It's rewarding to teach students to speak a foreign language, says Fran
Pettigrew of McLean, Virginia. Pettigrew has been teaching Spanish since
1967.
She feels proud when her students report that their Spanish speaking skills
have benefited them in their daily life. For instance, one girl found a part-time
job at a veterinary clinic. She was the only staff member who could talk to
a Spanish-speaking couple when they brought in their sick dog.
Pettigrew learned Spanish when she lived in Panama as a teenager. "The
Spanish language, the culture and the people became a very important part
of my life," she explains.
When Pettigrew attended university in the U.S., she majored in Spanish
and French education. She was certified to teach both languages. After graduation,
she had several exciting job opportunities in various fields, but she decided
to try teaching to see if she liked it.
"I fell in love with teaching the moment I walked into the classroom and
met the kids. I have never left the profession," she says enthusiastically.
Pettigrew loves working with teenagers and helping them build a skill that
will be useful to them. Since Spanish is a living language, the students have
many opportunities to speak it in their daily lives.
"I love making the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world come alive for
my students," she explains.
The workload is heavy. It demands a lot of time outside the classroom.
Teachers must meet the needs of many diverse learners. It takes time to plan
assignments and do assessments.
"I would love to be out and about on weekends, but I spend a lot of my
free time planning lessons," she says.
Pettigrew arrives at school at 6:15 a.m. to get her classroom set up for
the day. She starts teaching at 7:20 a.m. and teaches until 2:10 p.m.
After school, she stays around to talk to kids who want help, or to participate
in out-of-classroom activities. She goes home around 3:30, then grades papers
until 6:30 or so.
"Most of the good teachers that I know spend a lot of time outside of their
school on school-related work," she says. "But it's rewarding when you see
that your kids are learning."
At one point, Pettigrew was a coach for a program that worked with brand
new foreign language teachers. "It was so rewarding to work with these bright
young people all year," she says. "All schools need enthusiastic, devoted
teachers."
Pettigrew recommends that would-be foreign language teachers study abroad
for a semester, if their university offers that option.
Renee Hock teaches Japanese at a secondary school. Hock learned to speak
Japanese when she lived in Japan for three and a half years. "I was an active
member of Canada's national judo team," she explains. "A Japanese company
sponsored me to go to Japan."
After returning to Canada, Hock worked in business and taught judo in the
evenings. "I loved teaching so much that I decided to make it my career,"
she remarks. She enrolled in the teacher education program at the University
of British Columbia. After graduating, she began teaching French and Japanese
in the public school system. Now she teaches Japanese full time.
Jim Bigger teaches Latin to students in Grades 9 to 12 in McLean, Virginia.
While in university, his advisor encouraged him to study the classics.
After graduating in the '70s with a degree in Latin and Greek, Bigger worked
in the hotel and restaurant business for seven years. Then he began teaching
Latin in a private school.
Bigger has been teaching classical Latin or Greek since the late 1970s.
"It was not always full time. Not always in the public school system. Not
always in Virginia," he says. "But one way or the other, I've been teaching
for 22 years."
Bigger's day is busy. Since he teaches six classes, he arrives at school
at 6:15 every morning. Some days, he might stay as late as 6 p.m.
"It's a heavy workload," he says. "I have four very diverse preparations
to take care of."
Bigger points out that Latin is the foundation of many languages. Studying
Latin helps students improve their English grammar and English writing skills.
He sees his students turn their achievements into bigger and better things.
"I have seen some go into really good humanities and liberal arts programs
at good universities," he adds.
Some aspects of the work are stressful. Bigger is stressed by administrators
that he considers incompetent, the need to work long hours, the use of technology
and equipment that is outdated, and the time spent connecting with parents.
"It's also stressful because teachers are expected to be secretaries, psychologists,
bank tellers....all rolled into one," he says.
Bigger points out that there are many career options available to people
with a degree in French or Spanish or the classics. "We're in demand because
of the world economy," says.
"We can work at law firms, as teachers, in engineering firms. Plus the
study of Latin and Greek is a great background for studying subjects like
medicine, architecture and engineering. It even improves your SAT scores."