Everyone involved with the podcast is a volunteer, from the producer to the episode contributors to the listeners who tweet, email, and post their reactions, comments, and questions. Dozens of language teachers have contributed to the podcast as a guest or interviewer, and you can find a list of all of them by episode or alphabetically by last name!
The first volunteer is the producer and host of We Teach Languages, Stacey Margarita Johnson. In that role, Stacey conducts most of the interviews, does editing, production, and communications as well.
In her “real” job, Stacey is Assistant Director of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and holds appointments as Senior Lecturer of Spanish in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Affiliated Faculty in the Center for Second Language Studies, and Adjunct Faculty in Peabody College’s Master’s program in English Language Learners. Stacey teaches courses in foreign language teaching methods, second language acquisition, and education. Her research includes work on classroom practices, hybrid/blended instruction, and adult language learning including transformative learning and critical pedagogy. You can check out her 2015 book Adult Learning in the Language Classroom (Multilingual Matters) here and a recent co-authored article on social justice in language education here.
Maris Hawkins is our News & Updates Coordinator. In that roles, she curates feedback from listeners on social media and keeps up with our past guests’ accomplishments so that we can publish them on our Facebook page or in the Midweek News & Updates that comes out every Wednesday. Maris is responsible for much of the content in the Midweek News & Updates Issues and on our Facebook page.
Maris is lower and middle school Spanish teacher at Capitol Hill Day School in Washington, DC. She has a BA in Spanish and art history and a MT in Teaching Foreign Language from the University of Virginia. She is interested in proficiency based foreign language teaching, and has taught Spanish at all levels from elementary school through high school. She has presented at VAIS Technology conference and has talked about arts integration in the classroom through the Kennedy’s Center VSA program. In addition, she has presented about technology tools to use in a proficiency based foreign language classroom at NECTFL and GWATFL. Maris is not just a podcast volunteer, she is also a past guest. Check out episode 31 or her Twitter feed to hear more about Maris’ classroom!
Dr. Stephanie Madison is our Twitter Coordinator. She keeps our account active and relevant to language educators.
Stephanie recently earned her PhD in Literacy, Language, and Culture from Clemson University, and her research interests include issues of language and power, social justice, second language acquisition, and second language literacy. Currently, Stephanie is project manager for Teaching Learning Progression at Clemson University and an adjust Spanish instructor. Over the years, she has taught high school Spanish, adult ESL, elementary EFL in Madrid, and university literacy courses. You can usually find her giving a presentation at a conference such as ACTFL, FLANC, SCFLTA, or SCOLT, as she remains passionate about professional development and teacher support.
Stephanie is also a contributor to the podcast. You can catch her WTL interview here, as well as her response to Erin Carlson’s interview here.
Dorie Conlon Perugini is a Regular Contributor to the podcast, and is responsible for some of our most popular episodes related to social justice and intercultural competence.
Dorie is a world language educator, advocate, and consultant, and has been working as an elementary Spanish teacher in Glastonbury, Connecticut in grades 1-5 since 2006. She also a current Ph.D. student in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies at the University of Connecticut where her studies focus on the development of Intercultural Competence through world language education.
Past Team Members
We are so grateful to those who have contributed in vital ways to maintaining our weekly schedule of podcasts. If you are interested in volunteering with the podcast, check out this post.
Carolyn Siegel was our Resources Developer and tirelessly put together episode guides and accompanying materials to help teachers get the most out of the podcast.
Carolyn was formerly a Spanish teacher at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx and the World Languages Department Chair at Gann Academy in Waltham, MA. She recently returned to the classroom full time at Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills, California. Carolyn earned a BA in Spanish Language and Literature from Columbia University, a MA in Spanish from Middlebury College and a MA in Hispanic Studies from Brown University. She is particularly passionate about content-based curriculum, proficiency based instruction and curriculum that supports heritage speakers.
Janina Hanson was a Regular Contributor to the podcast. In her role, she identified quotable moments from the episode to share on social media.
Janina is a Middle School Spanish teacher at Latin School of Chicago. She was born and raised in Lima, Peru and came to the United States as part of a teaching exchange program to further her education and professional development. Janina earned a B.A. in Elementary Education from Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a M.A in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University Chicago. She holds an endorsement in ESL and Bilingual Education and is currently starting a new role as a Middle School language department chair at Latin.