Excerpts from Camille’s speech on her
approach to teaching:

The arts help us understand who we were, who we are and who we will be.

To speak, listen, write and read well in any language is to participate in an art form, language arts, the most powerful one of all.

The teacher or “maestra”, which I love to be called, plays many roles in this artistic interaction.

My primary role as “maestra” is to provide the models…models that inspire, motivate and engage… models that students can enjoy.

Listening to the soundtrack from the movie E.T., evokes common images. Students then express them in different ways: speaking, writing. As students share their spoken, written images with others, they connect with those who have been inspired by the same model.

A feeling of community is established.

When I take on the more complex role of editor/mentor, a different classroom dynamic emerges. When adult learners make mistakes, they feel exposed and vulnerable. An embarrassing mistake is the last thing they want to share, but everyone knows if you don’t make a mistake, you don’t learn.

Working through the arts helps promote a “we’re all in this together” feeling. Students are more willing to take chances, practice different ways to express themselves. Students also practice sharing their mistakes on the neutral ground the arts provide for all ages and cultures.

Finally, there’s my role as “the enricher”. When students read an original
poem or story, take part in an animated improvisation, use new vocabulary in effective ways, the whole class celebrates. We applaud for each other. Success inspires success. They want more. As much as I can, I provide more thereby enriching their lives and their language.

I believe using the arts to teach a second language is the most effective and engaging way to level the playing field, invite a freedom of response and connect others to our culture. The arts help us learn because the arts themselves express and communicate.