Q + A: Spanish Teacher Maribel Rubalcava
Mrs. Rubalcava writes a lesson on the board.
February 19, 2014
Spanish teacher Maribel Rubalcava likes reading in both English and Spanish. She also likes to ride bikes and dance. If she could choose to teach another subject, she would like to choose music.
What is your favorite movie? “I like different kinds of movies. My favorite movie is probably this movie that just came out called Instructions Not Included. I like the fact that it included both English and Spanish. It was interesting.”
Did you always want to be a teacher growing up? “I always liked reading in Spanish because when I was younger my entire education was in English, so it always interested me to read in Spanish since I didn’t have books in Spanish.”
If you could teach any other subject other than Spanish, what would you teach? “I would teach music, probably singing. I just really like music.”
What is your favorite food? “I like Mexican food. I have a Mexican background, so, naturally, I love Mexican food.”
What are some items on your bucket list?“One thing I really want to do is travel the world. I have been to many different countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, England, France, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Uruguay, and Paraguay. My favorite was probably Brazil because I studied there. I want to visit a lot more. I just want that experience of going to different places, and you can’t get that experience staying in one place.”
What’s your favorite thing about working with students? “I like when they understand the lesson and they learn. I like it when I hear them speak Spanish.”
What’s your idea of a perfect day? “My perfect day is when students are learning and doing their work. I like when there are no problems.”
If you could have something new for your classroom what would it be? “I would like to have a language lab. That way students can practice the language by hearing it. I would like students to actually speak into it and listen to it. A lot of universities have it.”
What is the strangest job you have ever had? “I wouldn’t call it strange, but it definitely wasn’t fun. I used to go door to door and collect the census. You never know whose door you are going up to and who you encounter. I encountered a lot of strange people.”
Do you have any hobbies? “I like to ride bikes, and I like dancing. I just like doing these things in general; I don’t do it for any special reason.”
What’s your favorite superhero? “I like Wonder Woman. I like her because she’s a wonder woman and does magic. I haven’t watched her in a while, but as a kid I really liked her.”
What motivates you? When you see children succeeding or doing well you feel like all the effort you put into teaching paid off. However, when kids don’t do their work it’s sad because you work so hard and you want children to do well in school.
Do you have any guilty pleasures? Definitely, chocolate. You know you shouldn’t be eating it but you still do. It’s so good, that you can’t stop eating it.
