Quien+soy+yo?

Hola ! Me llamo Sra. Katie Hook. I have been teaching grades 7-12 Spanish for about 11 years. Currently, I am teaching grades 6,7 and 8 at Cole Middle School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. I live in Portsmouth, RI with my family. My husband and I have five children Terence 4, Rose 6, Mary Grace 10, James 12, Patrick 14.We are a very active family ( we currently have three soccer players,one football player and one cross country runner), someone is always kicking or throwing a ball ( inside the house and outside the house).Needless to say, we spend a lot of time on the sports fields together.I am lucky enough to live by the beach so we do spend much of the summer at Second Beach in Middletown,surfing ,building sand castles and swimming. I enjoy running,skiing,going to the beach and camping with my family. I have a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A in Spanish Secondary Education.Before I became a Spanish teacher I worked on sailboats as a chef and crew member where I was lucky enough to travel throughout the Caribbean and Mexico. Travel has always been a big part of my life and one of the reasons I became a Spanish teacher was to bring a little of the Hispanic culture into the lives of students in RI. I have created this wiki for numerous reasons. I hope to keep parents informed about what their children are doing in Spanish, let the students know fun facts and important information about the Spanish speaking world and also to let the EG community follow me on my trip to Costa Rica! Last year I applied to go on The Toyota International Teacher Program to Costa Rica and to my surprise I was chosen. It has always been a dream of mine to return to Costa Rica ( I visited in 1996). As a Spanish teacher I welcomed the opportunity to immerse myself in Hispanic culture and I have always had an interest in ecotourism and voluntourism,two things Costa Rica does very well.My impact plan focused on how I could encourage my students and their families to incorporate eco friendly travel into their vacation plans.I will be creating interdisciplinary,hands on,differentiated lesson plans which focus on environmental knowledge,conservation issues at home and worldwide, and the culture of Costa Rica. I hope to film my time in Costa Rica and send back footage so that my students can see and experience Costa Rica with me. I told them that I may be hundreds of miles away but I still will be teaching them. They also will be able to ask me questions through this wiki while I am away. I really am looking forward to discovering the amazing ways the Costa Rican people are creating innovative solutions to the environmental challenges the world is facing and I hope to encourage my students to be a change for good in the world!