Gillian Thomas

Hola familias, estudiantes y comunidad! This is my first year of teaching at PAML after teaching Spanish in the Middle School at U32 in Montpelier for 9 years. I am excited to begin my work in this community with your young learners! Spanish classes at the Middle Level will focus on communication and how to help each other as a community of second language learners. My goal is to help students feel comfortable with practicing and speaking a new language while also having fun with their peers! We will explore themes like Meet and Greet, How to Make Friends and the Spanish Speaking World at large, to name a few. Learning a new language is truly a life long process and the goal is to foster and maintain a spirit of enthusiasm for communication and collaboration from day one. Español es importante, increible y fantastico amigos, vamos!

Active and creative communication in Spanish is our essential goal in class. Students will be asked to get up, move around, collaborate and create and make meaning together as a group of learners and team members. Being willing to work with your peers is of the utmost importance. I always strive to make class time lively and interactive so students can gain the confidence to begin to take more risks with producing language as they approach proficiency with speaking, reading, writing and listening.

As the school year starts up and gets going, I will be solidifying and confirming more details about our class routines and expectations. Schoology is where students and families can gain access to homework, class assignments and scoring. I will update this field as our year begins and keep students "in the know" as I too learn the ropes of this portal. Gracias amigos y amigas!