Elena Cruz-Lopez
Elena Cruz-Lopez has been a Spanish teacher at Brookline High School since 2018. Originally from Spain, she taught English in Madrid for 10 years before teaching Spanish in the United States. She enjoys reading, cooking, and going out with friends.
Outside of teaching, do you have any hobbies or things you like to do for fun?
Going to the beach for me is my favorite activity. I am from the south of Spain, and my house is right at the beach. I do 12 hours [of] reading, swimming, walking and enjoying the weather. It’s so calming for me. I miss it a lot, especially this summer. It was the first time in my life that I didn’t go there over the summer.
What do you think is important about teaching Spanish, or any foreign language?
It’s important to be nice with students, to be clear, and to use the language in class. I’ve been in language classes where the teachers teach French, and they use French 50 percent of the class or less, but you need to speak the language 95 percent of the class. Also, share all your knowledge about the culture, not just the language and words.
How is remote teaching going?
You have to prepare so many things. The slide presentations have to be very clear. I need to make sure that all the links work, that the same names in the slides match with the Canvas assignments. There are so many details. I need to take attendance while I am teaching, I need to control students going out and going in my meeting. It has been difficult and stressful, but I am getting used to it now. I can also see students getting more relaxed and enjoying it more.
Do you have any advice for students who are freshmen who are starting high school and learning Spanish?
Try to have fun with the language and learn outside of the classroom, listen to music, watch shows in Spanish on Netflix. Also always try with the language. Don’t worry about mistakes. I would also like to say that I hope students are patient with teachers. I hope they understand the challenges that we need to go through teaching remotely. And even when we go back to hybrid, if students have a mask, it’s going to be so difficult to see who is talking. This is difficult. I never thought that teaching could be as difficult as this year.
Do you have a favorite book?
I guess my favorite book is “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Márquez, a Colombian writer. I read it in Spanish when I was taking my masters and I wouldn’t mind reading it again. I still haven’t forgotten the names of the characters. He described them so well. It’s an amazing book, but I would recommend [reading] it in Spanish.