Living in Dunkirk, Maryland, Señora Miam Dufek has been teaching for 25 years and is currently teaching Elementary Spanish: Through Sight and Sound for 5th and 6th grade. She loves listening to contemporary Christian music and enjoys country western dancing (line dancing, two-step, and swing). She also loves baking (and eating) gluten-free and dairy-free treats. Sitting with her husband, sipping coffee, and eating homemade scones is the highlight of her day.
Abby: What are some challenges to teaching Spanish, especially with younger kids students?
Sra. Dufek: I want to get my students up and moving and jumping and shouting…it’s a challenge with online class.
Abby: That’s totally understandable. Why did you decide to start teaching?
Sra. Dufek: I loved working with international college students, and I wanted to teach English around the world. I got my Masters Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, TESOL, in 1997. With 15 years of homeschooling my own children and working with homeschool co-ops, my love of Spanish has led me into teaching Spanish on the mainland and not ESL!
Abby: Can you tell us about your family? Do you have any pets?
Sra. Dufek: I am married to my husband, Michael Dufek. We have a 19 year old daughter who is a sophomore at Liberty University in Virginia and an 18 year old daughter who is a freshman at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. Both girls completed the majority of their high school coursework at TPS and loved it. No pets currently, but I love to pet any dog or cat within arm’s reach.
Abby: What parable of Jesus do you often enjoy reading or finding encouragement in?
Sra. Dufek: The parable of the mustard seed: Mark 4:30-4:34. He can take faith as small as a mustard seed and nourish it till it is mighty. God can use our little tiny acts and multiply and grow them. He can take whatever he has given us and let it blossom to His glory. We never know what small detail he will use in our life or the lives of others. This is why it is so important to do good whenever we are able. A smile on your face might bring hope to someone who is having a difficult day. God uses each of us, little and small as we are. We can be that mustard seed. Receive all that He provides and flourish.
Abby: Yes, that is so true and such an encouragement! What is one of your favorite hymn/worship songs from any period in time?
Sra. Dufek: Blessed Be Your Name – this song came to mean so much to me when my father passed away. God is with us in the barren places when we feel lost and alone and in the places of abundance when we are filled with joy. Currently I am enjoying listening to worship songs in Spanish by Evan Craft! Mi Casa es Tu Casa! Look it up!
Abby: That’s cool. I also like that song and many of his others! If you were not teaching, what kind of job do you think you would have?
Sra. Dufek: Not possible– I would always be a teacher…just one-on-one playing with an infant, singing with a toddler, challenging the elementary folk, and prodding the teenagers to learn lessons from real life, not just books. God has created everything in amazing detail and design and there is so much to learn all around us!
Abby: That’s a great reminder. Do you enjoy collecting anything?
Sra. Dufek: Apparently, but I don’t enjoy organizing it! This is especially true for any book that I might want to read aloud to someone somewhere sometime.
Abby: What is an interesting fact about your hometown?
Sra. Dufek: I grew up outside of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. As my husband says, I truly am a “valley girl” and I got to witness how our language grows and changes as my teen generation spread their “way of speech” through the media launching out from Hollywood (40 minutes from my house). Do any of you say that word “like” in the middle of a sentence with no purpose? It’s a hard habit to break! Thank you, San Fernando Valley!
Abby: That’s a really cool experience to have! What is something that you consistently have trouble doing well?
Sra. Dufek: Writing legibly.
Abby: Yes, I’m afraid that I, as well as many others, also have the same problem. Do you have any pre-thanksgiving fall traditions?
Sra. Dufek: Hanging up home made decorations from my mom.
Abby: What is a very valuable lesson you have learned over your life and can share with us today?
Sra. Dufek: Find joy is whatever God has for you right now. It is very easy to live in discontent and with a complaining spirit, noticing only what we don’t have. We must lift our eyes to Jesus and focus on the good, seeing all that we do have as it says in Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
We should be so thankful that we have teachers like this at our school. This week, try showing your thankfulness for one of your teachers by sending them a meme or joke! Have a wonderful week and God bless!
“All the words and actions of other people that tempt us to anger are somehow included in His wise and good purposes to make us more like Jesus.” – Jerry Bridges
Photo Credit: Miam Dufek