Mil gracias

Until yesterday, I hadn't seen all of my books in one place at the same time, except for maybe... Nah, I never have.

Truth: These books improve only through the thoughtfulness of the many teachers who have taken the time to reach out to me, either via email, my website, Facebook or even Twitter. (I have six Twitter followers, you know. Cracks me up!)

So here's bit of shout out to them by name. As with most things, I am going with the "ask for forgiveness" rather than permission. If you see your name and would like it removed, let me know. I'm good like that.

Thank you to all who have helped me (thus far) in some way (and if I have managed to err and have forgotten you, here's my ask for forgiveness):

Mike Peto - This guy's list of CI reading materials is, well, WOW. And that he includes my wares...I'm so thankful. His personal blog about CI stuff, My Generation of Polyglots, is a must view, too.

Salema Jenkins - Spanish teacher in Kentucky with whom I connected in the fall. She said I "made her year" with my books. Little does she know, she made mine.

Tina Hargaden - Teacher in Oregon who's got it ALL going on throughout the country. She's all that, for sure (but for real!), but STILL she reached out to share that her students are creating a graphic novel about one of my books. I'm thrilled!

Jennifer McKay & Ellen Haschak - Spanish teachers in Delaware who shared with her students the contest that I ran for cover art for the María María books and whose students' art is on one of the covers.

Barbara Rachmann - Spanish teacher in California who also shared the contest with her students, and who emailed to tell me that her student cried when she found out she won. Beautiful. All of it.

Meghan Martin - Spanish teacher in Massachusetts who also shared the contest and whose students' work can be found in the pages of the Marías. The drawings are terrific!

Jennifer Raulston - Spanish teacher in Tennessee who is reading El jersey with her 5th graders. Periodically she shares via email how much they love the story. And I love hearing that they do.

Karen Rowan - A Fluency Fast teacher, author, presenter and compassionate human who appreciates that cultural fluency is just as important as that created with language. Thanks for liking my books!

Jon Sifert - Spanish teacher in Iowa who has heaped praise on my books and writing - and has been so bold as to put that up on Amazon for the world to see. And you know what? I didn't pay him to do so. Yay!

Courtney Gordon - Spanish teacher in California who has been a tremendous help with getting the books glossed (who knew that was a term? I, of course, did not), helping me with formatting and general glossary ideas and proofing.

Elvira Rebate - Spanish teacher in New York who has helped with proofing my work to make the books better for those who read them. Thank you!

Robin Valdizon - Spanish teacher in Illinois who was an early adopter and purchaser of El viaje difícil. I am grateful to her correspondence with me, as it, too, shaped my work, but more importantly, validated what I was doing. She, like I, believes in story.

Terri Marrama - Spanish and French teacher in Upstate New York (it's a big state; it's good to be clear) who has adapted and translated El jersey for readers and learners of French. She reached out to me wanting the book in French and the connection was immediate. Check out her TpT store and get her stuff now so you can say you "knew her when." She's writing books, too, and they're gonna be hot!

And to all of those teachers who have even spent a moment to "like" my page, posts or pics on Facebook (and Justin Slocum Bailey (@IndwellingLang), Kara Jacobs (@karacjacobs) and Chris Jahdai (@Jahdai7) who are my only language teacher followers), thanks for the support. I mean it. I hope you, too, will be able to say, "I knew her when..."

Basically, I'm not doing what I'm doing, if y'all aren't doing what you do. There's gotta be some thanks for that. And while a silly mention in a blog post that 5 people may read is not the same as having George Gray (Price is Right announcer) exclaim, "It's...a new CAR!," it will have to do. For now. You know, at least until I can host my own TV show and give away my favorite things. Might happen!

Thank you.

So, I've rambled enough. But I did manage to look up my twitter handle, for you in case you want to follow me or some such. It's @JenniferDegenh1 . The fact that I had to look it up should tell you that the learning curve... well, I'm still calculating the steepness.