Kaitlin Link
Teaching Philosophy
IMPORTANT SKILLS I WANT TO TEACH MY STUDENTS
My overall goal for my students is twofold. First, as in any foreign language class, is to get students at the novice level to start developing their communicative competencies in Spanish in all four modes of communication—speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Second, it is important for students to understand and appreciate how their ability to communicate impacts their ability to function as a global citizen in today’s ever-changing world.
TEACHING METHODS TO REACH THESE GOALS
As a teacher, I employ the Comprehensible Input method to ensure that my verbal input to students is understandable, through use of gesturing, repetition, slower speech, visual supports, and of course, lots of Spanish-English cognates. While my students continue to develop their communicative skills, I believe it is important to provide them with at least one opportunity per day to practice each of the four modes.
MY FAVORITE PROJECTS
My students do one large final project for each unit of study. For level A, I enjoy the project on pastimes where students create a brochure advertising the activities, sports, and clubs offered here at Seven Hills for prospective students. The activities themselves can be real or imagined, and students can be as creative as they like in describing the offerings. Then, students role play an interview between a current and prospective student where they ask each other about their hobbies and interests outside of school using all of the vocabulary and grammar they have learned from that unit. It is awesome to see the students’ creativity. I had one student dream up a scuba diving club! For level B, my favorite project is on food and restaurants. Students create their own imaginary “restaurant” where they illustrate and describe all of the menu items in Spanish, create an advertisement for their restaurant including patron reviews, and act out a skit with a partner where one plays the waiter and one plays the customer using all of the vocabulary and grammar from that unit—again, it is wonderful to see their creativity come into play as they create and describe their various dishes!
WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT TEACHING AT SEVEN HILLS
For me, the dedication and perseverance of the students, coupled with the amazing support of the parents, makes teaching at Seven Hills a dream come true. The small class sizes give me the opportunity to really get to know who the students are as learners and my communication with parents is always welcome. It is a joy coming to work every day!