Teaching Elementary

Hello! I started this site to share all of the amazing things I am doing with my elementary Spanish classes. When I made the decision to transition from high school Spanish to elementary I was nervous but also excited. After teaching at the high school level for fifteen years I had begun to question my future in education. I, like many other educators during the pandemic, was feeling burnt out, unappreciated and often attacked for simply trying to do my job. After dealing with hateful parents, micromanaged work environment and students who would rather do anything than learn I began thinking about ways to move to a new career path. In the fall of 2020, smack dab in the middle of a terrible pandemic, my family and I moved across the country from Arkansas to Colorado. This move wasn't entirely about me but and was mostly due to my husband's job. However, I was more than ready for a change.

When we realized we were moving I began searching for a job. But, finding a teaching job in the middle of the school year is no easy task. I ended up only finding jobs for elementary schools. While this was a bit daunting seeing as I had never taught elementary, I needed a job. So, I applied for any that I was eligible for in the district that, after a lot of research, I decided was the best option for me and my family. I ended up being offered three jobs and had my choice of them! The school I chose to work for is a Spanish immersion school with students in K-5th grades. 

After always being a department of one with no one to collaborate or share ideas with at my school I moved into a building full of Spanish speakers with a focus on incorporating culture and language in all levels! It was exciting but, I didn't have any idea how to teach elementary age kids! I began searching for ideas, curriculum maps, and lessons. Anything that could guide me to ways to create lessons for younger students and, unfortunately, I had a hard time finding anything that fit my aesthetic and goals. Most things were either too advanced, too simple or too cutesy for the students I would be teaching. Good luck trying to get a 3rd grader excited about nursery rhyme focused lessons!

I spent my first semester cobbling together lessons that worked and forming a better understanding of what my students needed and how to teach them. I had never thought about how difficult it would be to teach 5 year old's who can't read! During that time I worked on the "good" lessons that I would be using in the next school year. 

A Passport to Spanish & Spanish for Littles are both classroom tested and have proven successful with my students. They were designed to engage beginning language learners who know nothing as well as students who are more advanced in their language skills. This is because even though the school I work at is an immersion school, it is tiered by grade. So, each grade has a non-Spanish class, a 25% of the time Spanish class and a 50% of the time Spanish class. This means I have a wide variety of student needs and knowledge. I chose lesson topics that include some basics in combination with other content to ensure that no one is lost or bored.

In this blog I will share cool things I am doing and give readers insight into how my lessons work with actual students in the classroom. I hope you will join me on this journey and look forward to any and all questions and comments that may arise.