Our next ASpotlight Interview is with Spanish Teacher Natalie Lopez! Read her full interview and learn about her journey into teaching, how the Spanish Department engages and connects with our boys, and how collaboration between teachers is beneficial to the boys’ well-rounded education.
Can you tell me about your professional journey in becoming a Spanish teacher and how you came to work at Allen-Stevenson?
I’ve always known that I wanted to be a teacher. I made sure to follow an educational path from the very beginning that would lead me there. In high school, I was in an education program and volunteered to work with children. At my university, I studied to be a history teacher.
One day, my Spanish professor told me that there was a high demand for foreign language teachers in New York. So, I thought, and I reflected. Spanish has been a part of my life since birth. My grandmother was a Spanish language and grammar teacher. I had grown up in a Spanish speaking household with parents from the Dominican Republic. So, as soon as I learned about the opportunity to share my language experiences with young learners and help to develop a bridge between language and culture, I instantly knew this was the profession for me.
Allen-Stevenson was my first real, hands-on teaching opportunity, and for that, I’m forever grateful. It’s a place where I get to blossom and grow as an educator every day.
What appealed to you about teaching in the K-8 educational setting?
I originally thought I wanted to teach high school-age students! Then, when I demoed at Allen-Stevenson, I taught a second-grade class, and it really impressed me. I connected instantly with the boys. They were so receptive to learning and curious about what I was going to teach them. They were excited and eager for the activities I had planned. I was so nervous, but they were welcoming, patient, and curious. They really put me at ease.
Also, I felt like there was this great sense of community the second I walked into the Allen-Stevenson school building. Students smiled and said hello when they passed me in hallways, and faculty and staff went out of their way to introduce themselves to me. The Spanish Department was so welcoming and went above and beyond to connect with me. That’s what appealed to me!
Learning a second language is hard! How do you get your students engaged with the topic and excited about learning another language?
Learning a second language is a journey. It challenges our mind, our way of thinking, how we learn, and how we understand things. It’s a long and often frustrating process. It takes time and practice. Along the way, everyone makes mistakes and has to make themselves vulnerable in that way. As a Spanish Department, we model risk-taking and making mistakes to help encourage the boys to do the same and to show them that it’s normal, expected, and all part of the process of learning a new language. If I forget to add an accent somewhere or am having trouble pronouncing something, I own up to it and embrace it because I want them to know that mistakes are how we – including their teachers – grow. Modeling allows them to feel comfortable and to be themselves.
Creating a learning environment that allows students to be themselves and make mistakes, gives us room as a department to create authentic curriculum based on a wide range of topics. Most importantly, we value our student’s interests, and we weave that into our topics to engage and excite the boys. So, if we have a group of boys who love sports, we will do an entire unit on that and maybe find a novel that incorporates sports. Last year, we did a video game unit because the boys were starting remote learning, and they were home a lot and playing video games to cope with the pandemic. We found a way to integrate that into our curriculum. I think that tying in their interests is what engages and excites the boys. They are so willing to take risks and learn things with us. I’m thankful for their eagerness to try anything and their passion for learning Spanish. I’m so lucky to teach this awesome bunch of boys.
What value does learning a second language add to our boys’ comprehensive education?
I believe learning Spanish offers a lot to our boys. Their creativity is increased, and a wide range of skills are strengthened. A lot of the skills we learn in Spanish reinforce their skills in English. You are able to conceptualize things like the subject, direct object, and how to structure sentences grammatically from a new lens and angle. Our boys find success in learning vocabulary, conjugating verbs, forming sentences, and pronouncing unfamiliar sounds; however, language goes beyond that.
Learning a second language connects people on a deeper level of mutual understanding. Learning a language is also learning about the cultures associated with the language. It helps them look at the world from a different perspective. That is my goal – to help them navigate through interactions with people with empathy, understanding and consideration for others. I think it adds immensely to their education as a whole.
How does social-emotional learning (SEL) play a role in your classroom? Why is this important?
As a Spanish Department, social-emotional learning is at the core of what we do, and we believe that language can be taught through that. We teach students to learn to identify emotions in themselves and others and look at the world from a different perspective. We can do that by learning emotion vocabulary words in Spanish and using them to identify emotions in themselves and others. We model, practice and apply these skills every day.
We do emotion check-ins with our boys all the time. By dedicating time to focus on emotional intelligence, students can express their own emotions, use feelings to recognize and solve challenges and connect with others, all en español.
How does our Spanish Department collaborate internally with one another and externally with homeroom and other subject teachers? How do you feel collaboration is beneficial to your students’ learning and you as teachers?
The Spanish Department collaborates in everything we do. Collaboration within our department is inherently beneficial to the boys’ learning. Each teacher brings a different experience, a different background and different strengths, which contributes greatly to the content we are creating. We’re such creative beings, and there’s nothing like planning together. It’s great energy!
Our internal collaboration helps us to think outside the box and develop ideas that may seem silly at first. In the end, it all comes together to form an incredible curriculum. We are like a little family within our department.
We also LOVE collaborating externally with homeroom teachers and other subject teachers. Often, homeroom teachers will reach out to us. For example, the fifth-grade homeroom teachers asked us if we wanted to partner on a Mesoamerica Project last year because the countries that exist today where these Mesoamerican civilizations used to be are Spanish-speaking countries. Tying Spanish in adds another perspective to what they are learning and connects their learning across disciplines. This type of teamwork gives us a greater sense of community and allows us to feel confident about using our most dynamic skills. The boys see the effort we are putting into their learning, and I think they appreciate it. I believe this positively impacts the boys.
You are a Sixth Grade Advisor! What does that entail? What might a typical advisory period look like?
Advisory is designed to create a strong support system for our boys and foster relationships with one another. One of our goals is to create an advisory culture where our boys feel comfortable sharing personal feelings and engaging in real, sometimes difficult, but meaningful conversations. Especially at this level – this is so important for sixth graders developmentally. Each advisory starts with connections where boys share what’s on their mind or what they’re feeling.
I found that routine, structure and engagement are important to our sixth-grade boys. Therefore, we created a theme for each day, such as creativity day, game day, and “Some Good News” day, etc. They know what to expect, they look forward to these daily activities and working together.
