Teaching Experience
As I start my teaching career, I carry the invaluable lessons and experiences gained at Rochester High School as a Pre-serving teacher during the 2023-2024 school year. The administration leadership, coupled with the mentorship of my exceptional colleagues, has provided me with a solid foundation upon which to build my future endeavors in education.
I extend my heartfelt appreciation to my mentor teachers, Beth East and Claire D’Addario, whose guidance and expertise have been instrumental in shaping my journey as an aspiring educator. Their support, patience, and willingness to share their knowledge have deepened my understanding of pedagogy and inspired me to continually strive for excellence in my practice, servicing levels from Spanish 1 to Spanish 5 AP levels.
As a result of my excellent learning experience at Rochester High School, which reflected in my teaching skills growth, the administration gave me the opportunity to serve as a Spanish teacher substitute for the last month of the school year 2023-2024, right after my pre-service teaching semester ends. That is an invaluable experience, and I plan to maximize it!
Testimonial of my mentor, Mrs Claire D'Addario
"Throughout my interactions with Sandra as her mentor teacher at Rochester High School, I have consistently witnessed her exceptional dedication, passion, and intellectual curiosity for the Spanish language and culture. Her commitment to fostering an engaging and supportive learning environment is truly commendable. Sandra consistently demonstrates a deep understanding of grammar and cultural knowledge, coupled with a genuine desire to inspire her students to excel.
Sandra is an exceptional educator who possesses all the qualities necessary to excel as a well-rounded educator. Her unwavering dedication, passion for teaching, and commitment to students' success make her a truly outstanding Spanish teacher candidate."
Testimonial of my mentor, Ms. Beth East
"Thank you so much for all of your work and dedication this past year. I would never have taken a student teacher during the final year of my career, but when I met you in my methods course at OU last year and witnessed your passion and enthusiasm for teaching, I realized that you would be the PERFECT intern for us at Rochester High School!
Well, I am glad that I followed my intuition because not only did you meet my expectations of what you’d bring to our school and classrooms, but you exceeded them! Your positive energy and kindness each and every day were evident to anyone who came into contact with you. Our students immediately warmed to you and appreciated your compassion and patience as they tried to improve their Spanish skills.
Your presence in the teacher’s lounge each day enhanced our lunchtime and brought so much vibrance to our conversations. You have an incredible knack for knowing when to listen, and when to offer advice or opinions. Your collaboration with other teachers and willingness to help, no matter if it’s setting up for a baby shower, offering assistance to anyone and everyone, is commendable.
Finally, thank you for being a wonderful colleague and friend during this last year of my time at RHS. I am ending my career knowing that there is a new Spanish teacher out there, well prepared to set up a dynamic, warm and caring classroom; A teacher who will work tirelessly to ensure students’ success, while also inspiring in them a love and passion for this beautiful language and culture. Your empathy, humility, dedication, intelligence, sense of humor, patience and loving kindness will, without a doubt, make you a remarkable educator!
Thank you so very much for teaching ME during this time as well!"
How well did Sra Cano promote positive and respectful relationships in class?
"Very well! Señora Cano was always in class with an amazingly positive attitude and always had good and positive news to share!"
"Sra Cano promoted positive and respectful relationships in class really well and would always have conversations with us to get to know us better."
"She did a great job getting to know everyone and building connections with us. An example was when we asked her how she does her slick backs so good and we had a whole conversation about it"
Was Sra Cano proficient in using effective communication skills to engage you and your classmates in the lesson?
What did you like most about Sra Cano's teaching?
"I enjoyed how engaging she was and encouraging for us to speak Spanish"
"I liked her way of explaining things, she was very good about knowing when we weren’t understanding something and adjusting her wording to help us understand better"
"She is enthusiastic when teaching and it really helps us learn."
"She is so engaging and so passionate about what she teaches that it radiates into all of the students. Learning lessons from her was always something to look forward to because she made Spanish, especially at such a hard AP level, so much fun."