Lori Pierce

Hi everyone! I am finishing my 3rd year here at UTA in the Linguistics graduate program. I just finished my masters last semester and am taking courses (including this one) to complete my TESOL certificate. And, hopefully, by the end of this semester, I will be able to say that I have been accepted to the PhD program here as well. So, even more school for me!

I received my undergraduate degree from Texas A&M in English Lit with minors in Spanish & Math and tried my hand at teaching junior high Spanish for a couple of years before I realized that I'm not a very good disciplinarian. I did enjoy the teaching part, but some days in junior high, you do more crowd control than teaching. So, I decided to return to school so I could teach adults! And, that is what I have been doing this year. Last semester I taught a linguistics intro course for undergraduates, and I am teaching another section of it this semester. Like I said, I enjoy teaching, and I have realized in the past year that teaching adults is more for me.

I said this in class, but I am taking this class partially because it is required for the TESOL certificate, partially because I do enjoy teaching English (especially after the wonderful experience I had last semester with the woman I tutored), and partially because last semester I realized that many of the skills we learn could be transferred to teaching any subject, not just an ESL class. I think we should never stop growing as people or in our careers, so I love that these classes push me to be a better teacher and communicator in many areas of my life.

On a personal note, I have been married to a wonderful man, Mark, for a year & a half and have a 24 pound cat, Max, and an 85 pound Great Dane puppy, Flint.