Welcome to My Bilingual Life! I am Twila Godinez. I was born and raised in southern Illinois and learned Spanish when I caught a love of the language when we visited a mission in Mexico when I was in sixth grade. I studied and practiced until I became fully bilingual. I have done many things with my language skills including teaching the GED in Spanish, ESL in an immigration detention facility, and translating for the Public Defenders in the Federal Court System. But, teaching is in my blood.
I’ve been teaching in public schools for more than 13 years, and to be honest I’m a bit burnt out. Most of this time, I have taught Bilingual (Spanish-speaking) children in elementary grades. While public teachers work their tails off to make things work for their students, there are a lot of things that need to be fixed. I’m not here to complain about what needs fixing, but these things have left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
For the past few months, I’ve been trying to find a way to keep enough money coming in without going back into a classroom this fall. One of the options I have found is teaching English online. I’ve only been at it for a short while, but I will say I’m absolutely LOVING it! Every time a class ends, I breathe a sigh of relief and think, “this is what teaching is all about”. I realized that most of my day in the brick-and-mortar school is spent on classroom management and discipline. I feel like I get very little time to actually spend teaching.
I’m also tired of the inequitable resources available to bilingual teachers. Like most teachers, I absolutely love Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers. However, the number of bilingual resources available is much smaller, and we have fewer of the amazing resources that are available in English. Yes, I know, I could always make my own in Spanish, but who has the time? That’s my next step. If I am not teaching full-time, then I happen to know someone who could have the time. I’m going to be offering some of the resources I have used in my classroom on TPT. (And if you have something you wish you had in Spanish, send a message my way and I’ll see if I can make something that will work).
So, that’s me in a nutshell. Outside of teaching, I love horses, reading, and traveling. I’m hoping that I can do some traveling and teach along the way. I hope you will join me on this new adventure! Also, make sure to follow me on social media and let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.
****Update*****
I wrote this introduction in 2019 when I was still teaching in the public school system. I had already turned in my resignation with hope that I could find something different than going back to the classroom. Looking back, this was a HUGE blessing because the next school year marked the beginning of the pandemic. (I also got to visit China right before the shutdown…I’m so thankful that I had that opportunity. You can read more about that here.) I have since transitioned from teaching English to children in China to teaching American students Spanish. My business boomed during the pandemic and I got the privilege of teaching many amazing students. Now that school has returned to “normal”, my business is changing again. I still teach a few students but am now teaching some adults as well. I am still creating teacher resources for Teachers Pay Teachers and that continues to grow. I also have grown my reselling business and I teach others how to get started as well (you can check that out on my other website www.cluttertocashchallenge.com)
I still get a bit discouraged by the inequality of resources for bilingual students, but I am trying my best to help with that. I enjoy playing with all the new technology that is developing and am excited to see what tools like ChatGPT will bring into the classroom. Stay tuned and thanks for visiting. Be sure to let me know how I can serve you.
