Compelling Input Productions

I was born to be a teacher. As an adult I have been involved in teaching in one way or another my entire life. Before coming to a public high school, I worked in Christian Education, taught at a seminary, and began and developed an educational program for Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament in Buena Park, CA. As a public school teacher, I have taught at the same high school for 22 years, the same place I did my student teaching. Currently I teach all levels of German and built the program from about 50 students to over 200 students. I have also taught Spanish, ELD, and World History.

Both experience and research have convinced me that we acquire languages by receiving messages in the target language that we can understand. I have a relaxed approach that emphasizes engaging with students in the target language (German) about things that interest them. Rather than learning about the language, students engage with a cross-curricular array of subjects in the target language, thereby acquiring both knowledge about other subjects and the language they are using for communication.

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I started out as a Music major: University of Redlands, Bob Jones University (BA, MA). After that I attended Talbot Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM). Then I studied German at CSU Long Beach and Eberhard-Karls Universität in Tübingen, Germany (MA, Credential). In addition to a short stint at UCLA in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, I also took courses at various other educational institutions. My most recent endeavor was in Spanish through St Louis University's Madrid Campus (MA). The rest is my own research and professional development.

My goal in life is to be a Renaissance man. Besides teaching German, I participate in medieval re-creation, play the organ, sing in a choir, serve in my church, and read voraciously. I have experience with falconry and had my own hawk before I got too busy to continue. During the summer I travel and seek to enlarge my island of knowledge (which, of course, also expands my coastline of ignorance - the more you know, the more you know you don't know). Most recently I have started writing books and making my materials available to others, which is why you now see me on Teachers Pay Teachers.