Jose Rodríguez

Leander, Texas

Rodríguez currently teaches ESL at Pleasant Hill Elementary in Leander, Texas. After completing his undergraduate education at Pan American University and receiving an Honorable Discharge from the United States Marine Corps, Rodríguez began his professional work as urban planner at the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council in South Texas. He later received his alternative teaching certification and began teaching in the Weslaco School District. Rodríguez taught 3^rd and 4^th grades at Cleckler-Heald Elementary before moving to Beatriz Garza Middle School where he taught 6^th grade and 8^th grade. In 2009, Rodriguez was invited by the U.S. Department of Education to serve as Washington Teaching Ambassador Fellow for one-year at ED Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The personal achievements of Rodriguez include an invitation by the U.S. Department of Education to serve as Washington Teaching Ambassador Fellow for one-year at ED Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 2001, Rodríguez received Weslaco Schools’ District Teacher of the Year Award and the Outstanding Educator of the Year award from the League of United Latin American Citizens.In 2002, he was selected as a nominee for Region One’s Teacher of the Year in Texas. Rodríguez also contributed to the Middle Childhood Generalist Standards 3^rd Edition, published in 2012 by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. In 2011, Rodriguez transported a twelve-foot oak tree from Austin to D.C. (over 1,500 miles) and planted it on the grounds of the Lyndon B. Johnson Department of Education Building in southwest Washington, D.C.; the tree serves as the official tree of the U.S. Department of Education.

Why do you teach? I teach because I enjoy working with young students. Their spirit keep me young and they teach me how to find wonder in the world.

What do you love about teaching? For the past 20 years, I have taught ELL students in grades Pk-8th grade. Many of these students were recent ELL immigrants from Mexico, Columbia, El Salvador, Chile, Nicaragua, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, South Korea, Jordan, and Lithuania. These same former students have gone on to graduate from university. They are now starting their careers and families. I love to teach because my students remind me of my family’s immigrant past and our nation’s collective immigrant family’s future in the United States; I love to teach because I am teaching the future of the United States.

When you were a student, was there a great teacher who inspired you? When I was a freshman in high school, I was inspired by a former Vietnam Veteran, Mark Brady, my world history teacher. I enjoyed being his student because he was a dynamic, interactive teacher that encouraged project-based learning long before this was an approach to teaching even before it had a name or on most educators’ radar in the early 1980s. More importantly, Mr. Brady encouraged us to think and questioned our thinking deliberately with respect, humor, and sincerity. I try to imitate Mr. Brady’s style of teaching everyday as a teacher.