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Hello, my name is Enrique Salgado. This is my 11th year teaching high school math and my 6th year teaching it in Spanish. Teaching math in Spanish was challenging at first. When it was first proposed to me I thought that it would be a simple transition as I am a native Spanish speaker. I was wrong. It took a lot of work and time to learn how to teach both language and math. At the same time I had to learn the academic math vocabulary in Spanish and the different math notations used in Latin America. The transition was made easier by creating a learning community with my students. I can proudly say that I learned a lot from my students. Now, I never want to teach a math class that is not bilingual. I am open to learning and experiencing new things. In this class I look forward to learning about the uses of social media and emerging technologies in the classroom from all my classmates.
My usage of social media is limited to Facebook. I used to be more active on social media back when I used to DJ. It was useful in promoting my services. Since I began teaching I slowly began to distance myself from social media platforms. This does not mean that I do not see the importance and usefulness of technology in the classroom and society overall. I try to incorporate it the best I can in my teaching while being aware of the dangers that come with it. Thus, it is important to teach students digital citizenship. In my district social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are blocked in all school issued equipment. Due to that, I mostly use Teams on Microsoft 365 to post links and have digital discussions. I also house my notes on One Note. In One Note I share videos and links to other resources.
It has been amazing to see how fast technology has evolved. I wonder how long it will take for VR to be incorporated into education. As happy as I am to have access to all that the internet puts at our reach, I love the outdoors even more. Getting away from the noise of the city and being one with nature is the best.
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Hi! I really enjoyed the thoughtfulness of your post. My school is 70-80% ELL students with our students having Spanish as a first language. Your perspective from transitioning from teaching Math in English to Math in Spanish is insightful and relatable. My school currently has a Bilingual program where students get push in and pull out native language and bilingual supports. In the next few years we are trying to transition our school into a dual language school. We are trying to make logical and productive moves in that direction with our purchases of new curriculum and hiring more bilingual teachers. I have found technology to be very useful when providing bilingual supports to my students and families. I look forward to hearing your perspective on this course as we continue with our blog posts.
ReplyDeleteHi! It seems that we work with students that have similar demographics. Our high school is also working on transitioning to a dual language. Finding good math textbooks that are available in both English and Spanish has been difficult or too expensive. I also look forward to hearing your perspectives on different topics.
DeleteHi Enrique. Great to meet you. Thank you for the detailed introduction and sharing your current status with social media. What are your thoughts on your district blocking social media? Do you agree?
ReplyDeleteHi, I see the benefits of blocking social media. When it is misused it can lead to bullying and conflict between students in the building. But, we have noticed that students have adapted and now use the Microsoft Teams messenger to communicate with each other as if it were a social media platform such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Instead of simply blocking platforms, I think that we should educate students and model proper uses of social media. Technology is here to stay. It can't be avoided.
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