Category Archives: STEP

UMass Spanish STEP Program

Interested in teaching Spanish after you graduate? You should consider applying for the STEP (Secondary Teacher Education Program) program here at UMass Amherst! The program gives students an opportunity to graduate with a license to teach Spanish (grades 5-12). You’ll work closely with the director of the program to complete the required exams, enroll in the required courses, put together a portfolio that demonstrates your knowledge and experience, and you’ll even be able to student teach during your Senior year! Though it seems daunting, the experience has been an incredibly fulfilling one for me. I love student teaching and it only makes me that much more excited to teach in my own classroom in the future. And don’t worry if you didn’t know about the program early on – I only found out about it halfway through my Junior year.

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Español, Psicología, y STEP

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El español es mi lengua nativa – mis padres son originarios de El Salvador y me han hablado solamente en español toda mi vida. Recuerdo cuando recién empecé a aprender el inglés cuando mi hermana empezó a atender el kindergarten, ella llegaba a casa de la escuela y se ponía a practicar el idioma conmigo. Las dos nos poníamos a hablar Spanglish o si no nos poníamos a inventar palabras juntas. Una vez estábamos jugando de vampiros y teníamos cajitas de Gatorade sabor de ponche de frutas, las dos fingimos ser vampiros y lo que tomábamos de la cajita de jugo era sangre. “Mmm I really like this sangre!” decíamos mientras jugábamos. Las dos nos reíamos y nos encontró mi tío y se puso a reír con nosotras y nos dijo, “Sangre en inglés se dice blood!”

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Spanish STEP Program

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I arrived at college thinking, like many freshmen, I knew what I wanted to do. I wish I could say that I had known but truthfully, my road to choosing Spanish as my primary major took me three years to figure out. I always double majored in Spanish because I knew that at the end of it all, I would end up being a Spanish teacher but, I thought I needed something “more solid” to go alongside the double-major. I came into UMass as a Nutrition major, minoring in Spanish, in order to “solve world hunger”. I soon realized that this was not the way to go about such an enormous problem and also, that I was horrible at science. Continue reading →

Teaching Spanish as a World Language

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For this blog post, I will talk about how the Secondary Teacher Education Preparation (STEP) Program for Spanish works. I talk about my own experience with the program and also offer some tips for making the most out of it.

When I first entered UMass, I knew I wanted to teach Spanish, but I had a hard time finding the resources to get information about the Secondary Teacher Education Preparation (STEP) Program for undergraduates. On the College of Education website, most of the STEP material is geared toward graduate students, even though, with careful planning, undergraduates can also leave UMass with an initial licensure to teach in disciplines such as mathematics, biology, Spanish, English, and many more. My first step was getting in contact with the Spanish program director in charge of the licensure, in this case, Carole Cloutier. Continue reading →

Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP): Tips and Warnings

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This spring semester I will graduate with a dual degree in Linguistics and Spanish. Up until a few months ago I was also on the path to be a fully licensed high school Spanish teacher in the state of Massachusetts. As a member of the STEP in the Spanish department, lead by Carole Cloutier, I was educated in the intricacies of being a secondary school teacher along with advised on the tests and certifications I would need in order to legally teach in the state. At the end of this semester, the fall of my senior year, I finished just about every requirement needed to become fully licensed. However I am no longer a part of the STEP program. Here is why.

(Disclaimer: This is in no means intending on dissuading prospective students from applying to this program. It is an excellent option for students confident in their desires to become high school teacher right after graduation or soon after.) Continue reading →

Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP)

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If you are a Spanish major and are strongly considering a career in secondary education, I would highly recommend looking into UMass’s Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP). STEP is a teacher preparation program for undergraduates, and results in initial secondary (grades 5-12) licensure in Spanish. The Spanish department’s faction of the program is generally fairly small (there are only two licensure candidates, including myself, in my year), and is headed by Professor Carole Cloutier. I enrolled in the program at the end of my sophomore year, but I would advise you to speak with Carole as soon as possible to avoid feeling rushed. Continue reading →