South High has introduced many new teachers into the building this year, one of those being Dana Moore.
Moore is an exceptional teacher not only in the fact that the students love her teaching style, but that she is teaching two languages this year: French and Spanish.
According to junior Jacob Moretti, Moore is an interactive teacher with an interactive class; she uses lots of group work to be sure students are benefiting to the full extent while still having fun. Moretti has Moore for Spanish 3.
“I enjoy learning Spanish and as a teacher the first couple days after meeting her she was fun and made class fun,. She was easy to relate to. We play a lot of games, and a thing called ‘marvelous Wednesdays’ where she gets to know us better and tries to make us laugh,” he said. “She is always trying to find out more about her students and tries to find what’s best for them and new things to see how her students like them.”
On the other hand, sophomore Etta Brazel has Moore for French 2.
“She teaches the class at a pace she knows others will enjoy,” Brazel said. “She’s very engaging and she keeps a good rhythm. There’s a lot of student participation in the class, and we have a designated day of the week where she makes sure people are heard and people can tell jokes or other things.”
Moore said her style of teaching comes from a lot of first hand experience as a student. Moore says she is considered a ‘late language learner’ meaning she took French in college and eventually picked up some Spanish through the language similarities before deciding to pursue it further.
“Learning Spanish more recently, I understand students’ fear of trying to speak the language or their confusion as they learn a new concept. I tried Spanish in high school and actually hated it–I lasted two years only,” she said. “ I will always be a language learner so hopefully I will never forget what it is like to be a student in a language classroom.”
While many teachers at South teach many different classes/curriculum, it’s unusual for a language teacher to teach more than one language. Moore said sometimes it can be tricky, especially on purple days.
“I teach a French class in-between my Spanish classes and this is when I notice brain fatigue the most,” she said.
However, Moore said she is quick to find a way to move class and curriculum along in a way that differs the languages more from each other.
“In Spanish, I give vocabulary related more to Spanish from Spain or a word that is more obscure and less commonly used in Latin America or in Spanish in general because it might relate more to French,” Moore said.
Brazel said Moore teaches just like any other French teacher.
“Her speaking two languages doesn’t make a difference in my learning at all, she’s amazing at speaking both. it allows me to see the connections between both languages,” she said.
Also, Moretti thinks knowing French actually helps in the Spanish classroom.
“I think her speaking two languages benefits my learning in a good way because she can connect to things and think through different languages in her head, it helps her explain more,” Moretti said.
