Model Teachers:
World Language

Content: Spanish
School: Denbigh High
Years Taught: 23

Why are you passionate about supporting fellow teachers?
I would not be who I am or where I am now without the support of mentors and colleagues. We have to lift each other up and support each other. The amount of education professionals who have left over the last few years has created a knowledge vacuum. We need veteran teachers to support and guide new teachers. We also need new teachers to re-energize us with new ideas and fresh perspectives.

What do you love most about teaching?
My students! At first, I thought it was all about teaching Spanish. That is still a primary goal – to bring a basic foundation and, hopefully, a love of learning a new language, to students – but I now understand that I am here for so much more than the curriculum. As a teacher, I am empathetic and energetic. I seem to be the teacher students come to when they need someone or something. I fight for them, sometimes whether they want me to or not. My students are my "Stucklings," and I tell them, "Once a Stuckling, always a Stuckling."

What is the best way to describe your classroom on a typical day?
My classroom is BUSY and noisy with activities to promote language learning and life skills. We have definite patterns and routines to our activities; students should know what is expected of them. At the same time, we have an immense variety of activities to reach a multitude of learning styles and needs; there is something for everyone.  I'm the teacher that sings and dances… Oh, yes. Come join in!