Ana-Maria Medina

MEDINA EXPERT IN LANGUAGE OF LEARNING

You won’t hear Ana-Maria Medina discouraging laughter in the classroom. One of the recipients of this year’s Teaching Excellence Award for graduate teaching assistant uses it as a way to reach students in her Spanish class.

“In class, the teaching method I call on most is laughter,” she said. “It goes without saying that the classroom dynamic is extremely important, but establishing that dynamic isn’t easy because students have such varied personalities.”

Also conducive in creating an effective learning environment in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages is promoting communication and a high comfort level among students.

“When a student makes a mistake, I try to present the correct information so the class can repeat it correctly,” she said. “When I make a mistake, I make myself an example.”

Awards of $1,000 and a trophy are presented to two graduate students each year.

Mike Emery
Staff writer