Ogallala, Nebraska’s distance learning
Jan Coone has been establishing Spanish lessons by podcast that the elementary schools all around can access for free any time they want. It has been a multi-year project, with annual trainings for teachers of all levels and special training for the elementary teachers who will add Spanish via TV. She has had many different trainers come over the years in addition to me. I came to do the final visitations and to see the testing results. Yesterday we visited two Ogallala elementaries and one in South Platte. Very interesting to see how the kids are doing!
Today we went to Sutherland and to Thedford. Really fantastic lessons in these schools! They are tiny schools, very very remote. Yet the students knew their Spanish; I talked to them and asked them questions in Spanish. The classroom teachers are doing everything they can to encourage Spanish even though most of them do not speak Spanish. This was a most inspirational day.