"Hello! I am Caitlyn Vanderbeek and I am a high school Spanish teacher. I am currently teaching in Champaign, IL, but have also taught in Atlanta, GA. I grew up on the east coast, and did my undergrad in New York. I am not a native Spanish speaker, but I absolutely love speaking Spanish and teaching students to communicate with others in another language.

I have been teaching at the high school level for the past seven years. In my current department, we have a very immersion-based approach, in which I speak a lot of Spanish to my students and they have to use what they know to help figure out what I am saying. It is a very natural approach to language learning which emphasizes the importance of communication over the importance of grammar structures. I do very much like learning grammar, and have a lot of education and experience with Spanish grammar as well, so students looking for conversation practice or grammar practice are welcome!

I want to be really available to what my students need from me, whether that is help in a particular class, help with particular concepts in Spanish, or just interested in learning another language!" less...