an introduction to me and my purpose

     My purpose. Why create a blog? I don't consider myself especially noteworthy. I am certainly not an expert on many things and that includes the evidence-based methods that I use to teach. My purpose is two-fold. One, I feel that there are a plethora of really spectacular teachers who have blogs that detail their successes. They often detail their failures as well and they are generally introspective, but many of them are at the point in their career where a failure is "my story flopped in this class" or "I forgot the word for platypus". These are realistic failures for their level of experience, but not all of us are to that level yet and I feel it can be disheartening at times. Or maybe that's just me. Two, I struggle with accountability. I have inattentive ADHD as well as a neurological disorder that makes it difficult for me to pay attention for extended periods of time. Both are helped by written records. I highly doubt that I am the only member of the teaching community with a learning difference or a medical condition, but I feel that the needs of teachers in this respect are often ignored, whether accidentally or deliberately. It's unfair of me to expect others to expose their own struggles if I'm unwilling to expose mine. I'm not conceited enough to think that I can change the overall community, but I hope that I can make one person feel less alone.
     About me. The most important thing about me in terms of this blog is that I am a Spanish teacher in my hometown of Newport, Tennessee. Teaching was not my first choice. I passionately hated school. During my freshman year of high school, I was homeschooled. During my senior year, I went to college at ETSU rather than spending another year suffering through what I saw as pointless. Early college entrance was not quite as common then as it is now, so my college experience was somewhat unique in that regard. I was, to my knowledge, the only person of my student type on campus. I originally majored in English and Spanish with the intention of becoming a court interpreter. Life interfered, as it often does. I applied for DCS and Cocke County High School. At that time, Tennessee still had a fairly easy route to alternative certification for people with no education experience if the person had a degree in a high needs subject. I was hired and began the process of getting my certification through UTK while I was teaching. It was an interesting experience but not one I'd care to repeat.
     To my utmost surprise, I love teaching. I am primarily an introvert and dealing with large groups of people, especially those I don't know, causes me an unfortunate degree of anxiety. That anxiety doesn't disappear because I love teaching. I have not become any less of an introvert. But I love teaching, and that makes the anxiety and exhaustion worthwhile. My first semester was almost entirely textbook-based. I was introduced to comprehensible input and TPRS through a combination of my fabulous mentor teacher and online blogs. Every semester I have improved a bit more. Every semester I have implemented new techniques. My goal is not perfection, but progress.