A Principio

A Principio Humili - From a Humble Beginning

This blog gives me an opportunity to write my thoughts and experiences of teaching Latin.   

For the last two years, I have been teaching. Last year, I began as a K-8 teacher at a small Catholic elementary school in Lincoln, NE. With three weeks to spare before college graduation, I accepted the job. I studied classical languages, classics, and religious studies in college, but I did not receive any formal training in education. I examined different approaches to teaching Latin, but it still baffled me before the school year began.

As a student at UNL, I studied Latin through the Grammar-Translation method. I thought this was incredible and helpful experience in college. Plus, I developed fruitful relationships with the professors in my degree field. Through my college experience, I did not have any exposure to spoken or living Latin. All my conversations were about Latin, not in Latin. So, during that first year, I applied some of the practices I learned at UNL, but they all flopped! Plus, the students weren't very interested and they did not understand most of the time.

Then, last year about this time, I accepted another teaching position at the high school level. They hired me with the idea that I would teach Latin immersively, in a similar way to their Spanish program. This lead to some personal questions I had to face. Do I even believe in spoken Latin? How can I do it, even if I am not a big fan of doing so? Who speaks Latin nowadays? What approach do I take? Having been an opponent and scoffer of spoken Latin, I didn't know how to proceed.

So again, last summer, I investigated teaching methodologies. I found Lingua Latina: Per Se Illustrata. This is the text book we use at the high school. In addition, I found some good resources on incorporating spoken Latin into the class. As this year started, I noticed some tension building in how to proceed with spoken Latin and I didn't know how.

Then, a God moment occurred! I went to an evening presentation in mid-September. While there I spoke with the Bishop of Lincoln about how the Latin program had been going. He mentioned Nancy Llwellelyn and her prowess  for speaking and teaching Latin. In my heart, I knew immediately that I needed to contact her. After talking to her on the phone, I knew I was headed in the right direction. I then signed up for Biduum Angelopolitanum, in the middle of October, through SALVI.

That experience was quite difficult, but I was glad to have gone on the trip. It has inspired me for the rest of the year. Also, I have been trying to incorporate more CI and activities that are compelling for my students.

This school year, I have gone from zero exposure to spoken Latin to having gone on a two-day Latin immersion program. I have gone from a vocal opponent of spoken Latin to speaking Latin to myself at times. I have gone from never using Latin in the classroom to using it as much as I can in the classroom. I have gone from Grammar-Translation to trying my best to work towards CI and TPRS.  I have been trying my best to improve. At the end of next month, I will be attending the Biduum Minnesotanum. I plan on going on the Rusticatio Tironum this summer.

I plan on growing this summer, planning for this next year, and trying my best to include all my students in the learning of Latin. This blog is here to document that journey. Plus, I hope to help others who may be on a similar path or who will be but haven't found the path yet.