Kirk’s hard work and dedication has paid off in a 100% pass rate for his AP Spanish students. photo by Harper Skurky-Thomas
Spanish teacher Austin Kirk carefully structures and prepares his lessons to engage and encourage his students.
Spanish teacher Austin Kirk is finishing out his fourth year here at TJ. He teaches Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and AP Spanish. Before that, he taught Spanish to both middle and elementary school students in Colorado. Kirk became fluent in Spanish through living and teaching English in Argentina for three years. In Argentina, Kirk was able to experience the culture firsthand and become fluent in Spanish through immersion. “I had only Spanish-speaking friends,” he explained. “I didn’t have friends who spoke English, and so that really forced me to practice Spanish. This was before Google Translate…there was no Google Translate when I was learning Spanish and Argentina. I couldn’t just pull up my phone and use a translator app.” Kirk was eventually able to become fluent and comfortable speaking Spanish, but he found this method of learning simultaneously difficult, engaging, and fun.
Kirk structures his AP Spanish Language and Culture course with thought and effort in order to best support his students. When he was planning the course, he remembered how helpful answering test questions was for him when he was taking AP Biology in high school. He made sure that students were able to practice looking at and answering questions from the test in class. However, Kirk acknowledges that, “you can only learn so much answering test questions. I kind of came up with this strategy where I take a test article or a test question, and then I give the kids a project…and then after they’ve done all this projecting and research, then we read an article that’s an AP Test article about Paraguay and Indigenous languages in Paraguay, and then they answer questions about it. So hopefully they’ll already be familiar with the vocabulary, and they’ll be able to really practice thinking and analyzing that text, with all the knowledge they have about it based on their project and stuff.” This level of forethought and attention to detail regarding different learning styles has paid off. Last year, 100% of Kirk’s AP Spanish students passed the test, meaning they all have credit they can use at colleges nationally.
AP Spanish isn’t just about command of the language. The course also has a culture element. Kirk uses his experiences living in several Spanish-speaking countries to help him with this part of the class. He has lived in Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, and Spain. “[There are] so many different Spanish-speaking countries with so many different cultures, soI feel like I’ve seen so many different cultures.” Kirk tries to compare and contrast the different cultures around the world and get his students to connect the content to elements of their own lives and cultures.
Teaching Spanish requires a lot of input and correction for the students, explained Kirk. “It’s not the kind of job where I can give students an assignment and kind of let them work and practice on it on their own…I don’t get a free minute in class.” This can be the most challenging element of Kirk’s job sometimes, and it can be exhausting. Despite this, Kirk feels like it helps his fluency. The level of student engagement and connection means, “I myself get to learn a lot.” Kirk appreciates the way he and his AP Spanish students can teach each other. In his free time, Kirk enjoys going to the symphony. “I get front row tickets, I get blasted away by the symphony, and I just have so much fun learning more about music.” The Colorado Symphony offers greatly discounted tickets to educators, and Kirk takes advantage of the offer almost every weekend.
Next year, Kirk will start teaching AP Spanish Literature and Culture for the first time. He’s already working to prepare for the course, including by reading plenty of Spanish literature. “I think it’s even more of a challenge for the educator, because to teach Spanish literature, you have to really know and understand the literature,” said Kirk. Despite the challenge, Kirk is looking forward to adding another Spanish class and another AP to TJ’s roster. “I’m really excited.” The amount of time and effort Kirk puts into all of his classes, from his freshmen to his seniors, displays his dedication to the students and culture at TJ. He works to connect the content to real life and interest his students in the lessons, which helps engage them in learning—a strategy that has real results for TJ students.
