Dedicated Teacher
I teach Spanish 1 and 2 at Zionsville Middle School in Zionsville, IN. This is a 1:1 school with student laptops. This is my fourth year teaching, and I am loving it!
As a teacher, I try to make activities and assignments based off of real-life conversations and problems students would face in a foreign country. I want to show students how useful a second language is abroad and in the United States. Technology makes this process easier since students can take virtual field trips and connect with people around the world.
My ultimate goal as a Spanish teacher is to prepare my students to successfully converse with Spanish speakers, both in the United States and abroad. I structure my classroom so students have the opportunity to talk in Spanish every day. The desks in my room are set up in groups of four to foster communication and group work. I spend time to create a culture in my classroom that allows students to speak without the fear of being ridiculed or embarrassed. I let students know that they are all learners and making mistakes is part of learning. Everything in my classroom, down to how I have my desks aligned, relates to this communicative objective.
I teach in a 1:1 school with student computers. This program gives me so many opportunities in the Spanish classroom. Technology allows students to explore and connect to Spanish-speaking cultures all around the world. I started a Genius Hour project this year to based on student-inquiry to give students the time to look into a piece of Spanish culture they can relate to and is meaningful to them. Students have really ran with this project and are researching everything from sports to Aztec math to health care in Honduras to Latin American independence from Spain to the origins of different dialects. I am really proud of how they have developed this project. Having computers aided students to explore their topic. Last year, the Foreign Language Department participated in National Foreign Language Week in March and we plan to partake again this year. During this week, we created out-of-classroom experiences that focused on languages and cultures from all over the world, not just the language students are studying. I really felt that it opened the eyes of these middle school students to think about the world in a more global perspective. And the students loved it!
You can read more about the technology I use in Tech Tips.
You can read more about the technology I use in Tech Tips.