Frau Pingen
I am originally from Jackson, Tennessee. I became interested in German when I began dating a German exchange student my senior year of high school. We continued dating throughout our college careers and have now been married for 4 years. We now travel to Germany once or twice each year to visit his family, providing me with an excellent opportunity to practice what I know and to learn more.
I studied German at Samford University in Alabama and received my Master's in Teaching from Washington University in St. Louis. I moved to Boulder in August 2004 with my husband, who is now working on his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering. I received my Master's in Educational Technology from the University of Missouri in the Fall of 2006. I continue to use what I learn daily as I teach.
The 2007-08 school year marks my 6th year as a German teacher, and I find that I truly enjoying teaching the German language and culture. I am a communicative language teacher and use German as the language of communication with my students, both inside and outside of the classroom. Although my teaching is based on the content of the textbooks (for the early levels), I use a wide variety of outside sources, including authentic films, music, newspapers, magazines, Web pages and other authentic texts. I want German to be something personal, real and useful for my students. I want them to see how German can be personally meaningful to them and how it can enhance their lives as they travel, as they interact in a multicultural world, and as they pursue further study.
In my free time, I love climbing mountains, mountain biking, reading and cooking. My husband and I go hiking nearly every weekend and are currently trying to climb all of the 14er's in Colorado. Our progress has been slowed this past year, however, due to the arrival of our first child, Jake, on October 24, 2006. (Jake did climb his first fourteener, Mount Massive, this summer.) We are really enjoying being parents, and, yes, he is learning German!)
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Fairview High School
1515 Greenbriar Boulevard
Boulder, Colorado 80305
(303) 499-7600