Here is Teri’s bio:
I studied French because I loved the language and I wanted to travel and live in France. I never had any intention of teaching it. It was always difficult for me to learn and I never had great success, but I loved it and persevered. I survived a year abroad in college, which improved my skills somewhat.
When I graduated from Purdue University with a degree and a desire to teach history, I discovered that since I wasn’t a coach, I would have to take a job which included teaching French. The plan was to teach French only as long as I had to, then move into a position where I could use my strengths–teaching social studies. Life happened and I continued for 24 years teaching French the best I could–but not very effectively. I could create worksheets quickly and efficiently. I could explain grammar with the best of them. I could create and play games that practiced vocabulary and grammar. But my students couldn’t use the language. I was heartbroken. But I was also teaching 4-7 preps of social studies and 2-4 preps of French every day. I did the best I could and waited for the full time opening in Social Studies. That opportunity never came to me, instead two positions were offered to a football coach and a basketball coach. I said enough is enough and informed them I would teach only French. I then set out to become the best French teacher that I could be. I also stumbled into a TPRS workshop presented by Shirley Ogle. I fell in love with it in the first hour. That was 1999. I never looked back. Even as I struggled to learn how to do it, my worst students were speaking French and understanding me speak French for the first time ever. My biggest pain-in-the-butt student fell in love with French!
As I looked for support and more training, I realized that at that time, there wasn’t much. The moretprs listserv was brand new and you had to be invited to be accepted in the group. It was a lifesaver. As for local workshops, there were none, so I did them for myself and for others. The more I had to present, the better I understood. I read, I emailed, I read some more. I experimented and got better and better. In 2010, I retired from the classroom. Since then I’ve continued to read and collaborate on best practices for using CI teaching in the classroom. I’ve been to some national conference every year since 2005, either iFLT, NTPRS, Fluency Fast Teacher training, sometimes all of the above. I have presented throughout Ohio and have brought many national speakers here also. I was trained as a coach in 2006 and have been coaching ever since. I also visit college methods classes to talk about teaching with CI whenever I can wrangle an invitation. I show them that CI teaching is philosophical, not a tool in a toolbox. The journey is long and hard, but if we keep working together, keep showing success to others who doubt, we will arrive. Maybe someday, I will really retire, but not until I’ve given it my best shot. I’m having too much fun. I love talking about the best practices of teaching. And that is why I joined this group. I read Ben’s blog and his posts back in the day, and now realize that the people here are a fun bunch and I am thrilled to be a part of this PLC.
Teri Wiechart
Comprehensible Input Based Teaching Methods – Trainer and Coach