Señora Abdala is the Spanish 1 teacher. She dedicates 6 periods to her Spanish 1 students, and has done so for several years.
I took my place in her class as a student, and blended in as much as possible (which ultimately failed.) The lesson of the day was several mini-assignments which were a breeze, from listing the days of the week in order, connecting classes to what you learn in them, and to writing your schedule in Spanish. Señora Abdala gave enough time for the working students to do their assignments, and spoke to me of her experience since 4 years ago, when I was a freshman in her class.
Freshmen are sometimes problematic. Of course, not all of them are, but many freshmen have come from middle school thinking they can get away with anything. Many lack respect for education and have just been moved forward to be someone else’s problem. Señora Abdala confessed that she knows why she’s not the ‘cool’ teacher, because she’s strict. But she’s wonderful.
Students simply lack the knowledge of listening to reason, and take it out on her. Señora Abdala prepares her students and encourages those willing to work. As she has told me, despite having failed several students (who never did work), they were still moved up to Spanish 2 with not a smidgen of a clue what the basics were. Counselors see that they took Spanish 1, and move them along, which needs to be fixed. Señora Abdala cannot continue to be blamed for sending students who know nothing to be a hindrance to other Spanish teachers.
In class, since there are many freshmen, they have laptops to work on, and Señora Abdala has iPads that no longer work. She makes do with what she has, she’s innovative, and wishes only the best for her students, so be patient with her, she has your best interests in mind.
Work is put in modules with dates as sections, divided by weeks, like week 1, week 2, and so on. If there are mini refresher quizzes, she gives students a chance to do them, and goes back and does it with them. She explains everything, giving reasons why the answer is what is is. She uses a microphone to talk so everyone can hear her, and she doesn’t have to shout.
She perfectly guides her students, and I’m surprised someone could fail her class.
When I entered the class the students fooled around and clapped, and when Señora Abdala told them I was a student they yelled across the room telling me they thought I was a teacher.
Education starts at home, and Señora Abdala is trying to break the habit of careless students, even if they think she’s uptight. Señora Abdala is an amazing teacher, and I am so glad she’s teaching at Elsinore, she’s one cool teacher, and I’ll be sad to leave her in the Spring.
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