Episode 95: Valentina's Greatest Aventura yet!

I feel so grateful for this woman and how dedicated she is to supporting educators! She pours her heart and soul in to Aventuras and I cannot WAIT for her to share it with you! Thanks for listening in! 

Link to Valentina's recent Insta Post that we mentioned

Link to Valentina's HFW posters

Check out Aventuras in Learning! - this is my affiliate link I truly believe you'll love it! 

Join me for a workshop this Sunday, March 8th called Language in Motion! In this workshop I want to show you how to get your students up and moving, communicating, and connecting with each other, IN the Target Language! Click here to save your spot!

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Transcript 

Annabelle Williamson  

Hello, hi. It's me. Before you listen to this episode, I just wanted to tell you about a workshop I'm doing this Sunday, March 8, to get your students speaking more, not just to you, but to each other in class, using the target language, taking risks with language, which is what we all want. The workshop is called Language in Motion, and of course, it will include lots of ways to get your students moving as well, because I believe that is so important, and brain science shows that it helps us when it comes to learning or acquiring anything. So, hope you can join me. Just click the link in the show notes. If you would like to register and save your spot. It is free, and I would love to see you there. Take care. Have a great day and enjoy this episode.

Annabelle Williamson  

Welcome back to teaching la vida loca, the podcast you come to for short and sweet and sometimes spicy episodes full of enthusiasm, magic and tips and tricks for your classroom. I'm Annabelle, your maestra loca, and I'm here to bring you inspiration, unapologetic authenticity and ideas to spark more joy in your teaching journey. I'm turning up the excitement and elated to have you right here with me. I'm not just your host, I'm your cheerleader, and I'm thrilled you're tuning in. So, let's do this. Let's tackle teaching la vida loca together. Hello, hi. Welcome to another episode of teaching la vida loca. I am so excited today because I am joined by another guest, but this guest, you have seen me interview her before in a Who is it? interview, and she was the interview that she didn't know she would be doing in the moment, and she was in her pajamas. And I was like, oh, yeah, and it's recorded on YouTube and, but it was one of my favorites because we laughed so hard. So, I am joined today by Valentina Correa, who is an incredible elementary Spanish teacher. If you aren't following her, I know you will be after this episode, but I wanted to record this episode about her curriculum that she has out for elementary teachers. Because I've known about it for a couple of years, but I only really started talking about it this year, and about two weeks ago, a teacher came to visit me from another school, and she's a teacher who has been using Aventuras because I told her about it, and she said, Do you think that I can make it my sole curriculum for pre K, K and one? And I said, 100% and she said, that’s what I think, too. But I was just coming to ask that. And then I thought, Man, I really need to just do an episode with Valentina so she can share more so that more elementary teachers are impacted. So Hola, Valentina, how are you? Yay.

Valentina  

Thank you for being here. I'm so grateful that you're here.

Annabelle Williamson  

So, the thing I want to start by asking is there is such a lack of resources out there for elementary teachers. And so often I have kids come to me in middle school saying, I have learned more in two weeks with you than I did my entire elementary and I had Spanish every year in elementary, and I only knew colors and months. And I know that you know this but tell me about why. Why is this the solution for elementary Spanish teachers who are seeking resources? Why is this so incredible?

Valentina  

Well, Annabelle, thank you. I want to start with by saying that I am a full-time teacher. I am an elementary teacher, and I feel like when I started teaching to elementary, they were not many resources, and the things that I found, they were not like cohesive, or they had the philosophy that I have, which is, you know, teaching through acquisition. And then I thought myself, you know, this is hard. There is nothing out there. And they were resources, but they were not cohesive. And I am a creator of resources in Teachers pay Teachers. So that's how I really started creating resources for teachers pay teachers. But it will frustrate me that every time I wanted to create a story, I couldn't find the same characters to like, keep growing my collection of stories. And so that's how Aventuras was born, and it was basically a solution for myself, but also thinking about other teachers like me, especially because when you are an elementary teacher, you have no time, like, no time to prep, but no time to, like, between classes. You know, sometimes we teach kindergarten, and then you must switch to fourth grade, and then you must switch to first grade, and it's hard, because there is no time to plan or time between classes. And I wanted something that had everything at once, where you wouldn't have to spend, you know, a lot of time looking or, you know, thinking like, oh my god, what am I doing with this class? Do I have to switch? Like, sometimes you get to that point where you don't know what you're doing with one class and the other one, because it's a lot for us elementary teachers, and sometimes you're just there by yourself. So that's why Aventuras was born, because I truly believe that the kids learn or not kids, but like we acquire a language through meaningful, repeated vocabulary and comprehensible input. And that's exactly what I did, I created this collection of stories for students to acquire the language. And I think the best part is that they can connect to each other, or they can just, you know, you can just teach any story that you want. 

Annabelle Williamson  

I think one of the things that is so powerful is you posted on Instagram, and I'll link the post, and I'll link your resource too. But you posted on Instagram, I think it was this week about high frequency words, and you linked your adorable little posters. So, if you haven't seen them, I'm going to link them in the story so that y'all can buy those from her too. But they're the cutest little high frequency word wall posters. And I thought it was really fascinating. I think it was also in one of your Aventuras emails this week about how you talked about the difference between a curriculum and teaching just using high frequency words. And I think that that was really, powerful for me to read, because I don't teach with a curriculum per se, but high frequency words are my anchor, and it does leave me all the time paddling to search, to figure out what I'm doing next. And I think that when I taught elementary, and I had nine classes a day, every single day, with sometimes zero transition meetings or minutes. I anchored myself to your Teachers pay Teachers, resources like lardiya amrienta, because it was something that I knew I had everything I needed, and all the little resources to go with it, and then all the little slides and all the little things. And so, I think it's really powerful that you're talking about. Not only is it, but it is also a cohesive curriculum that focuses on acquisition and focuses on high frequency verbs, and that you say everything's included. Could you talk to me about, like, what is included? Because for me, lardi ambienta was one of my favorite units. I bought from you. But then when you when you look at lardia on Aventuras, it's like leveled up times a trillion. It's like you took the Teachers pay Teachers resource. If y'all have ever bought from her, then I'm telling you, wait till you hear it's like you took the resource that you had, the story that you had, and then transformed it into something phenomenal that still includes all the printables and all the things, but now there's a game, and now there's a video, and now there's like, it's amazing. So, could you talk a little bit more about what each story within Aventuras includes? Because it's, it's so much more than just what, what it used to be on just Teachers Pay Teachers.

Valentina  

You know, I know when you talk about curriculum, I always think about like when a teacher hear curriculum, we often, I mean, I don't anymore, but teachers often think, think about like a thick binder with pacing guides and grammar charts. And like you think about like these people that wrote years ago a curriculum, and then it must be like this thick package of things that you have to teach. And I think that we as elementary teachers need to get out of there, especially, and I'm talking about elementary because we have so much freedom. We have so much freedom, and we can teach, most of the time, anything that we want. And I call this a curriculum because it's exactly a curriculum of stories that will help your students to grow in the proficiency, in a proficiency level. So, you think about a curriculum right as a thick binder, and, yes, this is a thick binder of stories, which is a little different. And it's not exactly what you imagine as a, as a, as a curriculum, you know what I mean? Like, it's important that we step out of that all image that we have about...

Annabelle Williamson  

yeah, it's like a legacy mindset, like, like moving away, shifting away from that, and rethinking…

Valentina  

…away from that. Like you must wipe that from your brain and think, like, this is a curriculum of stories, and each story in Aventuras, there are three different levels. So, I divided this by levels, not by grade levels, because sometimes teachers ask me, but what grade is this level? One? Can I teach it in first or four? And I say, you can pick any story that you want. You just must know your student’s level. Because, you know, some schools started elementary programs very early, but some schools starting upper elementary. And so, I am no one to tell you what story you should use. So for example, me, I'm teaching pre K through second grade, so my students really start early, and so I use level one, you know, with my young kids, but a teacher that's starting Spanish, a Spanish program in third grade could still use the stories of level one, so that's why I don't divide them by grade level, but it's more by levels, and you need to know what your students are. And each story has a lot of resources. You could teach a story for like a month because it has one flick book that you read with your class. You know you just, you just teach anything that you want from the story. So, you have the book, and then each story has two videos. It has a video that is animated. And I think that's their favorite part. My students love to see the videos, and that's usually the last thing I show them, because it's kind of like, like the surprise part, when they see the video, they're like, Oh my God. They see everything live. And what you say, yes, a lot of my resources from Teachers pay Teachers are here because, I mean, I love the stories that I created, but I feel like I needed to level up.

Annabelle Williamson  

Yeah, they are so leveled up. They are incredible.

Valentina  

They are and so I created the videos. But also, there is a video with questions that will tell you, you know, where you what your students understand. And there are also six different games that you can play inside the platform, if you prefer like digital resources, or if you are the teacher who prefers to do like, you know, printables, you could also print their resources and, you know, give it to your students. Each story also has like, the printable book that the students love to take home; my a lot of my students keep the stories, you know, in a box, because I had a student that started like that, collecting the stories, and I give them like a stickers if they bring the story signed by a by an adult. So, I know they go home and they read. And it's also a way for me to show families and parents, what I'm doing. So, it also has, like, a lot of the stories have cultural backgrounds. And so, when there is like, a cultural component, I also include a resource talking more about the culture.

Annabelle Williamson  

For example, like your Frida one, your Frida one, yes, 

Valentina  

Frida Kahlo. And then there is the last story is called a cheese. Minaris who says a cheese, and he loses his nose, which is a carrot, and then all the animals want to eat the carrot, and he's like, no, no, my nose. Don't need my nose. And then it's a way for the students to learn how to say salute. So, you know, when his nieces he says ah, cheese and then Salud. So now, for example, every time that I say a cheese, my students all know to say Salud. Or there is a story in the level two that is also is hungry and he gets honey, and then a bee stings him, Oh, no, all his body parts. So, it's to learn body parts. And then there is la rana, which is the frog. And then she comes and you say, Sana, sana, colita, oh, which is so cultural. Now the students you know are not just learning the language, like acquiring the language, but also learning all these little things from our culture that is so important that they learn like these are the things that I grew up with. And so, I tried to add that, you know, cultural component to the stories, which was hard when I started teaching, but now I think I found a way for me to include that piece that is so important in the stories that young children also see the in stories.

Annabelle Williamson  

And same thing for me when I when I have my workshops or presentations that focus on teaching culture in the target language. That's what I always start by saying, is that this was hard for me when I started really, hard, but I've learned that there are ways to teach culture in the target language, even to young students and even to novice level language learners. It's still possible to do it in the target language, and I think that Aventuras does it beautifully. And the fact that you, you know you can do it with kiddos who are as young as four and five years old is really, cool. You already touched on this a little bit, but I am curious what your I have an idea of what it might be, but what is your favorite story in Aventuras or character? If you would rather do that.

Valentina  

I was, this is such a hard question. I feel like, every time I write a story, it becomes my favorite.

Annabelle Williamson  

Oh, that's so cool. So, you might have a new one right now.

Valentina  

Then, like, how do I explain this? Like, you know when I when, when the story comes to my mind, like, the idea, and then I write the story, I send that story to my illustrator, and then Spader, you know, he, you know, he brings these stories to life. And then I have an animator who animates the stories like I have a whole thing to for this, but in the moment that I create the story, I feel like I pictured everything. But when I see the final product, like the video, it becomes my favorite. So, every time I get a new story, I'm like, Oh my God. Like, this is my favorite. Like, there is a story coming soon. This week I'm going to release. It's called a Nico el rato cito Perez, so boy, and he's like daily routines. And then in this story, you know, el Raton cito Perez appears. And you know is, how is a great way for me to explain that. You know, in Latin America, we have El ratonsito Perez. So that one right now is my favorite, because I'm about to release that one. But I think, honestly, one of my favorites is Frida Kahlo. I have to say that Frida Kahlo is a special one. I have two versions of Frida in Aventuras, one that is to teach the young kid’s emotions, and one that is la vida de Frida Kahlo is more like a laboratory story, but because I had a very special journey when I went to Ciudad de Mexico and I went to La Casa del Frida. And so, I think when my when I teach that story, my students see that that I get really excited about it, and it's their favorite too. So, I will say right now, it's my favorite,

Annabelle Williamson  

but it's so important, though, I want to just touch on that, because y'all I talk about this all the time, if you are not excited by or passionate about what you're teaching, there's no hope that your students will be and if you are, if you bring that excitement and like you can't help but be passionate and excited about what it is you're teaching, it's far more likely that they will invest and now with elementary it's almost 100% guaranteed they're gonna be like all in and I think that with Aventuras and with these stories, it's not It's literally impossible not to be obsessed with these characters, and they're so beautifully illustrated, and the stories are so comprehensible and so doable. It really does make it feel like, wow, I have everything I need here to last me the whole freaking year. You just mentioned that you have a new story that's coming. Teachers that have Aventuras, or who are thinking about purchasing Aventuras for the upcoming year, or maybe for the rest of this school year. When you create new stories, do they have to upgrade? Or is that just included in their Aventuras?

Valentina  

No. So the way that works right now, there are 22 stories total, which, wow, 22 I'm like, I'm growing 22 stories, and I basically add a new story every, like five or six weeks. And I'm hoping to keep growing the library until I feel I have a curriculum, like a solid curriculum. So, I'm hoping to build a little more of those stories, and eventually I want to, you know, keep adding more. It's not going to be like every six weeks, but I will definitely add more resources, and I'm always trying to improve, you know, like, when you're a business owner, you know, yeah, like, the mistakes that you make at the beginning that make you grow, like, at the beginning, when I had my first stories, I see those, and I'm like, wow. Like, I really have changed a lot of the things. Like, now the characters have a voice, which I think is cute, and that's why I feel like the students connect to the characters, because they hear this, the characters, again, and they start recognizing them in the stories. Yeah, you know, they have a specific voice, and then they talk like this. And so, I love it, because now I'm creating like the life of each character inside Aventuras and Annabelle, I don't sleep sometimes. Like, you know, no, I you know, I know that you're like me, like, in the middle of the night with this so many ideas of the stories that I want that is like, overwhelming in a good way, you know, yeah, yeah. It's very exciting. And, like, I'm still a full-time teacher, and I know it works, because every time I do a story with my students, I get feedback from them,

Annabelle Williamson  

Yeah, that's beautiful.

Valentina  

And they, you know, and sometimes I ask them, I think they are like, with this one about the then Muni Konya, who loses his nose, they're like, what happened? I think there must be another one. And I asked him, what do you think it should happen? And so, they think about it, and they give me ideas, and then that's when I go on and you write my, my, my next ones. So, I think it's amazing that I have the privilege to create something, but I'm still teaching so I know exactly

Annabelle Williamson  

What you have, a genuine feedback loop from kids who are

Valentina  

Honest. You know, really told you the truth.

Annabelle Williamson  

Yeah, it's powerful. I love that. So, you mentioned your students’ favorite part is like that video at the end. And I do like that. You save that to the end, because I think that it's also powerful. Because if you have really, you know, repeated that vocab that rich, contextualized vocab so many times through so many different vocabulary activities and games and all these things, and then to have the culminating moment be watching this video, where it pulls it all together and it's just completely comprehensible because they know the story, and that's a magical moment. What do you think is the teachers, if like for you as an educator, or from different feedback you've received from teachers using it, what do you think teachers’ favorite part about Aventuras is. 

Valentina  

I think like, I mean, I get feedback from them, and they tell me what they love to see the most is seeing their students engage and responding so well to the stories. They always tell me, I never like they just love to see the stories the characters, so they want more. So, I think just the joy of seeing their students enjoying each story, I think that's what makes it magical. But I feel like all the things that they share is like, they don't have to go anywhere else. Everything is right there for them. They don't have to reinvent the wheel. Yeah, 

Annabelle Williamson  

They don't have to search for hours for the next thing that they're doing. It's literally all at their fingertips. It's so nice.

Valentina  

I love that, like the students are acquiring the language naturally. They don't have to create this long, you know, list of vocabulary and yeah, but I also feel, you know, like, now I'm into it started, just like the stories and then the games. I started adding games. Now there are six different games, the printables. But a few months ago, I released a new feature, which is, you can create your own classrooms. Yeah, you can assign the images to the students. That's so cool. The students love the video. But when, for example, I'm sick, I just say, go to our Aventuras and work one day in the story, like I don't feel I don't feel guilty anymore, because, you know, we when we teach Spanish, most of the time, this app doesn't speak Spanish, right? And then you must create all these plans, because you teach multiple levels. And you like, you have these days that you can take, but you are afraid to take because of the amount of work that is to take a day off right like now, I just say, I call my students friends. I say, friends, you just go to Aventuras, and that's it. And they know exactly what to do. So, I assign the story, and all they do

Annabelle Williamson  

is, like the story...

Valentina  

Acquire the vocabulary like, I don't, you know, I don't need to do anything, and they just do it. And that's what

Annabelle Williamson  

They love about what a gift for elementary teachers is that, because a sub plan day for an elementary teacher, oh, my God, it's like, the worst. It is the worst. And that is so powerful that you can just now with that added feature of like, okay, classes are set up. Kids have a login, boom. They have an assignment, and they're enjoying it.

Valentina  

Then every, every, every assignment they get, every time they do an activity, they get acorns, and with the acorns, they can buy, kind of like the avatars. So, they choose, you know, like Guana, El chiguido or capybara. And so, they get so excited. So, when I'm in the classroom, they talk about it, like, which one you got? Oh, my God, I still have coins. And so, they just love, you know, it's like a motivation for them to. Yeah, to get these characters and, you know, it's exciting.

Annabelle Williamson  

That's really, powerful, that's so cool. Okay, I think that I've asked almost all the questions that I wanted to, and you already touched on the feedback. I think that what I would like to hear from you now is what is a way. I know that when you go to the site, I'm going to share my affiliate link in the show notes, but when you go click on that link, it'll take you to her site and you can share. You can have the opportunity to, for free, sample one of her stories, is that the best way for people to like, explore Aventuras right now.

Valentina  

You know, this is something that I'm working on, because I feel like with one story doesn't really show you what exactly is, but yes, you could do a free story, but I do a lot of demos, like I do demos often, so if you are part of the mailing list of Aventuras, you will get the invitation to come and join me for a demo lesson where I show you basically what is inside Aventuras. And I'll show you a little bit more about, you know, the stories, the levels, what you can do. I answer questions live, and I think the best way is to come to one of my demos.

Annabelle Williamson  

Yeah, I came to one of those, and that's how I learned the majority. And then that's when I got my subscription, and I was playing with it. I think that if you, you can also I’ll link that. But if you go to the through the through the link you're going to see at the top, it says Aventura’s mailing list, and you can just add your name and your email to that, and that's how I saw the thing about the event you're having on the 25th right? I think,

Valentina  

Yes, next week I'm having a demo lesson. So, yeah, it's powerful the demo because I cannot also answer questions. And I always say that to teachers, you know you shouldn't pay for this. Your administration should pay for this. This is something that you know, your Spanish program should pay for this. I'm very excited to share that there are around 10 districts who are already using Aventuras around United States. So, I have districts in Boston, I have in Illinois. I have three. nice so, no, it's very exciting to see that the districts are moving forward to use a comprehensible base historic curriculum. So that's very exciting.

Annabelle Williamson  

And honestly, it's like a steal. It's a steal for them. They know that doing this is 100 times more economically friendly for them as a district than any alternative that any teacher is ever going to bring forward. Like it's a no brainer. 

Valentina  

And I also feel like once I created like different resources to help teachers. Once you purchase that, you will get like access to those things. But I created like a path is like a specific path that you need to follow with each story. And it's kind of like if you if, if that becomes part of you, is so easy to teach with the stories, if you just follow the path every story, you just have to do the same, you know, introduce the vocabulary the same way, and do this and that. So, it's very specific, and it will help the teacher to teach, right? Because you're not getting just a curriculum, but you are also getting a professional development too, because you are learning a new skill if you don't know how to teach.

Annabelle Williamson  

That's so powerful. Like, if you don't, if you are new to teaching with acquisition driven instruction, there's a step-by-step guide in how to implement these stories and how to teach it to the students. That's powerful. I didn't know that part. That's really, cool, yeah, because for some people, like, for me, it's intuitive. Like, I open the story, and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is and then I'm going to do this, and then I'm going to do this. But if it's not intuitive, that's powerful to know that you have the hand holding there for that.

Valentina  

And I remember when I started doing this, you know, teaching with comprehensible input, I had to take notes. And I'll be like, I'm doing this and that, and I will, like, read my notes, right? That's how you feel. But then it becomes natural, like, yeah, like you say. And then when it becomes natural, you can choose what you do or not, follow the path and create you don't your own stuff, but when you don't know, I think it's important to have you know, someone that helps you to do it,

Annabelle Williamson  

Yeah, the guidance. It's powerful, awesome. Okay, to wrap up, what is one piece of encouragement that you have for elementary world, world language teachers who might be feeling overwhelmed, it is that time of year we're getting into, end of February, beginning of March. March tends to be a really, long month, month for teachers. Um, do you have any tips or advice or words for those teachers who might be feeling like they're in in the depths, in the deep right now?

Valentina  

You know, I feel like we are all very different, and sometimes you have those, you know, the people that you watch and you see teach, you know, maybe someone has seen my videos or how I teach, and they ask me, and I know you get this question a lot, like, how do you have that energy? Right? You don't have to have the same energy that I do. I think what, what I will tell them, is, you must take what works for you and create your own style and their own way. Because you are so unique, you don't need to copy someone. You don't need to, you know, follow what I say. You might try something that worked for me, and if it doesn't work for you, just move on and try the next thing. Also, don't try too many things at once. I think you need to go slow and try. Sometimes we are afraid to try, and I think if you don't try, you will never know if it works. The only way that you know if it works if you try, and not just once, but a few times, and then if it doesn't work, you need to move on. But important to know that we are unique, and you don't have to copy anybody?

Annabelle Williamson  

Yeah, you can be authentically you. It's my favorite thing to teach people is like, you can't try and be me. There's only one me, and there's only one YOU, and there's only one of them. There's only one person listening to this right now. And we're all so different, and it's so important that when we implement these strategies, or we implement the plan that you have in place for each story, in Aventuras, that we're doing it as our authentic selves. Because if we're not doing it as our authentic selves, we're also teaching the kids in front of us that they shouldn't be their authentic self, that they must constantly emulate somebody else or be somebody else to have success. And that's just, we know that's not true, so I think it's that's so powerful, and then also trying, I agree that's beautiful. Gracias. Valentina, well, I am. I'm really freaking excited for more teachers to learn about Aventuras and to explore this incredible thing that you've created. And when you dig into it, you're going to see why she cares so deeply and why she's so passionate about this. Because I think the reason that every story is your favorite when it comes out, the new one is they're all your babies. They're like, literally your brainchild out there, and you're getting to share that with people, and it's why you care so deeply about all of your characters and all of your stories, and you're such an incredible woman, an incredible teacher, and you are impacting so many people and hopefully more after this podcast. 

Valentina  

So, thank you for having me. I really appreciate the time and thank you. It has been my pleasure to be here with you today.

Annabelle Williamson  

It's really, special what you're doing, okay? Well, until next time, Valentina and I will both be teaching la vida loca, and we know that you will be too. take care. Bye. Bye. You.

Annabelle Williamson  

Hi. Thanks again, so much for listening. I hope to see you on my workshop Language in Motion on the eighth, which is a Sunday, I am so excited to inspire you and give you some ideas that you can take back to your classroom right away, especially at this time of year, which man alive, that end of the year can feel so far away. Let's get you some ideas to get you through March and beyond. I look forward to seeing you there. Bye, bye.