Experience Summary
For 32 years, I taught a combination of English, ESL, French, German and Spanish to junior high school and high school students. I worked for the Las Cruces Public Schools from 1986-2006, when I left to go work for the Department of Defense in Heidelberg, Germany. From 2008 to 2010, I worked for New Mexico State University teaching Spanish Composition for Native Speakers, and then as Supervisor of Student Teachers. I received a Rockefeller Fellowship to Extremadura, Spain in 1990, and a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English and French at a Technisches Gymnasium (Academy for Engineers) in Waiblingen, Germany in 1995-1996. In 2005 I was nominated "Teacher of the Year" by the New Mexico Organization of Language Educators.
Teaching Style
I love working with students and teaching languages. I use the communicative approach so that students can hear and learn to understand the language they are learning;By using facial expressions, gestures and other non-verbal cues, I facilitate student comprehension of the target language; I use kinesthetic exercises requiring students to move their bodies to help them acquire the language. In addition to a textbook, I also use songs, skits and chants. Students make visuals such as booklets, menus, posters, etc..., with graphics to help them internalize the language. I use a variety of teaching techniques addressing different learning styles so that your child can learn foreign language in the way he learns best.