PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

I am lucky in that learning languages is fun to me. I love to talk, and I love to figure
things out, and learning to refine my communication in different languages is a perfect
combination of the two. As I did when I started learning, many students come to class
passionate about learning Spanish. Some have Spanish-speaking family or friends. Others
want to travel, or to work abroad. Others are simply interested in the challenge, or are
fascinated by learning about different cultures. On the other hand, many Englishspeaking students dont see much point in learning Spanish, or any second language.
English is the dominant language in the United States, and they can already communicate
with their friends and family, and can study or work without learning a second language,
so the effort of learning may seem to outweigh the benefits. As a teacher, I believe that I
have two jobs: not only to teach my students Spanish, but also to help them understand
why they should bother to learn it in the first place.
Whether or not Michigan continues to require two years of a second language, I believe
that everyone benefits from learning one. Learning a second language enhances students
social emotional skills. For example, when English-speakers struggle to communicate in
a second language, they gain empathy for those who struggle to communicate in English,
which increases their social awareness. Learning a language teaches students to think
creatively, as they often have. Being bilingual teaches students to see the world through
multiple lenses, causing them to be more open-minded.
Practically speaking, knowing a second language opens up professional opportunities,
both internationally and domestically. Spanish is a particularly useful foreign language
in the US. According to Spanish Language Domains, over 44 million people in the
United States, about 14% of the population, speaks Spanish as a native language, and
another 6 million speak it as a second language. In fact, there are more Spanish-speakers
in the United States than in any other country besides Mexico, which is to say, there are
actually more Spanish-speakers in the United States than in Spain! (Information from
Spanish Language Domains.) Learning Spanish opens up communication with sectors of
the global and US communities that students would otherwise be cut off from.

Given that I teach languages for practical reasons as much as for the joy of teaching and
learning, I strongly believe in a proficiency model of language learning. That is to say, I
believe that language learning is not about what the student knows, but what the student
knows how to do. I want my students to be able to make themselves understood, and to be
able to get information from a text or from a spoken interchange without understanding
every word. This is the basis that I believe students must begin with, and everything from
there is a matter of extending and refining.
Language is all about communication and understanding, which means striking a balance
between form and flow. I dont want my students to end up like a Spanish friend of mine
who studied English in school able to perfectly conjugate about three verbs in every
conceivable tense, but unable to hold a conversation. On the other hand, the other
extreme can be just as detrimental to a persons ability to communicate if you cant
effectively use different tenses, it is much more difficult to explain to a doctor in the ER
what has brought you to the hospital with your foot stuck in a bicycle wheel.
Grammatical rules, like vocabulary, are building blocks for communication and
interpretation.
I believe that students get the most bang for their buck when teachers specifically teach
grammar, and when the class has some sort of discussion of concrete rules. That doesnt
necessarily mean that I plan to tell the students grammatical rules when I first introduce a
concept. Sometimes, it can be useful to do so, but it does not require a great deal of
higher order thinking on the part of the students. For this reason, I like to expose students
repeatedly to a grammatical concept in context, and allow them to infer the rules. For
example, I might tell students a story using the imperfect and preterit tenses, which are
both past tenses. As I tell the story, the students would follow along with an illustrated
PowerPoint presentation, in which the imperfect verbs are underlined and the preterit
ones are bolded, giving an obvious visual difference. Over the course of the story,
students would start to figure out when to use each of the tenses when talking about the
past. Then, we would have a discussion, where students would articulate what they
believe the rules to be, and as a teacher, I could affirm or refine their hypothesis. In this

way, students get explicit instruction, but they do a lot of the mental heavy lifting, rather
than waiting for the teacher to spoon-feed them information.
Unfortunately, some students feel that learning a second language is too difficult, that
languages just arent for them. Its certainly true that languages come more easily to
some students than to others. Yet, this does not mean that some people are completely
unable to learn Spanish. Language learning, like intelligence, is something that grows
with time, and that, given the right supports and challenges, flourishes in every mind. A
second-year Spanish classroom often contains a wide variety of Spanish proficiency
from the heritage learners who can speak fluently but struggle with writing, to the
bookish student who can read kids books in Spanish but cant have a simple
conversation, to the student with learning disabilities that affect their ability to infer
patterns, or to read phonically. How is a teacher supposed to teach all of these students at
once? The key is differentiation.
Differentiation, as I see it, is a two part process. First, you meet the students where they
are, then, you take them further. Both of these steps are extremely important. Some
teachers stop after the first part, giving As for effort. I believe that you do no favors
passing a student along without teaching them the essential knowledge needed to use
their second language. Its not my job to give you instant gratification, or to give you the
impression that your first try is always good enough. Its my job to push you forward,
with carefully timed support and challenge, so that you not only learn a great deal in my
classroom, but are also set up to continue learning through out your whole life. I carefully
scaffold my lessons, so that students learn new skill in small pieces, and then we put them
together. I am thoughtful not only of what questions I ask my students, in what order, but
also who I ask each question to. For example, I might only call on volunteers to give a
hypothesis for a grammatical rule. Once we have established the rule, I might ask
question that apply that rule, such as determining whether I would use preterit or
imperfect in a given situation. The student who picks patterns up slowly might get my
second or third question, rather than the first.
Because language is all about communication, there is a lot of room for creativity built
into a language class. I like to integrate my students interests in what they are learning,

and let students really shine. I often give students creative assignments such as talking
about themselves, or writing short sketches. Because being creative allows kids to have
fun with what theyre doing, so they are more engaged. It is so satisfying to see a student
who couldnt order from a menu the week before cracking up as they figure out how to
tell a waiter that their lobster is still alive, or to see the look of recognition when you use
a Lord of the Rings meme to demonstrate the impersonal passive mood. After all, humans
are inherently creative, and doubly so when they are teenagers.
Lastly, I believe that no classroom is an island. I am not only teaching my students to be
proficient in Spanish. I am also helping them on their journeys into adulthood. I care
about my students, but more importantly, I care for my students. This means that I dont
just give someone a grade boost when I know they are going through a hard time. While
it may seem nice, students pick up on the lowered expectations, and they internalize
them. Because I care for my students, I offer them extra support, including free tutoring
and listening to them tell me about troubles with their friends or parents. I work hard on
lesson plans that engage students, balancing support and challenge. I am careful about
what questions I ask to struggling students, making sure Im not putting someone on the
spot who is completely lost, yet never letting them slip through the cracks. I check in with
my students, both in terms of their personal lives and in terms of academics. I have extra
apples and trail mix in case a students lunch is lackluster. I follow up both when things
are not working, and when they are, giving out praise, not emptily, but when a student
has really shown their worth. I believe that this helps them more in the long run than an
undeserved grade. After all, as Geneva Gay says in Culturally Responsive Teaching,
Loving children should not become a proxy for teaching them. (p 53)