Profe Nick

Who am I?

Educational and

Professional Background

Education:

• B.A. Univ. of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign

• M.A. (Spanish) Middlebury College

• Teaching Certification Benedictine Univ.

Time Abroad:

• Granada, España (½ year), undergraduate level

• Madrid, España (1 year), graduate level

Trips to Spanish-Speaking Countries:

• Puerto Vallarta, México

• Huatulco, México

• Antigua, Guatemala (chaperoning students)

• Sámara, Costa Rica (chaperoning students)

Teaching Experience:

• 2005 The Overlake School (long-term sub)

• 2005-2010 Pacific Cascade Freshman Cam.

• 2010-currently Issaquah High School

Teaching philosophies

"I teach students" before "I teach Spanish".

• Students must be met where they are, and instruction must be tailored to maximize their learning.

• A student's physical/mental/emotional wellbeing is an absolute first priority before learning can be expected to take place.

Students learn best in a safe and happy environment.

• Students should feel safe to make (and learn from) mistakes.

• As a class we celebrate each others' joys & achievements, and we support each other through struggles.

• Teacher "assumes best intentions" individually, while also collectively removing as best as possible the temptation for poor choices (such as academic dishonesty) to be made.

"Comprehensible input" is key!

• Students learn Spanish by being immersed in the language. It is, however, the teacher's challenge and job to provide Spanish that is comprehensible (95%+) to the student (via gestures, context, check-ins, etc.). It is likewise the teacher's job to continue to elevate the level of comprehensible Spanish as the year proceeds.

Better late than never

• At the end of the day, my end-of-the-year goal is that the learning benchmarks are achieved. Whether they are learned on day 8, day 88 or day 178, should not matter as long as they are met. If a student can demonstrate the learning, their semester grades will reflect just that, not the timeline on which it happened.

• To that end, meeting learning benchmarks is best achieved by doing the work assigned. Doing an assignment late, while not ideal, still supports learning and should be encouraged over not doing late work at all.

Curriculum Night FAQ

Q: What are the teacher's expectations of students?

A: Students are aware of my five expectations of them:

1. "We speak Spanish."

2. "We are independent and capable learners."

3. "We give our best and most honest effort."

4. "We write legibly and double-spaced."

5. "We support all others in words and actions at all times."

Q: How much homework should my child be doing each night? What kind of homework?

A: It will vary. 10-30 minutes would be a daily average. Using the online Quizlet flashcards should be very regular (as needed, though 4-5 times per week would be average). When we start with outside readings, students should be spending roughly an hour each week of their homework time reading in a book of their choosing.

In preparation for the May 7 AP exam, the AP class will be periodically doing test-prep activities outside of class, as well as during class. This will be more the case during the second semester.

Q: How can my child seek extra academic help if needed?

A: Beyond asking for clarification during class (strongly encouraged!), students should not hesitate to email me questions (using Spanish to their best extent possible) .

The IHS World Language Dept. also offers "Spanish Lab" after school each Monday and Thursday. Spanish Lab is free tutoring, though bear in mind that the teacher in charge will be bouncing between various students throughout the session.

Students can stop by room 2206 to find Profe Nick most days after school.

Q: What are other ways for my child to practice Spanish?

The list is almost too long! Here are some ideas that immediately come to mind:

1. Practice speaking Spanish with ANY Spanish-speaking family members, friends, coworkers, etc.

2. Find a television show to regularly watch in Spanish, with or without subtitles. The need for subtitles will vary depending on the level of difficulty of the Spanish spoken.

3. Check out books/novels in Spanish from Profe Nick, the school library or the local library. Reading books in Spanish with a familiar/predictable plot is an excellent way to grow vocabulary.

4. Listen to music in Spanish. YouTube and Pandora are easy ways to access many songs in Spanish. Getting a song stuck in your head is a great way to practice pronunciation and grammar.

5. If brave, set phones or online accounts to Spanish. (Pending parent approval if parent might be impacted.)

6. Set movies to Spanish audio and/or subtitles. This is especially effective for familiar movies being watched for a 2nd/3rd/4th time.

• • grew up in Chicago suburbs

• • happy parent to a 4-yr. old boy with husband Ben

• • Spanish speaker at work and at home with my son (though I did not grow up speaking Spanish)

• • traveler hoping to one day have visited every Spanish-speaking country

• • big (academic) fan of my alma mater Middlebury College's Spanish Language School

• • happy resident of the beautiful Northwest

• • once-terrified-of-public-speaking student turned teacher (never would have believed that 20 yrs. ago!)

• • an I'm-not-ashamed-to-admit-it fan of the Mexican soap opera Teresa