I don’t think I’ve ever written a mission statement. Something Julie said prompted this reaction from me and it looks kind of like a mission statement so I’ll call it that for this group:
I want to play my part in the current dramatic changes taking place in foreign language instruction in the United States. I want to help move our profession from one in which kids are shamed because they can’t memorize to making them feel happy, capable and motivated to become life-long learners of languages. I want to help accomplish this by developing and sharing strategies and techniques that bring those results, and by taking part in a vibrant and ongoing online discussion with like-minded colleagues around the world. I want to help teachers find ways to teach in ways that bring them genuine happiness and self-fulfillment in their jobs, so that when they are done with their careers they don’t feel depressed like it was a waste of time but rather that they made a real change and did their part to stop the ongoing corporate-driven horror show of the last century in foreign language education.