8.29.2012

New School Year, Another New School

This coming year will be my 3rd year of teaching... and my 3rd school. The first move was due to a budget crisis and the RIF process which shifted people all over the district. This last move was something I asked for, and am very happy to have received. HOWEVER, it means setting up yet another classroom, finding all my curriculum and manipulatives (which other teachers have appropriated), getting acquainted with a new staff, and learning how things are done at the new school. I can already tell I will love this school and the staff, but just the process of moving and readjusting can be seriously exhausting. Also, I ripped off the entire toenail on my big toe moving a bookshelf in my classroom last week and have been shuffle-limping around trying to get things in order since then. It's really slowed me down and it's painful! Ah well. Coffee, time, and a little help from my family will eventually get the classroom in order for the arrival of my new batch of kiddos next week! I'm excited to meet mis nuevos girasoles!

8.20.2012

Literacy Squared

Thank you all for the warm welcome into the bilingual teacher blogging world! I can't believe I've had this blog up and running for only a couple days and already I've got followers and comments. Yay for bilingual teacher friends! I know we all teach using different program models and theories, but we have such limited resources because of the language aspect of what we do, so it's incredible to find others that are out there doing the same translating, prepping, and creating from scratch that I do!

The bilingual program model that my district uses is called Literacy Squared. Somebody mentioned that they had read about it, but most folks aren't really familiar with the program and the ideology that goes along with it, so I'm posting the link to the Literacy Squared website and a video that some Lit Squared teachers in our district appear in (not me!) describing their feelings and views about Literacy Squared. I certainly won't claim to be the model Lit Squared teacher as I'm still learning, adapting, and finding my own way of doing things, but I believe in the core idea of teaching young children to become bilingual and biliterate in an explicit way that really supports their culture and their growth. There are some amazing things happening in Lit Squared classrooms (and other bilingual classrooms too)!



8.19.2012

Introductions




Maestra means "teacher" in Spanish, and that's exactly what I am! I am a bilingual (Spanish-English) elementary school teacher going into my third year of teaching. Because in many hispanic cultures referring to a teacher by their job title is a sign of respect, I'm fairly certain my actual name has been abandoned for good and I will be known only as Maestra from now on. :)

My 1st year of teaching I was in a split Kinder/1st grade classroom teaching in two languages. Talk about sink or swim! I'm proud to report that I managed to stay afloat. Last year I taught a 2nd grade bilingual classroom at a different school, which had its own new set of challenges. This coming year I will be at yet another new school (hopefully this is my last move!), but teaching 2nd grade bilingual again, so at least there is some continuity.

As a relatively new teacher, I am gathering/creating resources at a pretty quick rate. I know there's not a lot out there that caters specifically to bilingual elementary education, so my aim for this blog is to share what I find and the resources I create, so that others can use/share them as well. Enjoy!