Chapter 3: Teachers: Capitalizing on Life Experiences and Diversity

Key Points

The cultural and linguistic background of teachers affects their understanding of students and their interpretation of how to instruct in Spanish and English.
All teachers of Spanish literacy require specific professional development on how to teach literacy in Spanish in the United States. However, few teacher preparation programs in the United States include this requirement; so many teachers who teach in Spanish require additional professional opportunities.
Literacy learning is enhanced when teachers are reflective and aware of their own strengths and challenges.

Participate in a reader’s theater activity and identify the following:

Strengths of each teacher depicted in the readers’ theater
Challenges of each teacher
The teacher to whom they are most similar
How to create a collaborative environment with their peers that includes trust, flexibility, and a shared vision.

Provide copies of the Reader’s Theater (download below) for each participant.
Divide the participants into groups of four. Then ask each member of the group to choose a teacher to read: Elena, Monica, Susan, or Kelly.
Participants read through the reader’s theater script.
After reading, participants answer the questions that follow the text.