What does it take to be a good high school Latin teacher/facilitator?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Talk me through what you do in your high school Latin. I'm hoping to hear from people who do not just give their student a book or a DVD.

Talk me through what you do in your high school Latin. I'm hoping to hear from people who do not just give their student a book or a DVD.

 

This is a great question. Too often, we get caught up in which textbook to use, and clearly the teacher matters more than the text. I'd rather give a student a great teacher with a poor text than vice versa.

 

I think being a great Latin teacher is pretty straightforward and exactly like any other subject, you just need to be two things:

 

1) A subject matter expert.

2) A teaching expert.

 

With Latin, there's a lot of memorization, what with the declensions and conjugations and vocabulary, and there isn't enough "class time" to memorize everything the student needs to. Especially in high school, I think it is important for a teacher to present several different techniques to memorization and help the student learn which way works best for them. Early on in the course of study, the teacher needs to set expectations about the amount and quality of memorization, and ensure the student has the right tools and discipline to accomplish this.

 

Even though Latin grammar is somewhat different than English grammar, you really need to know your English grammar cold to teach Latin well, and to explain the difference between the two.

 

I think pronunciation of Latin is often overlooked. Like textbooks, I think we too often get caught up in selecting ecclesiastical vs. restored classical pronunciation, when we should just pick with one and focus on getting it right (though I do have my preference...). You don't need to be speaking it all the time, but if you are confident about pronunciation, spelling Latin words should be trivial.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thank you. These are the practical kinds of answers I was looking for!

 

 

I think being a great Latin teacher is pretty straightforward and exactly like any other subject, you just need to be two things:

 

1) A subject matter expert.

2) A teaching expert.

 

 

So, what if I am not an expert in Latin but I am a teaching expert? Do you think I can still teach my child if we focus on memorization, grammar (I do understand Latin, English and Greek grammar) and pronunciation?

 

How would you organize a Latin learning session?

[WTMCassandra]

Jean, I'm doing a two-pronged approach. My daughter LOVES Latin and is considering being a Latin teacher. Here's our cobbled-together plan:

 

1. Memoria Press book. They have been doing Memoria Press long enough that I do give them the book and let them work independently. I did put in the time when they were younger and do it with them, but I have too many irons in the fire now. It's not the most exciting but it gets the job done.

 

2. Translation tutor. I found an English teacher in a local Catholic school who does Latin tutoring on the side from Wheelock's. My daughter is her most advanced student; in fact, they are about at the same place in sheer Latin ability. So they end up working out the translations together. Together they mine Wheelock's and a third-party solution text, but the teacher is VERY experienced in overall teaching so it works out. But although the teacher is at or near her Latin ceiling, she has a tremendous interest in Latin, is very outgoing and engaging, and really loves the process of working it out. I really think the dynamic of an interested and engaging adult is the key here.

 

The bookwork gives my daughter the technical background so that the translation sessions are the most fun. The teacher is thrilled that the gruntwork is accomplished at home so they can get to "the good stuff" in their tutoring sessions, not try to remediate grammar (as is the case with a couple of her other students who have no Latin exposure beyond what they get with her once a week).

[Mama Lynx]

My older son and I learn together. I managed to stay ahead of him in learning the grammar, although *I* need some work to shore up some concepts :) Now we read a section of our text, in Latin, and discuss it together. We see if we can answer questions about the text (in Latin). We practice translation.

 

My younger son is about two years behind us. For him, I will be drilling him on grammar, assigning him sections of the text to read, and discussing the text with him in Latin as much as possible.

 

We use Lingua Latina.

 

Would an expert Latin teacher do a better job? Oh, my, yes. But we're doing all right. We're reading and understanding, and learning to communicate.

 

Yes, I think you can still teach your child. It's optimal if you can stay ahead of your child :)

[Kendall]

I second what Stephanie said. I worked along side (ahead when I could). I could have done it better (and am with my 3rd and 4th children) and I could still teach it lots better, but my children have learned a lot. I will probably outsource Latin III if I have a child that goes that far, but if I do that I will still work alongside of them so that maybe I won't need to outsource for the next child.

 

I asked questions (online) and tried to learn more from the answers than just what I needed to learn to complete that particular translation.

 

I'm going to try this summer to work through a different text with a Latin study group to deepen my understanding. But my children learned a lot from the unprofessional way I taught it.

 

BTW, we used Henle Latin - all of Book 1 and followed a syllabus for Book 2 (Mother of Divine Grace I think?)