At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, Angela Shelton took on the role of tackling both English and French at Manitou Springs High School due to the lack of staff in the English department.
MSHS was down a staff member in the English department, so the school placed Shelton into a dual role for the school. “There was this thought that maybe since I’m already part time, they can just add on to my time and get that approved,” Shelton said.
Since the World Language Department was not going to be letting in new students take French I, there was a predicament about where Shelton was going to go; and the administration came up with the idea of her teaching both French and English. “I think there were a few hints dropped here and there, like questions about me teaching something else,” Shelton said.
Even with this big transition, Shelton is happy with the amount of help she has received from the administrators. “The administrators were awesome and made sure that all my French classes were on one day and all my English classes were on another day,” Shelton said, “which helped with keeping me organized and making it simple for me to make that transition.”
Shelton has never taught an English class before, but she feels confident in her additional responsibility this year. “I know how to teach, and I feel good about what I’m doing,” she said.
With her just getting into the swing of things, she does feel slightly overwhelmed with the new responsibilities. “I have not planned out very far, and going from halftime to full time is a little overwhelming,” Shelton said.
Shelton feels confident in her ability to teach, but with a new subject it is always a challenge. “There are always learning curves in teaching whether it is changing curriculums or learning how the students are different and how they learn,” Shelton said.
Not only does Shelton believe she has a good amount of knowledge on how to teach English, she also had to take the Praxis test over the summer to make sure she had the English knowledge required to teach English. “I did really well on the test, so that gave me a little bit more confidence,” Shelton said.
Shelton believes the biggest change for her is the class sizes and different kinds of students. “My classes are very small in French, so I haven’t had to do much classroom management in a while,” Shelton said.
William Baumert (10), who is in Shelton’s English and French class, believes that Shelton is fully capable of teaching both English and French. “She’s really good as an English teacher,” Baumert said.
Baumert likes having Shelton as their English and French teacher. “Having her as an English and French teacher is actually really nice, because then I can get some French stuff done if I really need to,” they said.
Since Shelton is used to having only a French class, she still tends to speak some French in her English classes. “She definitely tries to not speak as much French as she used to,” Baumert said.
Baurmert likes the fact that Shelton teaches both classes in the same room. “I like that when you look around, you see French things everywhere,” they said.
Jackson Blevins (10) has Shelton for English II. He feels that Shelton has a good system for what students can expect to happen. “You can always expect a 15 minute read from our choice of book at the beginning of class,” Blevins said.
Compared to Blevin’s past experience with English teachers, he feels that Shelton always explains things very well. “I think she does a very good job at explaining what we’re supposed to do,” Blevins said. “When she tells us what she wants us to do, it’s very clear.”
Blevins thinks that Shelton is overall a great teacher. “She’s very enthusiastic about what she does,” he said, “ and I learn a lot.”
