Behind the Mask – Julie Parrow

Julie Parrow has been teaching at Fargo North for 4 years before previously teaching at Oak Grove for 7 years. She teaches Spanish 1-4, and also leads the Spanish Club. What makes Parrow unique is we play a lot of memorization games for Spanish terms, where we can win stickers to put on our binders. If you’ve had Parrow for one year or even four, you know that she is a kind soul who truly cares about her student’s learning and continually tries to improve her teaching style to benefit her students.
Aubrey Clarke, a devoted language student, has had Parrow for 2 years, and is now taking a college level Spanish class at NDSU. Aubrey says “She puts in the most time, effort, and love I’ve seen someone pour into their jobs. She plans her curriculum carefully so that we are able to learn as much as possible in class. Mrs. Parrow is phenomenal when teaching because she is able to move the class at a pace where no one gets left behind, and those who want to push ahead are also able to do so while still participating. She chooses fun activities to do in class to keep students engaged and enjoy learning, but all of these activities, while fun, also engage all three learning styles, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic so that everyone has an easy opportunity to learn the way they need to in her classroom.
“Not only is she a great teacher in terms of the classroom, but she is also so kind and caring and genuinely does everything for the benefit of her students. She believes in her students and gives us opportunities to succeed as much as we want. She’ll come in after school to help a struggling student, allow retakes to ensure that we learn, and will give extra work and learning opportunities to those who want them. She is the teacher that students will remember and they leave and thank for not only teaching them her content, but also equipping them with life skills.”
A typical day in Parrow’s class includes starting the class right as the bell rings with a jump start, where there are 5-8 sentences written on the whiteboard, and we conjugate the sentences into Spanish. Then we would move onto a listening activity, maybe some memorization games, and a quiz depending on the day of the week. We work from bell to bell, filling the entire class period with activities that engage the students, and where they can have fun learning a whole new language.
When talking with Parrow, I asked her what her life looks like outside of the classroom. “I have a kindergartener and a first grader, so they keep my husband and me pretty busy. We are all early risers and go to bed before most students are even home at night. Besides my job, I enjoy exercising, watching movies, listening to audiobooks and spending time with my family. Believe it or not, I’m a shy introvert, so being at home is my comfort zone.” She does actively talk about her family often in class, and sometimes makes them bonus questions on tests!
As previously stated, Mrs. Parrow plays a lot of games in her classroom. When asked why, she said, “How do you teach little kids their colors? NOT by sitting them down and lecturing on the difference between blue and purple–rather you play Candyland. You teach counting by playing counting games. When you can get students to learn without realizing that they are learning–why not? Learning CAN be fun. If you can get the effective filter out of the way by students focusing on ‘fun/laid-back competition’ rather than on the fact that they need to conjugate a verb, I think that learning becomes easier.”
I also asked if Spanish class is just memorizing a lot of words. “In a way, we work through class like little kids work through language. You start with very basic vocabulary… then you move to phrases. You add in grammar so that students can learn at a faster rate than what children learn. When you think about it, a child has input for a solid few years before they start producing words/sentences. Students only have 45 minutes a day 5-days a week, so even though progress seems slow, they are progressing at a relatively speedy rate. We discuss culture, we work on listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary. Language encompasses SO much.”
Finally, I asked Parrow why students should take Spanish while at North High, and she said, “I know that many take it because they “need their two years”, but it is so much more than that. The friendships made from having the same small group of students for 4 years creates an environment that doesn’t always happen in classes. Language learning has SO many benefits (improved standardized test scores in language and math, creative thinking, helps break you out of your “shell”, opens up your mind to others, etc.) Many adults come to me later in life and say “I wish that I had learned Spanish.” It’s nice to learn it when the FREE opportunity is in front of you. As an adult, finding the time and resources to learn a language becomes a little bit tougher.”
All in all, Mrs. Parrow is a wonderful teacher who is loved by many students, and will continue to make a strong impact on not only this school, but all the students she teaches, one verb conjugation at a time.