Who is this Prof. Jones, anyway?

I like open-water swimming.

 I love to hike and travel.

And I really love to run!

There are 2 main things you really need to know about me, professionally speaking:

1. I have been teaching online Spanish for 18 years--in fact, I am the person who developed Santa Fe College's online Spanish program. Back in 2006, when I started, it was one course with 12 people. Now, over 100 students take online Spanish every semester at Santa Fe.

I've been teaching college-level Spanish since 1998--for the first 7 years I taught face-to-face courses at UF.

What this means for you: you can trust that I know what I'm doing, and that if I ask you to do something, there's a good reason for it. I'm not an amateur, and I'm not going to waste your time.
 

Some interesting tidbits: I am very familiar with your textbook (Panorama), because it's what we used at Santa Fe for over 10 years. It and the Supersite online platform are excellent.
 

Each semester, between SPN 1120 and 1121, I teach 2-3 sections of Spanish here at NFC, 1-2 sections at FGC, and 2 sections at SFC--I am a busy, very professional, and extremely hard-working woman!

2. I lived in Spain as a teenager, and Argentina and Chile as an adult (total time living abroad=4.5 years).

What this means for you:

a. I am fully bilingual (and have been since I was 16 years old). I have no "gringo" accent when I speak--I sound like I'm from Uruguay/Argentina or Chile (depending on the person to whom I'm speaking, and how formal the situation is).
 

b. "The culture of Spanish-speaking countries" isn't something I've just read about in books. It's part of my lived experience, and I value it highly.
 

c. If I can do it, you can do it. Even if you are a non-native speaker of Spanish, you can still acquire native-level proficiency in the language--provided you are willing to put in the time, love and effort.

Online Spanish  is challenging, but I want you to know that you can depend on me.

To that end, I promise you that:

• This class will be run in an organized, logical way.
• Due dates won't suddenly change and for-credit assignments won't be added at the last minute--in short, I will not do any random things that don't make sense. All our due dates are in the syllabus, and they will be adhered to.
• If a problem arises, I will work to resolve the situation as quickly as humanly possible. I am your ally when things go wrong, not your adversary.
• It won't take forever for me to get graded work back to you. It will always take a week or less from the assignment's due date for me to return things to you.
• If you email me, you'll get a response within 24 hours, and usually sooner (unless its a weekend, and then you'll hear back from me on Monday).
• If I tell you that I will do something, it will be done.
• I am always here to help you. I want to help you.  But you, as an adult, are responsible for asking me for that help. All you have to do is ask.

In closing, my belief is that any course I teach is about Spanish, not about me.

But I know it's good for my students to realize that I am, in fact, a real person.

Who am I? I am a marathoner, a triathlete, a scuba diver, a live music fan, and a world traveler.
I'm also someone who got diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer at the beginning of the Fall 2015 semester. I was 44 years old. It's hard to believe it's already been 9 years since that terrible day.

Here's the important thing about that cancer bit: the only day of work I missed that semester was the day of my surgery--I had a double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction, an operation that takes over 8 hours. Otherwise, I was with my students every M-F, doing my job. You can expect the same thing from me this semester. It's just the way I am.

SUPing in L.A. (that's where I'm from)

Diving in Belize

Winning in Texas

(my first tri since cancer, y'all!)