Hola! My name is Maria-Teresa Crump, but most folks call me M-T. I was born in Cuba, and came to the States in 1965, after spending four months in Mexico. I grew up in Georgia, and attended the University of Georgia, graduating with a degree in Psychology and minor in Spanish. My mom was a Spanish and Business Education teacher, so Spanish was always spoken at home. I began tutoring my classmates in highschool and college, and still continue to provide tutoring and translation services in Spanish. It has been my priviledge to travel extensively, and my Spanish has always come in handy.
My husband, Kelly, our son Graham, and I moved back here to Memphis from Atlanta in the summer of 2005. I have been a classroom teacher now for five years, and trully enjoy teaching a wide age range of students. Here at CTK I have something that few early childhood and elementary Spanish teachers across the nation have: a bright and spacious Spanish Department room. Our wonderful Spanish room provides greatly needed visual and tactile stimuli for a wide range of grades, as well as plenty of room for movement, dance, and games. All students here at CTK, from Pre-school to 8th grade, come to the Spanish room for their lesson.
It was a great joy this year to have the students return in August and have them come in the classroom greeting me and each other in Spanish. They retained so much over the summer! When a language is presented to young learners in a way that is meaningful to them, they like to show off by using the words they know. It is always amazing to see how quickly they learn.
Hola! My name is Maria-Teresa Crump, but most folks call me M-T. I was born in Cuba, and came to the States in 1965, after spending four months in Mexico. I grew up in Georgia, and attended the University of Georgia, graduating with a degree in Psychology and minor in Spanish. My mom was a Spanish and Business Education teacher, so Spanish was always spoken at home. I began tutoring my classmates in highschool and college, and still continue to provide tutoring and translation services in Spanish. It has been my priviledge to travel extensively, and my Spanish has always come in handy.
My husband, Kelly, our son Graham, and I moved back here to Memphis from Atlanta in the summer of 2005. I have been a classroom teacher now for five years, and trully enjoy teaching a wide age range of students. Here at CTK I have something that few early childhood and elementary Spanish teachers across the nation have: a bright and spacious Spanish Department room. Our wonderful Spanish room provides greatly needed visual and tactile stimuli for a wide range of grades, as well as plenty of room for movement, dance, and games. All students here at CTK, from Pre-school to 8th grade, come to the Spanish room for their lesson.
It was a great joy this year to have the students return in August and have them come in the classroom greeting me and each other in Spanish. They retained so much over the summer! When a language is presented to young learners in a way that is meaningful to them, they like to show off by using the words they know. It is always amazing to see how quickly they learn.