I never wanted to be a teacher . . .
My mother taught for over thirty years. And I swore I would never join the ranks. And yet here I am, in the profession since 1997, with no plans to give it up before I hit 60, (unless the Corona virus changes everything permanently!) I love the classroom, the student banter, the faculty interaction, and being connected to my community.
In the beginning . . .
I accidentally started my teaching career at the age of 22, with no teaching credentials, just a B.A. in Spanish. Having already been to Spain to work as a nanny for 3 months during my undergrad years, I was looking to head to Costa Rica to find an internship through one of the student work/travel organizations. But my personal life went through an upheaval and I had to throw that plan out the window.
I was still waiting tables, trying to figure out what I was going to be when I grew up. One day I ran into my favorite faculty adviser from my undergrad. She encouraged me to apply for an elementary school Spanish teaching position at a start-up program in a nearby county. They were desperate, and I was even more desperate! I had no experience, no education methods or materials classes under my belt, and no other options. I reluctantly took the job. But I quickly discovered that I had landed into the best situation possible.
I worked with phenomenal mentor colleagues who shared ideas, materials, and methods with me, while I obtained my provisional certificate. Watching 5 to 10-year-olds understand, speak, and sing in Spanish infected me with the teaching “bug.” After that year, I went on to another school system where I completed my clear renewable certificate.
For the next 6 years, while I raised my children, I taught part-time in a hybrid home-school academy. I taught kindergarten through high school Spanish and learned to incorporate the structure of a textbook into my teaching, while experimenting with programs like TPRS. During this time, I completed a rigorous M.A. in Spanish literature. In 2005, I added the field of French to my certificate, and went back into public high school education, where I have been ever since.
Currently . . .
Throughout my career I have experimented with a variety of teaching methods and assessments: songs, TPR and TPRS, info-gap activities, spaced repetition, productive struggle, student-focused research-based learning, flexible grouping, incidental learning, deductive and inductive reasoning, multiple learning styles, and comprehensible input. I am fascinated by how students learn, and how they show that they have learned in the form of assessments. Most of my assessments these days steer away from traditional paper-pencil tests and demonstrate my focus on student performance and level appropriate communication.
This year, I’m jumping back into grad school, to pursue an Ed.D. in Language, Literacy and Culture. My focus will be accelerating student short-term and long-term learning through new methods of content delivery and effective means of assessment. I plan to use my degree to achieve high student performance, and to develop as a lead teacher within my school system. So many great teachers have shared with me, and I would love to pay that forward to be a strong example to young energetic teachers just starting their careers.
Let the adventure begin . . .
I hope this blog can be helpful for those that stumble upon it. Some of my ways are unorthodox. But thinking outside the box can keep our profession fresh and innovative. I have learned many things through collaborating with other teachers through the years. I’ve also had to learn some things the hard way. Please enjoy and don’t hesitate to contact me!