This blog is about my small part attempting to create that generation. Throughout my career I have embraced an eclectic approach, drawing on strategies from a wide range of approaches to second language acquisition. At this point, however, I am focusing on Comprehensible Input.
I have been teaching in public high schools in the US since September, 2000. Educated in Massachusetts (and having spent the first 5 years of my career in a well-funded suburban school outside of Boston), I am currently Chair of the department of World Languages in a Title I school of 2400 students outside of Los Angeles. I have given presentations at the national TPRS convention (NTPRS) and I published an article in the book widely referred to as the most important guide to the TPRS method, Fluency Through Reading and Storytelling (7th edition) by Blaine Ray and Contee Seeley. I am also a founding member of the CI Posse. I have taught every level of Spanish from a 7th & 8th grade academic program through to AP language. I have experience designing & teaching courses for heritage speakers of Spanish, as well as specialized courses designed for non-native speakers with learning disabilities. Recently I have led my department in implementing our IB program. I have taught courses for teachers on integrating technology in the language classroom.
While Spanish is the main language that I teach, I have also had the pleasure of teaching French 1. I am fluent in Portuguese, or at least I used to be when I attended PUC-RIO, a university in Rio de Janeiro. I would love to someday teach Portuguese.
– Mike Peto