"¡Hola! Hi, I'm Profesora Jenna. I am a state-certified K-12 Spanish teacher and Reading Specialist. I have taught in public school settings for 17 years. I started my teaching career as an English as a Second Language teacher and have always loved teaching language and helping my students gain confidence in speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills. I earned a Masters degree in Reading Education from the University of Virginia and worked for many years as a Reading Specialist and Interventionist. My favorite teaching position was working in a bilingual program at the elementary level, teaching Spanish through an immersion model. My passion for teaching Spanish led me to pursue a Masters degree in Spanish and Spanish Culture from the University of Salamanca, Spain, and a Graduate Certificate in Immersion Education from the University of Minnesota.

My experience as an educator allows me to determine your unique needs, set clear instructional goals, design fun and engaging lessons, and frequently assess your progress and reflect on your success. I have taught targeted intervention groups at the elementary school level in both English and Spanish across all subject areas. I have taught Beginning level Spanish courses in middle school and high school settings. My instructional approach is immersion-based with a focus on communicative practice. Throughout my lessons, I explicitly teach useful and meaningful vocabulary related to authentic literature, art, and music of Hispanic culture. Grammatical features that need to be mastered, such as verb tenses, are embedded and practiced in meaningful ways.

My vision is to celebrate Spanish language and Hispanic culture and to promote bilingualism/multilingualism for every learner. I hope that this includes you! Please reach out to me with questions and to schedule your lessons!" less...