Hi Ben,
I was wanting to submit my bio but I was unsure of where to submit it so I thought I would just send it to you. I am not a “trained” teacher. I didn’t go to school to be a teacher. I learned Spanish in another country and because of the requirements of charter schools I do not have to have a teaching certificate just a degree. I don’t normally follow blogs but this is the first for me. I have been encouraged so much by reading and reading and reading. I feel as though I still know so little but it is only my first year teaching with CI. Last year I knew that things had to change for me or I was going to quit. I attended a TPRS seminar in Columbus, OH and it was so clear that this was the way to teach. This year has been hard but rewarding. There are so many students that do so poorly in other classes and excel in my class. My administration is very much behind me and I hear over and over that people wished they could have learned a foreign language the way that I am teaching. I am seeing the results in my Spanish 1 class. I have been having a harder time in my Spanish 2 and 3 class because they think they need to learn grammar in order to make sentences (I taught the traditional way my first 2 years). I also have been trying to influence fellow language teachers, one being a Latin teacher in another school district.
Thanks for all you do!
Rebekah Gambrell