An INTERVIEW WITH AMBER PEREZ

Amber Perez, high school Spanish teacher, 9-12, Mount Saint Mary's, Buffalo NY

Q: How did you first know you wanted to become a teacher?

A: I first knew I wanted to become a teacher when I was in middle school, however, I didn’t go in to college majoring in teaching. I majored in International Relations before realizing that I truly wanted to teach, regardless of the current teaching climate in the United States.

Q: Who would you characterize as the best teacher you had grades K-12? Why?

A: The best teacher that I had was my high school Spanish/Italian teacher, Mrs. Rizzo. She truly made learning engaging, and is the reason I went into teaching Spanish. I vividly remember many of her lessons, and I aspire to be as engaging as she was in my own classroom.

Q: Is there any teacher you remember disliking? (You don’t have to name them, but if you could explain why?)

A: I disliked my second grade teacher because she was very impatient and did not seem to have a passion for teaching. She did not encourage individuality or finding new ways to solve problems. It was largely her way, or the highway. I also disliked my 9th grade biology teacher because he was very disrespectful to his students, and I felt uncomfortable in his class.

Q: How do you plan your lessons? Is there a guide you follow or do you come up with them from scratch? Please explain the process to someone who hasn’t had to plan lessons!

A: Honestly, I don’t have a specific guide, other than following ACTFL standards. Since I teach Spanish 1 and 2, a lot of what I do is grammar and vocabulary based. I loosely follow my playbook from the year before, but adjust as needed. If I find my students need more help with a certain topic, I change my plans around to include more practice of that topic. Generally speaking, I plan for the week and then adjust as needed. Sometimes you have to think and change on the fly, and what works for one class may not work for another. I take into account the classroom environments when I’m planning, and create activities that would best suit each class.

Q: How do you gage whether or not a lesson is successful?

A: I gauge success based on how well students were able to understand the information, and how engaged the students were.

Q: Can you explain social emotional learning? What is it— a method of teaching, a concept, etc? How do you bring it into the classroom?

A: For me personally, I think SEL is a concept and a method of teaching. I believe that we teach SEL without even knowing it a lot of times. I tend to bring SEL into my classroom by truly focusing on having a connection with my students, and allowing them to share their own experiences and emotions in the classroom. I also try and bring SEL into my lessons that focus on culture. For example, I show the documentary “Which Way Home” in my Spanish classes, which follows a group of child migrants traveling on a train through Mexico to get to the United States. I want to show the students that these children that are their age have these significant struggles, and I feel that the students gain a better sense of empathy for these people.

Q: What other new or “cutting edge” things are you trying? How did you come up with them, or find them?

A: I like to use Project Based Learning in my classroom instead of traditional testing. I find that students gain a lot more from creating something than from memorizing information and regurgitating it on a test. I also try to incorporate CI in my classroom as much as possible, and I will likely try and sprinkle more TPRS into my lessons next year. I discovered these methods through individual research and conferences I’ve attended.

Q: How do your students react to non-traditional methods of learning?

A: I have some students that react really well, and who love it, and others who would prefer more traditional methods. Each student is different, which is why I try to have a good mixture of traditional and non-traditional teaching methods.

Q: Some teachers offer alternate methods of seating or assignments for students. Do you do this, or have an opinion? Can you explain?

A: I do this in my own classroom, when I find that certain seats are not working for certain students. I have one student who does much better if I allow her to get up and walk around the room a little bit. If she is sitting the whole class, she tends to get disruptive and not do her work. I also have students with learning differences who require alternate assessments and homework. For one particular student, I offer her a choiceboard and she completes homework assignments on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Q: Where do you recommend I find more information about lesson plans, teaching methods, etc ?

A: You can find more information from sites such as edutopia, ACTFL, and NEA. A google search will also provide you with multiple sources and information.