Note: This entire blog including this page has been inactive for years. It reflects my earliest years of teaching. Even when I had a more traditional approach, I tried to make my classes fun and engaging starting in the second year.
My goal is to make Spanish fun while still being rigorous with vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. My goal is to help students build a strong foundation so that they can speak, listen, read, and write effectively in Spanish in the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes of communication. I heavily use technology and constantly review previous material.
I believe that five things are required to be a great teacher:
1. A positive relationship with students
Students put much more effort into a class if they like and respect the teacher. I make students feel welcome by showing that I'm happy to see them, by getting to know them, and by valuing what they have to say. I also focus on positive feedback rather than criticism, and I foster an environment where all students are valued and respected regardless of real or perceived sex, gender, race, religion, sexuality, ability, appearance, speech patterns, or other factors. To create an atmosphere for learning, I also decorate the classroom with useful information and student work.
2. A strong grasp of the content
I have a bachelor's degree in Spanish and took additional Spanish classes during my graduate licensure program, which I finished with a 4.0. Since Spanish 1 in high school, I performed near the top of many classes, especially in grammar. I continue to improve my Spanish and understanding of culture by interacting with native speakers and authentic sources and by attending cultural events.
3. Engaging lessons
I understand that the classical approaches to language learning — those that focus on drills, memorization, and repetition — just aren't effective with most students. This is why I use backwards design to plan units with engaging, creative lessons that target all learning styles and intelligences. On any given day, students might play Kahoot on tablets (I've never seen students so excited to get a correct answer), use rarely taught expressions like órale and híjole to genuinely express amazement during a star size comparison video, hold up individual whiteboards to show their answers as a low-stakes formative assessment, decorate posters with information in Spanish, write reviews that contain content from other disciplines such as genres, work with a group to sort index cards to show a sentence in the correct order, read comments on Spanish-speaking websites written by native speakers, act out hobbies that they hear in Spanish, write "texts" in Spanish to each other on paper, or do other activities that keep things fresh.
4. Reflection
Teachers should never feel complacent, especially as the field of education continues to grow and trends in interests, behaviors, and technology change. After each lesson, I ask myself what went well and what I can improve. I might realize that one activity needs more modeling or that students need to be taught how to take notes or negotiate meaning. In addition, even though my graduate licensure program is finished, I continue to learn via professional development, online classes, podcasts, and other sources.
5. Differentiation
Whether classes are intended to be separate by level or not, students are still individuals with different interests, skills, academic ability, background knowledge, perceptions of normal classroom behavior, and grasps of native languages. I strategically target student needs and interests when planning and often give students choices, such as roles in collaborative learning or a variety of anchor activities to choose from.
Background
I was born in New Jersey and raised in Pennsylvania. Growing up I wasn't exposed much to other cultures. After moving to North Carolina, I met people from other countries and became fascinated by differences in language, perspective, and customs. For the first time I wanted to learn foreign languages, and despite having failed it all year in 7th grade, I excelled in high school Spanish and decided to major in it at college, where I was the president of the Spanish club, historian of the international club, and a Spanish tutor for four years. I also took classes in Japanese and Chinese.
After graduating college I became an active volunteer for a Latino coalition and taught ESL for two years to Spanish-speaking adults. I loved the job, but the low pay and 50-minute drive each way led me to look elsewhere. I've always loved Greensboro, so I was excited to be offered a position to teach at two schools in this city in 2013. I also began teaching adult ESL again and during 2015-2016 had a very successful year teaching K-5 Spanish, where I started a Spanish club and received positive feedback from the principal, colleagues, and students and where I still teach. I now teach Spanish full-time across two great schools, teach adult ESL in the evening, and tutor on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays.
I love teaching despite its challenges. It's fun to plan lessons because of the creativity required, and it's rewarding to see the growth in students' mastery of the language and understanding of the culture. I also continue to practice and learn other languages when possible; since college I've taken a five-day French class and private Korean lessons and have learned a few words in Arabic, Indonesian, Portuguese, Russian, and Vietnamese. My goal is to become at least conversational in all of these.
Outside of languages and work, I love science (everything from astrophysics to psychology), debate, cultural events, trying new food, technology, gaming, Netflix, reading, math, and martial arts. I consider myself a lifelong learner as well as an activist against discrimination, biased sources, and intellectual dishonesty.
Favorites
Books: Full Dark No Stars, Why Evolution Is True, 1984, When Cultures Collide, Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide to the Universe, Casino Royale
Movies: Casino Royale, The Dark Knight, Premonition, Live Free or Die Hard, Law Abiding Citizen, The Matrix, Ip Man, The Butterfly Effect, The Avengers, Deep Impact, Wonder Woman
TV Shows: Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, 13 Reasons Why, Arrow, Black Mirror, Breaking Bad, Awake, Nikita, Cosmos (2014), Heroes, Family Guy, The Twilight Zone, The Universe
Videogames: Mass Effect 1-3, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong Country 2, Skyrim, Chrono Trigger, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, BioShock Infinite, Forza Horizon, Destiny 2, The Last of Us, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4
Foods: bulgogi, sopes de carnitas, pollo con mole, watermelon, brownies, tacos al pastor, hayashi rice, filet mignon, linguine with white clam sauce, grilled salmon, banana pudding, Chinese steamed dumplings, lamb, Thai red curry, mangoes, sushi, grilled tilapia, prime rib, roast duck
Drinks: Thai tea, horchata, aguas de fruta, Jarritos de fresa, Cheerwine, Dr. Pepper, cherry Coke, green tea, sweet tea with lemon, atole, Ramune
Music: Rise Against, Bullet for My Valentine, Juanes, Linkin Park, Disturbed
Quotes
This may be hard for some to accept, but people who happen to have been born in another country aren't less human than people born in your country.
If you're afraid to question something, then that's a good reason to question it.
What you put into anything — including life — is often what you get out of it.
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