1. What is your favorite thing about being a teacher?

I really enjoy hearing the students use the target language to communicate, especially during interpersonal speaking activities. I also enjoy getting to use my language skills every day! I am teaching at the high school where I graduated from (in 2019), so some of my students are neighbors, friends of my siblings, siblings of my friends, and kids I used to babysit for. It has been fun to come back to Westlake and to teach Spanish in the same room where I learned it!

2. What made you want to teach?

I tutored Spanish for about a dozen students while in high school, and it was so rewarding to see my tutoring students grow in language skills as well as confidence in their proficiency over time. I have a lot of passion for languages and have loved being in language classes. So, I wanted to help pass along my interest for language to others, while helping them develop a valuable skill!

3. Who has had the biggest impact on your teaching and why?

My cooperating teacher during student teaching, Holly Ushiroda, majorly impacted my teaching style. I observed Holly for a semester before I taught her Spanish 2 and 3 classes during student teaching. I am so grateful for my time observing at Streetsboro High School and for everything that Holly taught me, especially the details that help keep the days go smoothly!

4. What is one thing you learned from another teacher that helped you this year?

I am so grateful to be in a district where I have had a lot of support from coworkers! Everyone has been so willing to share advice and resources throughout the year. Planning-wise, my mentor teacher Laura Behanic suggested that when possible, to plan similar activities on a given day across all courses. Obviously, change the content in each task, but if I am able to line up the types of activities in each course, it does help for more efficient planning. 

5. What is a project or lesson in your classroom that you are really proud of or happy with?

The day after the solar eclipse, my classes used Spanish to learn more about and reflect on the event. They watched a livestream of an eclipse gathering in Mexico (and learned some Internet slang from the comments!), read instructions on solar eclipse glasses in Spanish, and discussed their experience of the solar eclipse in small groups. I was happy with how I adjusted each task to fit each course’s proficiency level, but that all students were able to use the target language to unpack and reflect on this amazing experience both in Westlake and in a Spanish-speaking country.

6. What is one thing that you have struggled with as a new teacher?

The most challenging part of being a first-year teacher has been adjusting to the time commitment that it requires. I am teaching Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and Spanish 3 Honors this year, and it is challenging to keep the details straight for each course as well as keep up with the planning.

7. What advice do you have for new teachers?

Establish regular communication with parents. I send out brief email updates weekly to parents and have had numerous families tell me how much they appreciate the communication. It has been helpful for when I need to reach out to a parent about a problem, as it’s not the first time they have heard from me. I think/hope it also helps show parents that even though I am a first year teacher (as well as 22 years old and 4 ’10”!), I am capable of teaching their children.