Photo portrait of Idioma Instructor Jennifer Degenhardt with curly blonde hair, wearing a navy blazer and white pants, holding glasses in her hand.

Jennifer Degenhardt, M.Ed.

Spanish Instructor

Jennifer Degenhardt, B.A., M.Ed., taught middle and high school Spanish for 24 years. She began writing when students in her classes were not “buying in” to the traditional textbook lessons. With the first story she wrote, Jennifer found that her students were more engaged, both with the language and in class in general. While her books highlight cultural, social, economic and political themes necessary for continued conversation, both in- and out of the classroom, all of them deal with identity to some degree and how important it is to know who you are. Jennifer is passionate about helping students learn more about themselves through storytelling and writing and is currently sharing this passion with her students at the college level at UCONN Stamford.

Join me in one of my courses!

Novice-Level Novels to Enhance Communication in the Spanish Classroom

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Novice-Level Novels to Enhance Communication in the Spanish Classroom

from $590.00

Course Description

For communication in L2 to exist, students need something to talk about. Reading short novels crafted especially for the novice learner not only provides characters and a plot, but also the feeling of accomplishment once the novel has been read. In this course, we will discuss the theory of comprehensible input and then go on to use the theory while exploring how to reach novice learners through three novice-level novels in Spanish: Feliz cumpleaños, La chica nueva and El viaje difícil, learning how to incorporate what is already embedded in the novel to further pique students' interest and get the most out of the reading, including culture, geography, food, social issues and even politics. Within each module, participants will examine the online content, read the books, engage in discussion, prepare and share activities for use in the classroom. The course is a forum to collaborate, share ideas and best practices for involving the comprehensible novel in the novice-level classroom. Course conducted in Spanish by the author of two of the novels, Jennifer Degenhardt.

What participants are saying about this course

"The material in this class was delightfully informative across a broad range of important topics. The resources provided were fantastic and the discussions were always quite rich! Great course and one that will be highly recommended by me to all of my WL peers/colleagues!!!"

"Jennifer Degenhardt is not only a fabulous writer of Spanish novels for the classroom, she is also a fantastic instructor! Her course was well-thought out and every single one of her resources was a rich source of information. She was extremely personable and went well out of her way to make sure that we got the absolute best experience from this class! I would highly recommend her courses to all of my WL colleagues!!!"

Course Delivery

Instructor-Facilitated

Online asynchronous (no live sessions) coursework
Weekly learning modules to complete at your own pace
Collaborative discussion boards
Instructor feedback
Optional office hours with the instructor for additional support

Students in an instructor-facilitated course must adhere to the session start and end dates listed on the website. Final coursework must be submitted within one week after the course end date. Course extensions beyond one week are subject to a $50 fee.

Course Access Information

Your Idioma Schoology course invitation will be emailed one week prior to the start of an instructor-facilitated 6-week course. You may access the Idioma Schoology login from the Login > Idioma Schoology Login dropdown menu at www.idiomaconsulting.com.

Required Texts

Quintero, A.C. (2017). Feliz cumpleaños. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Degenhardt, Jennifer. (2018). La chica nueva. (Second Edition). Puentes.

Degenhardt, Jennifer. (2017). El viaje difícil. Puentes.

About the Instructor

Jennifer Degenhardt, Instructor. Read more about Jennifer here.

Click here to request a syllabus.

Session:

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Teaching Social Justice with Novels in the Spanish Classroom

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Teaching Social Justice with Novels in the Spanish Classroom

from $590.00

Course Description

For communication in L2 to exist, students need something to talk about, and students of this generation are keen to discuss real topics which can lead to improved critical thinking skills. Reading short novels written expressly for students acquiring L2, provides the perfect springboard to engage in heady topics, such as those surrounding social justice. In this course, students will be presented with social justice issues through reading three novels of different levels in Spanish: Debido a la tormenta, María María: un cuento de un huracán and Como vuela la pelota, and how they can be addressed in the context of the Spanish classroom. Within each module, participants will examine the online content, read the books, engage in discussion, prepare and share activities for use in the classroom. The course is a forum to collaborate, share ideas and best practices for involving level-appropriate novels in the world language classroom. Conducted in Spanish.

What Participants Are Saying About This Course

"Jen Degenhardt has been an excellent instructor. She provided great resources for us to use and allowed opportunities for us to learn from one another as well."

"Great class! Learned so much and it was fascinating! Thank you! Prof. Degenhardt was engaging and also engaged in the student experience. Very cool to be in a class where the professor is also the author of the texts."

"Jennifer Degenhardt's class was meaningful and I am so glad you recommended it! My mind is racing with ways to incorporate what I learned, into this next school year"