It’s been quite a few months since I last wrote a blog post, so, hello again, and welcome back!
I used to feel guilty about not posting regularly, but lately I’ve been choosing grace (and sanity) over perfection. Life has been muy ocupado, as I’m sure many of you can relate. Still, I know how powerful reflective journaling can be in our profession, not just for our teaching growth but for our mental health.
(Confession: I wrote that last sentence right before someone knocked on my door with ten new issues to solve. And that, my friends, is exactly why I don’t blog as often anymore.)
This year has been one of the busiest yet. Between serving as Union VP and shadowing leaders at the Ohio Education Association, my plate is full, but it’s the kind of full that feels purposeful and energizing. I’ve learned that “busy” isn’t always bad when your work aligns with what you care about. I am also a long-distance auntie. Being an aunt is the absolute greatest gift my sister could have ever given me. I have daily facetime dates with my nephew, Maxwell, and my newest little love Julia just made her appearance this month. I am also the junior class advisor and somehow started planning school wide pep rallies this year. All of these things are fun and fill my cup, but fall break was a much needed reset for my mental and physical health.
The start of this school year has felt like something out of a pre-COVID dream. My school invested in Yondr pouches for all students, and let me tell you, I am a fan. I haven’t seen a single phone all year. Not one! No more secret AirPods, no TikTok scrolling in the back row. It’s truly miraculous, and I don’t think I can ever go back.
This year, I have five sections of Spanish 1 and a study hall duty. My students have been the highlight of my days. My afternoon classes, in particular, are filled with many gifted learners, kids who think critically, question deeply, and somehow make me laugh nonstop.
I also have several students from multicultural backgrounds, and their stories add a richness to our classroom that I’ve missed in recent years. But perhaps my favorite part? This group actually speaks Spanish—like, a lot. I’ve never had a Spanish 1 group talk this much (in any language), and while it requires every ounce of my classroom management skills, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Their Spanglish banter keeps me entertained all day. Picture this: one student teasing another with, “¡Él es lento, no es rápido!” or another describing my sister’s early-labor story as “bebé joven temprano malo.” The effort! The creativity! The grammar….well, we’ll get there. All of this became possible because of the word walls I added to my new classroom this year. Oh yeah, I moved rooms this year, too!
They shout “¡Vamos!” when they’re excited, and “¿¿Serio??” when they see a quiz. During a round of The Unfair Game from Martina Bex, their Spanglish commentary echoed down the hall, and I’m still laughing about it days later.
This fall, I felt a pull to change things up. Instead of my usual first two units, I wanted to focus on giving students a stronger foundation in numbers, calendars, and the “Super 7” verbs. I trusted my gut—and I’m so glad I did. The shift has been refreshing, and the results speak for themselves.
Our second unit centered around school life and routines, using tengo, tiene, hay, and necesito. We kicked things off with Señor Wooly’s classic No lo tengo (a student favorite), and I added a short list of school supplies for use in writing and reading tasks. My students are loving Wooly this year—always a win! Plus, we are wrapping up the last week before break with Wooly Week and the video is the perfect way to end our unit.
To deepen comprehension, I also integrated a Dreaming Spanish video (from their premium subscription). Students previewed the core vocabulary, predicted meanings, and then confirmed definitions with an online dictionary.
During viewing, they checked off phrases they heard and answered comprehension questions. I used only the most comprehensible segments, choosing ones rich in gestures and familiar structures.
For their final assessment, students completed a presentational writing task comparing schools in the U.S. and Argentina. I needed the writing sample for state data—but honestly, it became one of my favorite assignments to grade. Their ability to use tiene, hay, tenemos, and other new vocabulary in context blew me away.
This post took me weeks to finish, because, well, life, but here we are! Fall break is wrapping up and I am feeling well rested but overwhelmed with all of the events happening between now and Thanksgiving.
My hope is to continue finding moments to reflect and share what’s happening in my classroom. Because even in the chaos, these little stories remind me why I love what I do.
Hasta pronto,
Haylee