Deirdre Garcia

Deirdre Garcia started her career teaching in rural Costa Rica. As a Harvard Institute for International Development World Teach Volunteer, D lived and worked in a rural community where she facilitated the National English Curriculum and lived in community with families.. There she became intimately knowledgeable about the intersection of language and culture, as well as the importance of a global, multilingual education. In the United States, D has worked as a Dual Language 2-Way and Developmental Bilingual Education Teacher in Milwaukee, served as an Instructional Literacy Coach, and is currently the Director of Bilingual/ESL Education for the School District of Waukesha, Wisconsin. She is also an adjunct instructor of Emergent Literacy for Diverse Learners at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and facilitates Teaching for Biliteracy I-II at Carroll University. She is forever inspired by dual language learners, her family, and those who cultivate additive bilingualism everywhere.
D and her Colombian husband Julian, are raising their son in Spanish, and this blog will document, from D’s point of view, the issues with that arise when parenting and raising a bilingual, multicultural child in the United States Midwest. This blog will introduce readers to struggles, critical decisions and the joys of parenting decisively.

Deirdre García empezó su carrera como maestra en el campo de Costa Rica. Como voluntario de Ensenanza Mundial, D vivió y trabajó en una comunidad rural donde ella facilitaba el Currículum Nacional de inglés como idioma extranjera. Entre la comunidad y las familias, ella llegó a conocer íntimamente la relación entre lenguaje y cultura, y la importancia de una preparación global y multicultural. Ella compartió casa con una familia “al otro lado” del puente hamaca-los mataderos de pollos. Hoy es la Directora del Programa Bilingüe en el Distrito Escolar de Waukesha Wisconsin. D y su esposo Julián tomaron la decisión de criar a su hijo en español. Como español es el segundo idioma de D este blog se va a documentar las dudas, preguntas, preocupaciones, celebraciones y sorpresas del proceso.