Ben,
I am finally in a perfect position to retrain myself and be the Spanish teacher I always wanted to be but never was. I taught Spanish full time to begin my teaching career. I love Spanish. I wanted to share that with kids and I so badly wanted them to learn. I was given a textbook that the other Spanish teachers in the building used. We were all to be on the same pace. I followed the text page by page…all the grammar, vocabulary, dialogues.
Every weekend I spent 8-10 hours grading papers and writing all kinds of explanatory notes about why their grammar was incorrect and what the particular rule was (they just threw them away). I planned, I was prepared, I was diligent, I was excited. And no one learned. No one could speak. I became one of those foreign language teachers about whom students say “I took Spanish for three years and can’t speak a word”. I was so disappointed. I got so burnt out.
I wanted out so badly. Had to get out to survive. So I got a second endorsement in PE/Health and thanked the gods of teacher placement when I got out of the classroom and into the gym.
It’s many years later now and I am going to a new school, new state, and returning to my roots as a Spanish teacher. Small school, no textbooks…in fact, no materials at all. For the past two years the students have been taking Spanish through some kind of live feed video professor system where they fill out workbooks. There is currently no middle school Spanish.
I will only have high school Spanish 1 the first year and maybe one small Spanish 3 class. The clincher? The principal told me, “Yes, we have state standards but I don’t care if they can read or write a single word. I just want them to be able to communicate verbally.”
True story. And so goes my brand new, clean-slate position. I can start over. I can re-make myself and your writings will help in this transition, esp. about the Invisibles. I’m determined not to let my former teacher self interfere. I have a handful of years left before I retire and I want to do it right this time. I have to.