I have been lucky enough to have many exceptional teachers throughout my school career. All of them, in some way, have influenced the person that I am and the teacher that I will be. However, there are two amazing teachers that had the greatest impact on me, and continue to support to me as I begin to think about my own teaching career. Both my middle school Spanish teacher, Sra. Stetson, and my high school Spanish teacher, Sr. Hadzima, have not only taught me the love of the language, but have also inspired me to teach Spanish as well.
My love of language and of teaching started on my first day of Spanish class in seventh grade. Sra. Stetson was the kind of teacher we all dreamed of having: Energetic, creative, and engaging, she held our attention from the very first day of class. I remember thinking, even then, that if I were to become a teacher, I would want to be like her. This thought still occupies my mind as I think about my future classroom. What stands out in her teaching style is that she did not get bogged down—as many teachers of beginning language students do—in rote memorization and conjugation tables. Instead, Sra. Stetson chose to teach through creative projects, skits, and games. She had high expectations for all of her students, however. No matter how much fun we were having, we knew that we were expected to learn and perform well. These expectations made all of us strive to be successful, and Sra. Stetson was always there to help us along. I hated to leave her class after middle school, but fortunately, after my freshman year of high school, I found myself once again in the hands of another wonderful Spanish teacher.
During my sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school, I was placed in Sr. Hadzima’s Spanish class. His teaching style was almost exactly opposite of Sra. Stetson’s. Up until my senior year, we rarely played games or did projects in his class—grammar rules and our writing and speaking skills were the focus. Even though Sr. Hadzima emphasized the importance of learning rules and the vocabulary of the language, he also believed that it was important that his students understand that Spanish was more than just words on a page; Spanish was also the faces of the Latin American people, their customs and their beliefs. Sr. Hadzima brought invaluable experience to his classroom. Because he had lived in Mexico for a few years and often traveled to Central and South America, he had many stories to tell us about the cultures of these places we read about in our textbooks. He would bring pictures and artifacts from his trips to show us and would bring speakers in whenever he could. He made himself available to us whenever we wanted to practice our conversational skills; he was always at school early and would even stay late so we could practice speaking. We even instituted “Spanish Thursday,” the day when Sr. Hadzima would have lunch with our class so that we could all practice speaking informally. Sr. Hadzima showed us the rich culture and history that the Spanish language communicated through television, videos, literature, music and speakers. He truly made the Spanish language, people, and culture real to me, before I even set foot in a Spanish-speaking country.
Sra. Stetson and Sr. Hadzima are truly a tag-team class act; I have learned so much from both of them that it is impossible to distinguish who has made the bigger impact. Being in each of their classes has been an invaluable and rewarding experience for me. Each presented a distinct teaching style that I would like to incorporate in my own classroom. In my own classroom, I plan to teach using creative projects and games, as Sra. Stetson did, as well as through the more traditional practice exercises Sr. Hadzima so often gave us. I will also hold high expectations for my students, but I will also support them so that they all know that they can reach the goals that we set as a class. Like Sr. Hadzima, I hope I will have many personal experiences with the Spanish language, culture and people, so that I can make the language real for my students and inspire them to appreciate it as I do. I will be generous with my time, as he was for me, so that I can interact with my students as often as possible. I am grateful to have had the chance to observe two incredibly talented and dedicated teachers. Now, as I have moved out of their classrooms and on to one of my own, Sra. Stetson and Sr. Hadzima have become not only my inspiration, but two valuable resources and friends as well. Gracias a ustedes; I can’t thank you enough.
-- Daizha Heberling, American University