By Daphne Green
Think back to early elementary school; a time when you thought your teacher lived at school. The soft, and gentle, and fun teachers who fed you colors of knowledge and would support you like a bonus parent. For some, that may seem like a distant memory– well that is, unless you have Ms. Amy England-Aglio teaching you spanish! There has not been an ASUPD class leaving me as excited for 9am on a Monday the way Ms. Aglio’s lessons have! Through last spring semester and going this fall, Ms. Aglio has been a huge supporter and overall delight to be around. Just the other day, I got the privilege to dig deeper into Mrs. Aglio’s teaching history. Selected questions are quoted below.
When did you start taking an interest in teaching? What’s the story behind how you started?
“[G]reat question. So I actually– my young self, my 1st love was actually traveling. So I really thought that I was going to be some international traveler or something. So I actually went for a business degree in international business and once I had children the “little girl” in me got I don’t know… reignited? When I was 1st moved– I was born in Puerto Rico, and I moved to Florida– so when I moved over into Florida, I really really felt like the system at that time was not used to having students, whose 1st language was not English. So when I came here I was literally put in a corner with crayons. So after I got my degree, and after I had my kids, that love of teaching, the love of being able to help others, kind of got really excited. So I started volunteering a lot at my son’s school, and I ended up getting an alternative certification so that I could use my bachelor’s degree to get into teaching. So that’s the long winded story. So, in conclusion, the reason I started doing it was because, even though I thought I would head down another road, my love of teaching and my love of helping others came through.”
Why ASU Prep Digital?
“[Y]our questions were awesome. So I live in Florida, and I have worked in the district office here locally. I have worked in schools, in different varieties of roles. But my love, I think, was being able to have this digital environment where I was working at Florida Virtual School for a good majority of my career, and Covid came around. I was an assistant principal for a little while, and then I actually lost my job because there weren’t as many teachers that needed to be virtual. So it was a struggle. It was really really hard to find a job that I could say, ‘Oh, my gosh! I love that job!’ And I was very blessed that a lady that I knew from Florida Virtual school was actually leaving her position here as a– in the PD Department, in translating, and I got my foot in the door, and as soon as I saw the culture here, the love of students, so many people just are so good to people that they work with. I’m like, ‘that’s the school that I want to work for’. So yeah, I applied for every job you can think of, and I got really lucky because I got into the PD Department. So that’s the Professional Development Department, and I worked there for a couple of years, and then I got transferred this year into full time teaching. But I was an adjunct teacher for a couple of years to here. But yeah, that’s why. I got lucky. That’s the answer.
Tell me about your lesson structures and how it came to be what it is today?
“[S]o you’re absolutely correct. It took me a long time. My live lessons in a way, that I really don’t want to be the one speaking, but I want to set you up to be successful. So it comes from years of doing live lessons. So I’ve been a virtual teacher for 14 years. So I kind of get a feeling of what works. But it’s also taking in new knowledge. Right? So when I 1st started teaching, I didn’t really understand how our brain works. So it’s also understanding how our brain works”…“Yeah, it comes from all of that. It comes from having taught for a long time. And I love live lessons like I’ve always loved live lessons. It’s also taking on new research, which is like brain research, but also wanting my students to enjoy the time that they’re there and giving them that independent time to work. So it comes from– wrap it up– It comes from years of experience. It comes from understanding the way that our brain works, and in order for us to learn. we have to have certain things in place. So structure is one of them repetitions another one and then the other one. Is that to give you that independent time so that you’re not just listening to me. Talk like you’re giving yourself that time to learn with another person. and then I never get to the end. The end is when, like you get a moment to self reflect. ‘Hey! What did I learn? What did I like?’ We never get there. But it’s still a part of my lessons. And when I don’t get there I at least want to make sure that you, as the student gets that time to either. Either. Thank someone that was, you know, very kind in the live lesson time or kind to yourself, because I think a lot of expectations on students, especially in digital, where you’re pretty much by yourself, the majority of the time. And if you don’t come to the live lessons, you don’t get to interact that way with the teachers. So yeah, I always try to think of like, okay, this is how I’m gonna structure it, leaving it at the end where you’re kind of loving yourself a little, you know.”
What do you wish to leave students to carry with them further into the future?
“[T]hat again– Oh, my gosh! I loved your questions. So number one, a love of learning like I want you. Whether it’s, you know, Spanish or any other language I would love for you to come out of my classes. Loving to learn doesn’t matter what the– you know what the subject is. But, second, I would love for you to learn love to learn languages, and I think also culture. I would want my students to, after having experienced my classes, to want to learn more about other cultures and travel and be comfortable in that travel environment. Right? So I think that’s it. Like, I really want you to love learning, because I think the more we expand our experiences and exposure to other people. the more we’re understanding, and the more, we can love other people like that’s really my focus. I think in the environment that we’re currently living in, it’s lacking. So that is what I would like for my students to come out.”
This interview really dives deep into, not only Ms. Aglio and her journey, but also how teachers don’t just pop into a classroom one day and teach. Teachers have their reasons to be here and spread their love of knowledge. Ms. Aglio’s understanding of students and the system and her big heart makes the perfect formula for a teacher.
Ciao,
Daphne Green
