The blogs from y’all are stacking up in the queue and I apologize for that, but I have also been asked to limit the quantity of content here since it is a lot to read on a daily basis what with all of us teaching and all. So if you have sent me a blog for publication here in the last few months, rest assured that it is patiently waiting its place in the queue.
This next blog is very cool. Last year a teaching couple came down to hang out with me for a few days. Bonnie and Eugene brought with them a can-do attitude and apparently it has paid off for them, as the email below suggests:
Hi Ben,
About a year ago my wife Bonnie and I drove down from Boulder to watch you in action. We were both captivated with your teaching and immediately hooked on TPRS. I landed my first teaching job over the summer and, with your book in hand, I started right off with TPR/TPRS. I teach Latin in a mid-school where Latin is part of the core curriculum. The students came in expecting grammar boot camp with a drill sargent. They were stunned when I opened my mouth and started speaking Latin in a way they could understand. They just loved your circling with balls lesson. I bought Anne’s story scripts and they have been a huge help. I am lucky enough to work with veteran TPRS Spanish teacher, Rosie Wimmer. She has given me a lot of advice and support in my first year. Rosie and I are currently the only two TPRS teachers in our district here in Casper, WY. Although I think I may have converted one more today. Two Spanish teachers observed my class and saw the home-run story of the year. All the kiddos were enthusiastically shouting out the answers and were really engaged for the full time. Aside from the cute answers everything was in Latin. At the end of the lesson the teachers asked if the words were new because he kids had obviously mastered them. One of the teachers loved it, the other was asking about grammar. Imagine it, me, a Latin teacher, making the case for a life without grammar. Di boni!
I am still definitely a beginner and I have had my ups and downs. But I just can’t imagine what my year would have been like if I hadn’t had visited you those two days in spring and delved into this thing called TPRS.
Thanks for everything. Your blog reminds us that TPRS is not some scientific formula handed down from the ivory tower but a work in progress unfolding in classrooms across the country.
Eugene