have had to give up many other things to make my transition to CI. They have ruined much in their tenure with me. Now, I don’t even try to speak Latin with them too much. They can’t handle it. They don’t want that kind of rigor. The funny thing is that the parents and my administrator threw around the term rigor, but they have no idea what they are talking about.
Finally, my admin said that she was going to contact our Secondary Curriculum director to see about what the goals of our program should be, specifically levels 4 and 5. The funny thing is that I am the most knowledgeable person in our district of 20 FL teachers when it comes to standards and research. I not only know what the standards are, but how to use them. I rebutted when my admin accused me of not teaching grammar, a common compliant among these few students/parents. I said to her quite confidently that I teach the standards and there is not a grammar standards. I teach for reading, writing, listening, and speaking comprehension and proficiency. She didn’t have much to say beyond admitting that she had no idea what the standards were. Quite absurd!
I feel this teacher’s pain so much! It is incredible the ignorance and fear that’s out there. Moreover, I am shocked that my admin would say anything to me. For the last 5 years I have been teaching 6 classes, 4 preps and traveling between two buildings while also learning to speak Latin and use CI in my classes. I have performed successfully a Herculean labor, yet these comments by students, parents, and my admin have left me saddened. I often ask myself if teaching this way is worth the trouble. It reminds me of the movie the Matrix. I think many people just can’t handle the truth and would rather live in a world that is fake just so that they don’t have to admit that their truth is wrong.