10 Questions with Spanish Teacher Ms. Avalos
Mrs. Avalos hopes to “survive” her first year as a new teacher. (Alec Klein / Photo)
By Alec Klein | Staff Writer
October 1, 2012
“Hola, como están!” shouts Ms. Avalos to her class of wide-eyed students.
It is her first lesson of the new school year, but more notably it is the first lesson of her new career.
Excited as this new teacher is, she admits that her goal for the 2012-2013 school year is to “SURVIVE!”
Recently, The Charger Account sat down with Mrs. Avalos to find out more about her and to see what she has to bring Dos Pueblos High School.
Q: What made you want to become a Spanish teacher?
I was in college studying Chicano studies and I figured out that I wanted to teach my culture to kids because I have always liked working with them. I found out being a Spanish teacher would be perfect for my lifestyle.
Q: What part of teaching do you like the most and what is the most frustrating thing about being a teacher?
My favorite part of teaching is getting to interact with students in the classroom, doing “hands-on” education, and being able to hear the kids learn Spanish for the first time. The most frustrating thing about being a teacher is when I plan out a great lesson that interacts with all of the students, but they don’t want to participate. I get all excited on how the lesson will let them learn, but they are not as excited. I get my hopes up.
Q: What does being a teacher mean to you?
To be a teacher means to want to educate students not only in a specific discipline, but to help students become adults and prepare them for the real world. It means being a positive influence for students and being a positive role model.
Q: What is it like teaching a whole new language to a student?
Its very fun for me to see students learn a new language. It is exciting to see how fast they can pick it up and learn it.
Q: How do you encourage students to be active learners?
I encourage active learning by having lesson plans that are engaging all my students and by speaking actual Spanish instead of taking so many notes on how to speak the language. For the students to actually hear the Spanish, I think it’s great.
Q: Why is it important that Dos Pueblos students learn Spanish?
It’s important for Dos Pueblos students to learn Spanish because we live in a community where Spanish is very useful. It’s useful because it’s an advantage for a good job opportunity.
Q: How have you found Spanish helpful in your own life?
I use Spanish everyday, and not just because I am a Spanish teacher. I work at Arigato Sushi where it is surprisingly very useful.
Q: What do you like to do when you are not teaching?
When I am not teaching I am working at Arigato Sushi about two nights a week as a server. I workout, I enjoy hiking, and I like going to Zumba class a few times a week. I also really like to cook and read.
Q: Did you belong to any clubs or sports when you were in high school?
I loved being in clubs! I was in Eco club, Spanish club, and Key club, which is a club where we would show our school leadership. I did not play soccer or another sport for school because I wasn’t as good, but I played soccer a lot with friends and family after school.
Q: If you could create the ideal school what would it be like?
Everyone at school would have a positive attitude. Teachers would be motivated to teach and students to learn. It would be a school where students and teachers are constantly learning from each other.
Todd Borden: 
Gloria Dugan: 
Jack: 
Lawrence:
This is a great interview and I feel Alec asked alot of good questions.
Good interview. I´m a graduate of DP and I took Spanish all the way through high school. One of the best things that I ever did as I now have an awesome job in México as an HR Manager which would not have been possible without the fundamentals of Spanish in high school. Hopefully more and more students are taking Spanish as it is looked at as a great skill-set which will differentiate folks in the workplace.