Victories from the 2021-2022 School Year

Whew, what a year. My last post was in August of 2021 (!!!!! woops), but like many teachers across the world, this year was just about surviving. I have 6 days (including tomorrow) left, and I’m feeling my brain relax and have more space to try writing again, so I figured I’d grease the wheel by just listing out what went incredibly well this year. Despite the many challenges, there was so, so much good.

Being World Languages Department Co-Chair

I shared the department chair role this year with my colleague Andy, and it taught me a ton about communication and advocacy. I have empowered myself to speak up in meetings more, and make sure that WL does not (as it usually does) get put on the back burner. I successfully advocated for some policies that will help the more vulnerable languages at our school have more insured enrollment at the lower levels (thereby making my job / my colleagues’ jobs more secure), and I’m really proud of that. I have stepped down from the post for the next school year, and will not miss the extra morning meetings. 😉

Strongest, Most Unified Level 1 Ever

I learned a lot from implementing the SOMOS curriculum in my one section of Spanish 1 about how one can structure a lower level curriculum, and taking the lessons from that into my German instruction has made for my most effective year in German 1 yet. I know what my students can do better than ever, and our use of language in class has really pushed up to levels I had not previously imagined. And next year only promises to be even better, in this regard!

Biggest Level 1 Enrollments Yet

My level 1 enrollment has grown from this year at 37 to next year at 57 (!), which almost guarantees that I will have enough students the following year for two sections of level 2. (This will, in turn, make me full-time German with no more one-off sections of Spanish to teach!) Overall, the German program has grown by 39% (!!!) since I arrived at my school in the 2019-2020 school year. I attribute this to really investing in the lives of my students and finding ways to be a part of the community here as often as I can.

My First-Ever Batch of AP German Students

Last year, I had two students take AP German almost entirely online and it was a hot mess. One never really wanted to take the exam, and the other backed out at the end because their college only accepted a score of 5 for credit. (Which is wild to me!) This year, I had 9 students enrolled in AP German, and two took the exam! It will be a nail-biter getting their scores, and I learned a TON from having the AP class together with my level 3s, but I am proud of those two excellent kiddos, no matter what scores they end up with.

Reusing Materials I Have Created

I don’t use a textbook or pre-made curriculum for German, so much of what I do is created by…me. This year, I finally had a back catalog of materials that I could draw from, and holy cow did that make my prep life easier. I’m going to try to use some time this summer to curate more materials that others have made and insert them into my curriculum plan, but I was really thankful to have stuff to draw on when I was planning for my 5 different courses.

Receiving German Visitors in Class

When I lived in Chemnitz, I was an English Teaching Assistant (with the Fulbright Program) at a high school. At the time, my now-friend Moritz was in 7th grade. We somehow kept in touch via the powers of the internet and I may or may not have helped Moritz with his English homework. Fast forward nine years, and he is in his final year of studies to be an elementary school teacher in Germany with a focus in English teaching. Moritz and his girlfriend came to visit my classroom this week, and I had one of those rare teacher sit-back-and-watch-it-happen moments as my upper level students asked thoughtful, interesting questions about life in Germany, and got answers that showed so many cultural differences that we could learn from.

Student Panel on LGBTQ+ Life at Our School

I invited about 10 students to stay after school on a Friday and discuss how it is to be LGBTQ+ at our specific school, as well as what they wished their teachers knew about these experiences. What I thought would be an hour-long discussion turned into a 2-hour long discussion, and I was (and am) constantly astounded by the depth of thought and willingness to share my students showed (and show). This was both personally fulfilling as a gay teacher who had a tough time with myself in high school, and also incredibly revealing about how much work remains to be done to make our schools safe for LGBTQ+ students.

WAFLT Board

This spring, I was invited to join the board of the Washington Association for Language Teaching, our state organization for world language teachers. I am truly honored to be joining the board for the coming school year, and look forward to seeing how I can best advocate for language learning and help provide professional support to language teachers across the state.

German Embassy Teacher of Excellence

This one really warmed my gay little heart. Alysha Holmquist nominated me for the German Embassy Teacher of Excellence Award. As part of the nomination process, I received letters of support from a former student, the parent of a current student, my assistant principal, and a colleague. Winning the award felt like a warm hug from all the people who have supported me in my career, and the cherry on top is that I get to go back to Germany for the first time in 9 (!) years and take a teacher training course in Munich! I am dying of excitement, as I am definitely missing Germany and my beloved Chemnitz (European Capital of Culture 2025).

Braving the Post-Remote Learning Teaching World

This was the year I thought most about leaving teaching, but I have not yet. There were so many unforeseen (and foreseen) challenges, and it was hard to get my footing professionally for the longest time. But I know that students acquired more German this year, and that my program continues to grow, and that on most days, my students leave Fisherlandia with a smile in their hearts. I think it was all worth it, in the end.

What were your victories from this school year? Sound off below and celebrate yourself!