Her views on language as a Grandma-to-be

Sally will be expecting her 1st grandchild at the end of this summer and when asked about her views on whether or not she should teach her Spanish she said she would like to teach her.  This is interesting because her views on teaching her own children Spanish were that if she did they would struggle in school.  Sally believes that the need for the use of both Spanish and English has increased greatly sine the time we were little and believes that being bilingual puts you at a higher advantage now of days.  She also thinks schools now are more supportive to both languages which is another reason why she thinks there would be no struggle in school.

Where is she now?

Sally currently resides in San Antonio, TX and is an 8th grade math teacher.  Although she still speaks Spanish on occasion or when needed her primary language of choice is English.  When I asked her why this was she said it was because that's what everyone around her spoke.  It is also interesting to note that although her primary language was Spanish while growing up she only taught us, her children English.  When asked why this was she responded,"I didn't want you all to have a hard time in school and wanted you to master English without having a hard time switching over from Spanish like I did."

Her experience with language as a math teacher

Sally has taught Middle school Math throughout her life in various places across Texas.  She is currently teaching 8th grade Algebra in San Antonio's Northside Independent School District.  Most of the time she uses English at the school and with her students and parents.  She does however use Spanish with students and parents when needed and serves as a translator for other teachers who aren't able to speak Spanish to their parents.  She finds that her most of her students who have parents who speak only Spanish are surprised my mom is able to because most of the school is unable to communicate in Spanish.

NISD Website:   nisd.net

Places she lived

Although she was born and raised in San Antonio, Tx she has lived all over parts of Texas: Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, and even in Kansas while my dad was in the military.  She really never had to use Spanish that much until she moved back to south Texas: Kingsville, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio.

Dallas:  dallascityhall.com

Houston:  houstontx.gov

Corpus Christi:  cctexas.com

Kingsville:  cityofkingsville.com

Kansas:  kansas.gov

Culture and Language

Charanga  is one of her favorite songs which she grew up loving and is one of many examples of the type of music which filled her house growing up.  She also enjoys watching Triunfo Del Amor for Spanish telenovelas.

Triunfo_del_Amor_(telenovela)    

San Antonio

Sally grew up on the west side of San Antonio where she was surrounded by culture in her neighborhood. SAN ANTONIO                SA WEST SIDE

Edgewood ISD

Sally attended Elementary School, Middle, and High School in Edgewood ISD where she graduated from high school in 1971.  The district's mission statement:  "To successfully prepare present and future generations in the Edgewood Independent School District for college and career pathways by establishing a Culture of Educational Excellence."

State Tests

Districtwide Reading Proficiency ?	79.6%
Districtwide Math Proficiency ?	62.2%
...More test results

Classroom Profile

Enrollment ?	11,735
Economically Disadvantaged	94.5%
Breakdown by Ethnicity
White	0.8%
Black	1.3%
Hispanic	97.8%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.1%
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.1%
...More classroom details

Click here to learn more about Edgewood ISD: EDGEWOOD ISD

Her story:

My mom, whom I will continue to refer to as Sally in my blogs, was born and raised in San Antonio, TX and attended Edgewood ISD schools from Pre-K through High School.  She then left for college in 1971 at Texas A&M University to study Engineering and also is where she met my dad who was also studying engineering.  Sally's 1st language was Spanish and it wasn't until Pre-K or Kindergarten when she started to learn English.  Although both of Sally's parents, my grandparents, were from the Texas they choose to only use Spanish at home.  From the start Sally got negative feedback from her primary language.  Perhaps the most disturbing was that her real name on her birth certificate is Celia and not Sally.  Sally said the reason this is because that her teachers could never pronounce it so they changed her name for her and it stuck with her throughout her schooling.  Another negative thing about her language experience with Spanish was that if she spoke it as school she would get punished.  When asked if her parents had a relationship with the teacher she said that those relationships were nonexistent especially since all her teachers where white in Elementary school and didn't speak Spanish.  Another interesting aspect to note, was that she always seemed to be behind in her schooling until she reached high school because she maintained Spanish predominantly and only used English in school.

Meet Sally Rodriguez

After interviewing my mother, who is a native to San Antonio, it is interesting to look at her experiences with her 2 languages: which are Spanish and English.  After sitting down with her and discussing her personal experiences with acquiring a second language and maintaining her 1st, it was an eye opening experience to look at how various influences shaped her current outlooks today.  Meet my mom, Sally Rodriguez A.K.A. Celia Rodriguez.  The reason I chose to interview my mom was because I felt her story was really interesting, but at the same time rather sad in how she experienced language acquisition and loss.