Biosketch and Philosophy of Teaching & Learning
My name is Laura White, I am in my ninth year of teaching at Buckhorn High School. I absolutely love where I am and what I am fortunate to do each day. I am a Buckhorn graduate. I first gained an interest in the Spanish language from my own high school Spanish teacher at Buckhorn. I graduated from the University of Alabama Huntsville in 2006 with a BA in Secondary Education and Spanish. I then graduated from the University of Alabama in Birmingham in 2010 with a MA in Teaching English as a Second Language. I have returned to UAB to pursue my EdS degree in TESOL and expect to graduate in April, 2016.
I embrace my teaching position as an opportunity to improve the way in which students may feel about language learning. I expect my students to become independent and confident in their ability to use the Spanish language. I want them to feel motivated by my teaching and their classmates. I see myself as a continuous learner and I seek to impart the importance of learning to my students.I feel that letting my students know that I care about them, their education, and the Spanish language is crucial to a safe and productive learning environment. I strive to maintain a classroom atmosphere that is conducive to learning by encouraging dialogue between myself and the students. Doing this means that I involve students in the learning process and I require them to take ownership of their learning. I believe that for students to learn a foreign language they must communicate in class and participate to the best of their ability. I believe students should have the opportunity to use visuals, create their own examples, feel safe in asking questions, hear recordings of authentic dialogues, use TPR (Total Physical Response) and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), engage in authentic readings in the target language, and personalize their linguistic experience by relating the vocabulary to their own life.
Language acquisition is NOT an impossible task at any age and takes time. There are linguistic stages that all students will experience in their language acquisition process. For language to be acquired, learners must actively involve themselves in the four domains of language. Receptive skills of language will occur in the beginning of the language acquisition process, thus will be more predominate in Spanish, level I. Productive skills of writing and speaking will follow receptive skills. However, all language domains will be utilized on a daily basis at some level of proficiency. I believe students' level of interest, involvement, and investment directly correlates to their proficiency level. It is important for students to see a reason for learning a language and apply it directly to their current or future benefit. Due to my belief that language acquisition occurs best in a social setting, students will be involved in a communicative classroom on a daily basis.
Most importantly, my desire is that students have fun with the language. I hope that my students leave my classroom with an appreciation of the Spanish culture and that they have the competence and confidence to use the language outside of the classroom setting.
Any assignment that is assigned for homework will be something your child can do with or without his/her class notes or textbook. There are strategies for additional help with Spanish.Your child will be given the opportunity to take home a CD-R titled At-Home Tutor. This CD is a textbook component that utilizes computer games, cartoons, self-check quizzes, etc. to reinforce material covered in class. In the past years, students have used this resource to study for assessments. It is definitely worth your child spending ten minutes a night working on an activity of choice. The CD is used with your home computer and returned to me at the end of the semester. Failure to return the CD will cause your child to owe a fee to Buckhorn High School.The website www.classzone.com is a textbook website that also provides activities much like the At-Home tutor. The E-edition (CD-R) of the textbook is also available to students who wish to take it home and load it on their computer. This will allow students to have complete access to their textbook 24-7 from their home computer, without internet access.
Your child’s regular and prompt attendance at school is crucial to his/her success. Please view school as a priority, and see to it that your child attends class everyday except in cases of illness or emergency. PLEASE NOTE: Every student is required to take the final exam, regardless of the number of absences. This is a Madison County Board of Education policy. The final exam will weigh 20% of the student’s overall grade and will be comprehensive. If a student is tardy for class, he/she may not be allowed to enter the classroom once the door is shut and locked. Students who are tardy will report to a designated area of the school to stay for the remainder of the class time.
I believe that a strong parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximizing school success. Throughout the year I will communicate with you through e-mails. I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at any time. You can call me at school
(851-3300) , send me a note, or e-mail me at [email protected]. I am available for conferences regarding your child’s progress by appointment on schooldays.
I have the highest expectations for your child and look forward to a rewarding semester of Spanish.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Laura White
Spanish I & II Teacher
Spanish Club Sponsor
Buckhorn High School
I embrace my teaching position as an opportunity to improve the way in which students may feel about language learning. I expect my students to become independent and confident in their ability to use the Spanish language. I want them to feel motivated by my teaching and their classmates. I see myself as a continuous learner and I seek to impart the importance of learning to my students.I feel that letting my students know that I care about them, their education, and the Spanish language is crucial to a safe and productive learning environment. I strive to maintain a classroom atmosphere that is conducive to learning by encouraging dialogue between myself and the students. Doing this means that I involve students in the learning process and I require them to take ownership of their learning. I believe that for students to learn a foreign language they must communicate in class and participate to the best of their ability. I believe students should have the opportunity to use visuals, create their own examples, feel safe in asking questions, hear recordings of authentic dialogues, use TPR (Total Physical Response) and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), engage in authentic readings in the target language, and personalize their linguistic experience by relating the vocabulary to their own life.
Language acquisition is NOT an impossible task at any age and takes time. There are linguistic stages that all students will experience in their language acquisition process. For language to be acquired, learners must actively involve themselves in the four domains of language. Receptive skills of language will occur in the beginning of the language acquisition process, thus will be more predominate in Spanish, level I. Productive skills of writing and speaking will follow receptive skills. However, all language domains will be utilized on a daily basis at some level of proficiency. I believe students' level of interest, involvement, and investment directly correlates to their proficiency level. It is important for students to see a reason for learning a language and apply it directly to their current or future benefit. Due to my belief that language acquisition occurs best in a social setting, students will be involved in a communicative classroom on a daily basis.
Most importantly, my desire is that students have fun with the language. I hope that my students leave my classroom with an appreciation of the Spanish culture and that they have the competence and confidence to use the language outside of the classroom setting.
Any assignment that is assigned for homework will be something your child can do with or without his/her class notes or textbook. There are strategies for additional help with Spanish.Your child will be given the opportunity to take home a CD-R titled At-Home Tutor. This CD is a textbook component that utilizes computer games, cartoons, self-check quizzes, etc. to reinforce material covered in class. In the past years, students have used this resource to study for assessments. It is definitely worth your child spending ten minutes a night working on an activity of choice. The CD is used with your home computer and returned to me at the end of the semester. Failure to return the CD will cause your child to owe a fee to Buckhorn High School.The website www.classzone.com is a textbook website that also provides activities much like the At-Home tutor. The E-edition (CD-R) of the textbook is also available to students who wish to take it home and load it on their computer. This will allow students to have complete access to their textbook 24-7 from their home computer, without internet access.
Your child’s regular and prompt attendance at school is crucial to his/her success. Please view school as a priority, and see to it that your child attends class everyday except in cases of illness or emergency. PLEASE NOTE: Every student is required to take the final exam, regardless of the number of absences. This is a Madison County Board of Education policy. The final exam will weigh 20% of the student’s overall grade and will be comprehensive. If a student is tardy for class, he/she may not be allowed to enter the classroom once the door is shut and locked. Students who are tardy will report to a designated area of the school to stay for the remainder of the class time.
I believe that a strong parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximizing school success. Throughout the year I will communicate with you through e-mails. I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at any time. You can call me at school
(851-3300) , send me a note, or e-mail me at [email protected]. I am available for conferences regarding your child’s progress by appointment on schooldays.
I have the highest expectations for your child and look forward to a rewarding semester of Spanish.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Laura White
Spanish I & II Teacher
Spanish Club Sponsor
Buckhorn High School