Bienvenidos!

Welcome to Ms. Carr's Spanish Classes Blog!

Hola a todos y bienviendos. My name is Ms. Carr and I will be your Spanish teacher for the 2013-2014 school year at Stuart W. Cramer High. I am so excited to be a part of this brand new school and I know we are going to have a great opening year.

About Me: 
I am originally from Indiana and I graduated from Butler University with degrees in Spanish and Film Studies. I love using film to teach and think it is an innovative tool for understanding. I have a Master of Arts in Teaching from UNCC and I learned most of my Spanish by living abroad in Spain. I have been teaching Spanish for six years.

About our classes:
I will be teaching all Spanish classes this year at SCHS. Since most colleges and universities require a minimum of two semesters of a foreign language for entrance, it is likely I will get the chance to teach most of the students in our school. If this is your first time taking Spanish you should be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone. In the foreign language classroom it is necessary to speak in front of classmates, participate on a regular basis, and explore other cultures with respect. Also, it is best to take Spanish classes back-to-back. Speaking Spanish is not like riding a bike; if you don't use it, you lose it. If this is your second semester of Spanish you should bring any notes you have from Spanish 1 to class with you for a while. They will come in handy and might jog some memories that got rusty since your last class.

Some things to remember about respecting culture:

• People who speak Spanish are NOT called "Spanish" unless they are from Spain
• Not everyone who speaks Spanish is Mexican. There are over 25 countries where Spanish is spoken.
• It is completely normal and acceptable to have a Spanish-speaking student in a Spanish class.
• Spain is not in Latin America. It is in Europe. 
• Taco Bell is not a Mexican restaurant. 
• Using Google translate for your homework is plagiarism 

Useful websites:
 wordreference.com
studyspanish.com
http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar101
typing accents and special characters
http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/

If you have questions or comments or just interesting things to share - please use this blog. I like to post useful information for class, but sometimes I just post funny things I find for a laugh. Parents are always welcome to check it out, too.