There have been many new staff members at Heritage this year. Mr. Gary Black is among these many new teachers. He has been teaching for around 10 years.
When asked about what made him want to become a Spanish teacher, he replies, “I decided to become a Spanish teacher after I majored in the language and completed a year teaching abroad in South Korea as an English teacher.” He adds, “I realized that teaching is fun and interesting and pursued the profession from that point.”
Black’s favorite part about teaching Spanish is “watching students learn and progress with their language learning.” He says that difficulty in Spanish varies: “it depends on the student. Some students catch on to the vocabulary quickly because they see the connections to English or other languages they know.” Many others “thrive [through] learning the grammar because they see the connections to math.” In his experience, “the hard part is identifying how best students learn either the grammar or the vocabulary and then finding a way to build that into my lesson.”
Black concludes with his tips for current and incoming Spanish students: “My most successful students usually take careful notes, ask good questions, and study the language every day for about 20 minutes.”
Teaching means more than just showing every student the same words and ideas, adapting for different learners is also a vital part of education. For Black, it’s what makes teaching so satisfying yet difficult. Learning a world language is all about connections. From teaching English in South Korea to teaching Spanish here at Heritage, Black’s 10 year journey in education gives us insight as to what it’s like being a teacher.