Introducción de Ms. Bordner

Hola! 

I am very excited to get to know the City High class of 2018 and have fun together in la clase de espanol! Since I'm asking you to introduce yourselves to me, I figured I'd tell you about me!

The biggest lesson I learned last year was that when I give my students more freedom to be creative and demonstrate what they are learning in their own way, students can produce very impressive work! This is best seen in the videos students made like Hymay Banks 005, El Restaurante de Pablo, and 

This is my 10th year teaching students Spanish. I did not grow up speaking Spanish, I learned it in high school just like you all will do with me! I grew up in a small town in Missouri and went to college in St. Louis, Missouri. In college I majored in Spanish and Media Communications, I really wanted to be a photojournalist traveling the world. I love photography, music, and making videos. (In college I had a radio show and I created, produced and acted in a TV show.) 

After college I moved to Chicago, Illinois where I taught students Spanish for six years. Then I moved to Pittsburgh and started working here at City High! As far as what I see for myself in the future, well I really enjoy teaching so I hope to continue to do that. I also hope to continue to travel to different places in the world! 

Hiking in Colombia

There are a few things that are really important in my life. The first is my family. Mike is my husband and we love to bike and travel together. Rich, my brother, along with his wife Ezichi and my nieces Amara and Zara live near Los Angeles California. Rich teaches high school English and Ezichi tutors math. My parents live in my hometown in Missouri but they visit Pittsburgh often!

Learning new things is also important to me. I love learning something new, and I find traveling to be a great way to learn about the world. I've traveled to close to 20 countries and this winter I hope to go to China and Vietnam.

Lucia and I biking in Spain

I ask my students to answer the question "What do you need from me to be successful?" so I'd like to share what I need from you in order for YOU to be successful. I need you to put forth your best positive effort on a daily basis. Learning a language is not easy, and mistakes and embarrassment can be common. Just know that's OK, it's part of the process, and to keep trying!

This August was really fun. I biked from Pittsburgh to Washington DC with some friends! It was 300 miles and took about 5 days. I also went to Chicago, Boston and Houston to visit friends.

Biking 300 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC