Chrissy Shuls
Years of Experience: 9
Subject/Area of Expertise: Spanish II (Has taught Spanish I, II, III, and IV)
How did you learn Spanish?: “I started Spanish in 8th grade when we were able to take Spanish I. And then I continued on, so I took Spanish II, III, IV, and V through high school and then continued at the university. Then I studied abroad in Spain when I was in college, so I studied at University and in Spain.”
What do you like to do in your free time?: DIY projects, spend time with my kids and family, and volleyball
If you were not a teacher, what would you be?: “I love building things and renovations. I would love to flip houses and renovate stuff. I do renovations at my own house and then I’ve done work with Habitat for Humanity and learning to lay floors and building things like that.”
Why did you become a teacher?: “In my Spanish class in high school, we were able to go to an elementary school and teach Spanish to elementary students. I really enjoyed that and it seemed very natural. My Spanish teacher had actually suggested, ‘Oh hey, you should see about doing that.” I originally went to school to be an art teacher and I was going to do Spanish with it. I ended up just switching straight to Spanish.”
Have you ever worked for another school/school district? If so, how does Liberty compare?: “I’ve worked for three other school districts. Liberty compares to one of them. Two districts I was in were very small with only 45 kids in a single graduating class. The last school district I was in it was just 10th, 11th and 12th grade but there was an abundance of students in every grade. This one is more comparable to that one but not as big. That one was the largest district in the state that I previously worked at. It was Springdale High in Springdale, Arkansas. In my classroom every day I had 188 kids going in and out of my room throughout the day. Here I only have about 73 students daily, since I’m only here in the afternoon.”
What’s one way you run your classroom that you consider different from other teachers?: “I like to do a lot of hands-on games like board races. Basically getting kids up to the board and visibly writing. I feel like students spend a lot of time either on their phones or Chromebooks so it’s something different that they can actually write out.”