Dear New Students,

I want to invite you to our virtual space for Spanish class next year. I recognize some of you from way back when in hallways of the Annex, but now that you are Middle School students I know you have grown and matured a bit. I am thrilled for us to get reacquainted since you will be spending quite a bit of time in Spanish class with me. I've been hard at work planning and adjusting some powerful lessons to ensure your Spanish skills skyrocket this year!

I know you worked really hard last year, and I am happy to inform you that you are going to have a good time... no, not just "a good time", rather a FANTASTIC time in class this year. You will become more familiar with your own learning style and know what works for you so that you can set your own learning goals and then look back at all that growth you will have achieved and feel proud to be a Global Citizen at ICS West.

We will start the year with a unit in which you, yes you!, will become the content of our class. That means we are going to talk all about ourselves and use the language we create together to grow our language skills in Spanish. Notice I said "our language skills". Yup that's right! I am still growing my own language skills and I am 40 years-old! My skills grow each day by helping you. "How's that?", you ask.

Well, we are going to write everyday- not 'till our fingers fall off the bone– just enough to get us where we need to go. To proficiency town! Proficiency is fancy teacher talk for knowing a lot of Spanish. What are we going to write about? Well, about you- duh! And also your fellow classmates. Everything we talk about in class, like places we like to go and the foods we hate to eat, that kind of stuff will turn into the language we work with en español. That's how we are gonna start! No flashcards in this class– that is unless you like them and want to make them!

Obviously you know all about yourself, so what better information to use to level up your Spanish! And if you are new to our school, that's how you are gonna learn more Spanish than you ever thought possible in the shortest amount of time possible. I've seen it happen year after year, so you gotta trust me on that one. We are gonna create a real community, you'll see. Later in the year we will talk about cultural myths and legends along with famous folks from the past and their achievements. I promise to be the best language coach I can be for you! 😉

Get some rest these last few weeks of summer. See you all in September.

Ciao, ciao,

Maestro

P.S. If you were wondering about the photo of a cat and myself on the main page for 5ºgrado, that's one of my cats. I call him Nacho. I have two cats. The other one is Pearl. Take a look at the video page to see them in action. I'll tell you all about them, don't you worry. 😸