Today I got this introductory letter from Peter McHugh, one of the patrons here, and I would like to share it so all of us in this group can keep getting to know each other. (Actually Peter, like Sean, has been in the PLC for many many years and has migrated here and this migration, as well as Sean’s, makes me very very happy):
Hi Ben,
Thank you for your messages and for all of the work that you do.
1. I am a high-school Latin teacher in Philadelphia. I have been teaching for 20 years: ten years in elementary education and ten as a Latin teacher. I teach the first two levels of Latin. The School District of Philadelphia will only provide students the state-required two years of language study (except in the magnet schools, of course. They can take language courses all the way through AP!)
2. I have been using CI since January 2012, when after a failed semester using grammar/translation, I found Robert Patrick’s Listserv “Latin Best Practices.” I discovered your Professional Learning Community around May of that same year and have been subscribing to it ever since. I purchased a number of your books during those early years (“TPRS in a Year,” “PQA in a Wink,” “TPRS Story Scripts 1 & 2,” and they revolutionized my approach (read, “made me feel as though I had control”). I have since lost my desire to be puppet master and prefer to collaborate with my students (this requires believing that your students have something of value to bring to the conversation).
3. I have not done any serious personal professional development since 2016. I hope to reignite my lost curiosity in my craft. I wish to learn how to apply CI more authentically with an eye toward equity and inclusion. My goals are very much in tune with your “Focus for 2022.”
4. I learned about the Star Curriculum through your web site and through your YouTube videos. I have purchased the books “A Natural Approach to Stories,” and both UCI books. This is the year I plan to return to my personal professional development and read through all three.
During those first ten years of elementary teaching, I researched the area of elementary pedagogy deeply. By the end, I felt like I had build a considerable competence in the field. In the understaffed, overworked environment of the high school, it can be difficult to convince yourself to spend what little time there is left in your day on work-related material. But I have found in the past that a reflective approach to teaching, which includes personal professional development, is a key element in preventing burn-out. I believe this is so because reflection keeps you focused on change – change for the better, and this keeps you optimistic.