Question: Do you teach in Spanish?
My school is bilingual, which means we want students to know Spanish and English when they graduate. They have many opportunities to speak Spanish in their daily lives, but school is one of the only places where many students speak English. Other than a few classes that are taught in Spanish (Literature, History of Honduras, Language, Civics, etc.), most other things at the school are in English. We require students to speak English in all non-Spanish classes.
Don't get me wrong. It is a huge advantage to be able to understand and speak Spanish. While I teach and interact with my students in English, there are times when Spanish is beneficial in my job. Here are some general examples:
As a counselor, I interact with many parents who do not speak English. They are relieved to find out they can express themselves in Spanish rather than broken English or with a translator. In this way, they feel understood and are not forced to divulge their problems to an additional person. Understanding Spanish is also beneficial when counseling students. When students are distressed, they naturally revert to their native language to express themselves. If a student is really upset, it is much easier for them to tell me what's wrong in Spanish than in English. We can then move forward to working toward a solution.
As a teacher, Spanish helps me stay on top of what's going on in my classroom. Teenagers are tricky and always testing their teachers to see boundaries and what they can get away with. If they can communicate in any way without the teacher understanding or being aware (passing notes, gestures, other languages, etc.), you better believe they will. They still get away with some things in my classroom that I wish they didn't, but at least they aren't talking about it right in front of me :)
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