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Italian II
French 7th Grade
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me.About your teacher: see below:
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Welcome to Signora Nizza's Site |
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Click here to see what happened in France on this date.
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Italian II French 7th Grade |
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e-mail
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Diane M. Nizza About your teacher: see below: |
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Email address: diane.nizza@springbranchisd.com
About your teacher:
Reared in Beaumont, Texas. Attended public school.
Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Texas in Austin: with Honors and Special Honors in French
Master of Arts from University of Houston in French
Other schools attended:
Lamar University in Beaumont (summer school)
La Sorbonne (Université de Paris): junior year
Universidad de Madrid: junior year
Universidad de las Americas, Mexico: summer
Hunter College, New York City: education courses
Indiana University, Salies du Salat and Aurillac (France): French program abroad for teachers, recipient of grant from
American Association of Teachers of French, National Endowment of the Humanities,
and the government of France
Université de Montréal: AATF and Government of Canada scholarship/enrichment courses graduate level
Texas State University: federal grant, summer course
2005 Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund for Teachers: three weeks in Japan, Government of Japan and
the Fulbright Foundation (Department of Interior)
2006 Three weeks in program at Trois-Pistoles, Quebec, with Western Ontario University
Other venues of professional development:
2007 Awarded a grant by the American Teacher of Italian to attend an Advanced Placement
convention at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas
Received grant money from the district to purchase books for the opera La Bohème.
Recipient of the Toyota Teachers' Institute in Costa Rica, for two weeks in late February.
Personal information: I have been married to Salvatore Nizza since I was 22 years old. We have two adult daughters and two grandchildren, named Brendan and Julia. My husband is developing our property right now, but previously was in the restaurant and hotel business. I love animals and own a dog and a cat. My husband and I are active with the Italian Federation and the Italy in America Organization. We travel to Italy every two or three years. I visited my daughter in Siena in 2004. She was doing a junior year abroad study there. We also traveled to Italy in the summer of 2007.
We started our trip in Basel, Switzerland to visit a childhood friend of mine. She works in the International Bank of Settlements, the bank that settles war crimes and other such affairs. Then my husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandkids rented a house in Umbria. The house is called Roccagnano and you can view it on the www.italianencounters.com website. It was beautiful.
Finally, after the kids came on back home to Texas, my husband and I ventured south to Sciacca, his hometown. Sciacca is in Sicily and is quite picturesque. You should "google" it and see for yourself. His classmates had a wonderful high school reunion, a dinner/dance. It was so much fun. I also saw Professoressa Farruggia. She teaches English at Scuola Media Statale (public) A. Inveges. My students correspond with her students, and I got to meet about 10 of the students. School was not in session, just state testing was going on by appointment, and these 10 students interrupted their summer vacation to meet me. I don't remember all of their names, but I remember meeting Azzura. I also saw a festival at the port and saw a custom called Le Antenne, which is a waxed pole on top of the water. The object is to get the flag at the tip without falling off. It was interesting.
In July, my husband and I went to Las Vegas. I was attending the conference for AP Italian there. I was in six hours of meetings for three days. At night, I saw two shows. First, and most importantly, I saw the Cirque du Soleil's performance of Beatles music. It was called "Love." I am a big Beatles fan, and saw the Beatles in 1965 in the old coliseum in Houston. I also saw Paul McCartney in concert two other times, once in the Astrodome and once in the Compaq Center (now Lakewood Church). The second show I saw was Jay Leno. I did not get a chance to see Celine Dion, as she was on vacation at the time. I do, however, have tickets for the Celine Dion concert coming to Houston in 2009.
Finally, my husband and dog Benji and I drove across Texas to Ruidoso, New Mexico to do some hiking and to get away from the heat. I highly recommend Ruidoso. It is beautiful.
I hope you all had a wonderful and exciting summer, too.
That was the summer of 2007. This past summer, the summer of 2008, was quite busy, but less "exciting" in the classical sense. First, my husband and I moved to a new patio home. It is smaller than our home was, but new and modern, so I like it. It is located in the Montrose area, near the Menil Museum and St. Thomas University. Then, my daughter and her husband and children moved to Fort Worth. Boo-hoo, how I miss those children! We helped them move and stayed with them about 10 days. After that, all six of us went to Mo Ranch in the Texas Hill Country. I try to go with my Sunday School class as often as I can. It has been quite a while since I have gone there, though. Unfortunately, my younger daughter could not go, because she works.
Next, it was time for my husband and I to go on our vacation. No, this year we did not go to Italy. We had a lovely trip to Nevada and California, focusing on the beautiful natural wonders of Yosemite and the Sequoia Forest. While in the Lake Tahoe area, I saw a show called "Yesterday." this was a show of Beatles imitators. I love the Beatles. I saw them in Houston On August 19, 1965 and I also saw the Rolling Stones in Houston on July 11, 1965, and twice since then. Before school started, we made another trip to Fort Worth (it is beginning to feel like a second home, now). After that, my daughter and her family came here for a week-end.
Another bit of exciting news is that my youngest daughter adopted two cats from the SPCA. Now, I have grand-cats. Ariana, also became engaged to Dan Chapman. They are getting married at Discovery Green park on October 17, 2009.
I am trying to get organized for this summer, perhaps with a cruise to Alaska. In remaining summer time, I hope to spend some time in Ft. Worth with the grandchildren. What about you? Any summer plans?
The summer of 2009 was quite relaxing. The only major trip we took was a cruise to Alaska. It was one week long and then ended with two days in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), plus involved two days of travel. It was great getting out of the Houston Heat. I spent nearly a week in Fort Worth with the grandkids, and took my dog with me. We spent nearly a week at Mo Ranch on the Guadalupe River with our grandson, Brendan. My daughter had two bridal showers and one bachelorette party, with more festivities to follow. Things are really getting busy with preparations for the wedding and the beginning of school. I hope you had a relaxing and cool summer, too.