I could not be any happier to join the SpanglishBaby community. Actually I am ecstatic to share my new journey with all of you. My name is Kelly Serrano. I was born and raised in Ecuador, South America and moved to the United States when I was 18 years old. I am also a classroom teacher. While I have taught in the general education classroom setting for seven years including 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, this year I made a big move as I will be teaching 4th grade at a Dual Language Immersion School.
Teaching has taken me many places and with it I have explored unknown territories. This time the ‘territory’ will be the Dual Language Classroom. As soon as I knew that I would be in a bilingual classroom, I started to gather information and materials to better prepare for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, I did not find many reliable resources. They were either written in Spanish with an awful translation or were too high of a reading level. The solution? If I wanted high quality materials, I had to create them.
That is how my blog got started. I wanted to reach, talk, and share with other teachers involved in the dual language setting. I was sure I was not the only one out there trying to better reach students and their families. My weekly contributions to La Maestra’s Corner will offer readers an insider look at the bilingual classroom. I will cover topics ranging from educational strategies with proven success in the dual language classroom, what teachers do to make bilingual content come to life, what it is really like to be a student in a two-way immersion classroom, to answering parents’ questions/concerns about this schooling method.
As a lifelong learner, I always welcome your suggestions/questions/comments/concerns. Again, I am excited and honored to be part of this amazing community.
Much love,
Kelly
Hola Kelly;
Bienvenida al mundo DUAL en USA!! En que estado y ciudad ensenhas? Pareciera SF por la foto;-)
Yo he trabajado con la comunidad DUAL de Portland por anhos, en el estado de Oregon. Soy de Venezuela.
Buena suerte!
Dear Isa,
Millon gracias por la bienvenida. Yo estoy en el sur de California ensenhando en Canoga Park. La foto fue este anho cuando estuve de vacaciones por alla.
Kelly
Hola Kelly: Yo también soy de Ecuador. Yo vivo en Fort Worth, Texas y soy maestra del programa Dual en 4to Grado. Si necesitas algo envíame un email y yo te ayudaré en lo que pueda.
Buena suerte,
Sole
Hola Soledad,
Que chevere encontrar a otra Ecuatoriana por aca. Perfecto que tu tambien estes en 4to grado. Y de seguro te estare molestando con preguntas/o para intercambiar recursos. Mi email es el mismo de mi blog: learningintwolanguages@gmail.com
Gracias,
Kelly
Bienvenida Kelly,
I am looking forward to reading your blog. My daughter is in dual language, and has been struggling. As a teacher when you have an English as a first language child do you take the time to get them up to speed, or give extra work so that they eventually are at the same level? or do you simply hope that eventually the child will get there…might not be in your class but maybe the next…
Thanks,
Rose
Hi Rose,
I would like to know if your girl is in a 50/50 or 90/10 dual language….I will be able to give you a better answer just getting that piece of info. Also, are you speaking Spanish to her at home?
Let me know….would love to give you a better answer.
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
The way the program works she is one day in spanish and one day in english and it alternates. Some weeks she is in spanish 2 days a week and the next week she is in spanish 3 days a week. When she does have english, they do not go over what was learned in spanish… so technically you do not get a translation. Additionally the teachers are different. You have one teacher for the spanish and another teacher for the english. The english teacher does not know spanish.
I am not beginning to speak to her in spanish and have a tutor from Columbia who works with her twice a week…
Sorry… I am beginning to speak to her in spanish at home… I also read to her and teach her to write… but sometimes she is resistent because I am mami… so she prefers the tutor…
Rose,
Thank you for the additional info. At this point speak to her in the language you feel most comfortable with. The more fluency she has in one language, the easier it will be for her to ‘tranfer’ those into the language she is learning.
Remember, one of the most important things is to be patient and believe in the process. It may take her some time, but she will get there. You are very much invested/interested in her learning and this makes a WORLD of difference.
Kelly
Ps. It is great that you have the opportunity to have a tutor for your daughter, I can only think of all the possitive examples she is getting from her and the tutor.
I am so excited (and jealous) to read you. In the reverse of your experience I started out with dual language and bilingual teaching jobs, but due to moving into new areas, I have recently only had jobs in ESL and general ed for the past 3 years. Best of luck in your new teaching position!
Thank you!
I want to publicly give you a “Bienvenida” as well. We’re beyond thrilled to have you leading this column because we just know how useful this will be both for DL teachers and parents of students. I’m a mom of a DL student myself and I know the first year can be a bit “scary,” for the lack of a better word.
But I have to say that I’ve been so impressed by the effort the teachers put in to make sure that both students and parents are totally at ease.
Happy we can now really share what a DL language classroom is like on the inside through your experiences as a teacher and ours as parents!
THANK YOU!
Sistercita,
Congratulations! I cannot wait to read your first article soon, and your first book in the future.
Many blessings ; )
Jennifer
Hola Kelly!
Cool! & thanks for sharing! Felicidades y Buena suerte este ano!
Jennifer