We welcome Erin to the discussion and thank you for the bio, Erin:
Ben,
I joined your group a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to introduce myself and let you know what a fantastic resource it has been.
I am currently in my fourth year of teaching middle and high school Spanish in a large school district in Tennessee. I found out about TPRS through a county inservice, and it’s been the only way I’ve ever felt comfortable teaching. Your old blog was one of my weekly “must-reads,” but it took me until this year to seriously consider joining your pay site.
This year, I moved to a new school in the same district. It is a magnet school, with a K-12 foreign language program. From the first day, I felt I was over my head, especially with my behavior-averse 8th graders. We started with a novel that I had never taught before, and my students hated it. They begged for the textbook. Begged! So after we finished reading “Patricia va a California,” I taught a unit out of the textbook. I hated it, and they were learning nothing. At least once a week, I would go home plotting my next career or plans to stay home with the new baby that’s on the way this spring.
Joining your blog has given my class fresh life. My 8th graders were out for a whole week on a trip to D.C., so I had more time to read and plan. I implemented jGR, and started a story schedule. We are still using the textbook (Realidades), but the focus is always on the three structures of the week and lots of conversation, reading, and storytelling. One of my high schoolers walked into class the other day after my 8th graders left and asked why I was smiling so much. We had just had such an awesome class!
I still struggle with blurting and side conversations, but things are so much better.
Thank you,
Erin Bas