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Educational Timespan
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Michigan State University Undergrad
After high school I went to MSU and began taking classes in elementary education. -
Spanish Major
I decided that I loved Spanish so much that I wanted to teach it! I switched to a Spanish major in hopes of one day becoming a high school Spanish teacher. -
Undergraduate Graduation
I graduated from MSU with a B.A. in Spanish and a minor in geography. -
Internship at Williamston High School
After taking a few years to work different jobs (hostessing, substitute teaching, after-school program directoring, and camp counseling), I was placed at Williamston high school. I mostly taught Spanish II but I also briefly taught Spanish III. -
Volleyball Coach
I was hired as the J.V. volleyball coach at Williamston high school. I have been coaching ever since and will begin my 7th season this fall! -
They Hired Me!
I was so fortunate to be hired at the district in which I did my student teaching. A part-time job became a full time and I have worked there for 6 years! I love the small town feel and the positive collegiality among the staff members. -
Graduate School
I began completing course work for the Masters in Teaching and Curriculum progam at MSU. -
WMS Launches Writing Goal
A few years ago in the middle school, the school improvement team decided that all students would become proficient writers across the curriculum (including electives). We developed a common rubric, and made available a graphic organizer that looked like a hamburger that all students would become comfortable with. I think both teachers and students became more comfortable with writing in the process. Other than that, I have not had a lot of experience with struggling writers. -
Grad School Graduation
I finished my course work for MATC. Thanks to some internship year credits counting toward the program, I was able to finish in just a year! -
Reading Strategies at WMS
During an inservice right before Thanksgiving, two specialists from our ISD came in to show us several reading strategies. I was able to use a few (like creating reading guides and giving them to the students to have as they read), but mostly it was geared toward core classes. -
Annotated Reading at WMS
This past spring, we had professional development on teaching students how to read for information using annotation. It was very informative, but I had a hard time relating it to my beginner Spanish curriculum. When I have my students read in Spanish, it is very basic and I am there to model and guide them along. -
Literacy Challenges
The biggest challenge I face as a Spanish teacher is taking all the strategies I have learned to help kids become better readers and mold them to fit what we do in Spanish. Since my students are beginners in the language, reading can be very daunting and difficult. The texts we read are so simple that some of the reading strategies I have learned do not apply. -
Goals for TE 846
I would like to learn how to incorporate more reading into my Spanish curriculum. I have access to stories, but right now I am helping them along so much that without my help they would be pretty lost. I want my students to become more self-sufficient and more confident when reading text in Spanish (text that is at their level of course :)). -
Personal Introduction
Hello! My name is Katy Maiolatesi and I am a Spanish teacher and volleyball coach at Williamston Community Schools. I live in East Lansing with my husband in a house we bought about 3 years ago. I like to play sports (volleyball and softball), run, read, watch the Tigers, and decorate/DIY. I am always looking for inspiration in magazines and the Internet for projects to do around the house. The most important thing in the world to me is my family and being able to spend time with them!
