I am a language, literature, and writing teacher who has worked with a diverse range of student populations in a variety of cultural, linguistic, and geographical contexts since 2004. Below is an outline of some of my experience in teaching, developing curriculum, and leading workshops for other teachers over the past 16 years.
No matter what or whom I’m teaching, I want to help my students develop the intellectual confidence and the empathic curiosity required to engage with the worlds in and around them both openly and critically. Ultimately, I hope, my students develop a sense of joy and purpose in education as “a process of living, not a preparation for future living,” in John Dewey’s words; an appreciation of the complexity and interconnectedness of all of our lives; and conviction in their own voice as a powerful tool in the pursuit of knowledge and justice, in the classroom and beyond.
The approaches I find crucial in working towards these goals include:
- modeling passion, engagement, deep thinking, and radical love
- collaborative and student-driven structures, characterized by constant choice and responsiveness to students’ identities, needs, and interests
- place-based, community-engaged learning
- rigorous dialogue across difference
- inclusivity, universal design for learning, and trauma-informed pedagogy
TEACHING
Dialogue Facilitation, Plan II Honors Program, University of Texas at Austin
Develop and lead 6-hour synchronous online training on facilitating dialogue for undergraduate peer dialogue facilitators. Facilitate biweekly facilitator learning community (Summer 2020-present)
Spanish Language, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Texas at Austin
SPN 611D: Second-Year Spanish II (Fall 2018, Spring 2019) (Instructor of Record)
SPN 601D: First-Year Spanish I (Fall 2017, Spring 2018) (Instructor of Record)
World Literature, Department of Undergraduate Studies, University of Texas at Austin
UGS 303: Russian Sci-Fi, with Prof. Tom Garza (Spring 2016). Lead TA.
UGS 303: Modernity, Anxiety, and the Art of the Uncanny (Spring 2015, Fall 2015). Lead TA in Fall 2015.
UGS 303: The Pursuit of Happiness (Fall 2014) TA.
English as a Second Language, HOFT Institute (Austin, Texas)
Reading Level 4 (Fall 2019) (Instructor of Record)
Listening and Speaking Level 2 (Fall 2019) (Instructor of Record)
English Language Arts, Koliganek School (Koliganek, Alaska)
6th-8th grade English Language Arts. Combined-level classroom (Fall 2013) (Instructor of Record)
9th-10th grade English Language Arts. Combined-level classroom (Fall 2013) (Instructor of Record)
11th-12th grade English Language Arts. Combined-level classroom (Fall 2013) (Instructor of Record)
English Language Arts, IDEA College Preparatory San Benito (San Benito, Texas)
10th grade English Language Arts (Fall 2012, Spring 2013) (Instructor of Record)
9th grade English Language Arts (Fall 2011, Spring 2012) (Instructor of Record)
Reading Intervention (Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012) (Instructor of Record)
ACT Verbal Test Preparation (Spring 2013) (Instructor of Record)
English as a Second Language, Futuro Latino Learning Center (Baltimore, Maryland)
Adult Beginner’s ESL (Fall 2010, Spring 2011)
Espacio Educación Bilingual Children’s Program (Fall 2010)
English as a Second Language, Ayutthaya Public High School (Ayutthaya, Thailand)
Intermediate ESL for 11th grade, classes of 40-50 students (Spring 2006)
English as a Second Language, Tai Yang Elementary School, (Shenyang, China)
Low-Intermediate ESL for 2nd and 3rd grades, classes of 30-40 students (Spring 2005)
English as a Second Language, ALIFA Sushan English (Shenyang, China)
Beginner’s ESL for children age 4-6, 8 classes of 20-30 students per week (Fall 2004, Spring 2005)
Low-Intermediate ESL for children 6-10, 8 classes of 20-30 students per week (Fall 2004, Spring 2005)
Upper-Intermediate ESL for children 8-14, 8 classes of 20-30 students per week (Fall 2004, Spring 2005)
Advanced ESL for children 14-18, 8 classes of 20-30 students per week (Fall 2004, Spring 2005)
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Texas International Teaching Consortium (Austin, Texas)
Work collaboratively with faculty in Iraq to review program learning outcomes, course sequence, and courses in four majors. Make recommendations for changes directed at improving recruitment, retention, and academic success for female and ethnic minority students at American University of Iraq-Suleimani. 2-year project funded by U.S. Department of State Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (Dec. 2020-Sept. 2022)
Difficult Dialogues Program, Humanities Institute, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas)
Develop pedagogical resources, curriculum, trainings, and events to support faculty and students facilitating dialogue on controversial topics both FTF and online. Co-facilitate bimonthly Difficult Dialogues faculty learning community. Conduct research and undergo training on best practices for faculty focus groups, faculty learning communities, dialogic pedagogies, inclusive pedagogies, and online engagement strategies (Fall 2019-present)
Austin Bat Cave, K-12 Writing (Austin, Texas)
Develop and teach both one-time and long-term college essay writing workshops for underserved Austin-area high school students. Develop free, open-access college essay writing guide, available as interactive PDF, printable booklet, and website (Spring 2019-present)
Reading Rock Stars, Texas Book Festival, K-6 Literacy (Austin, Texas)
Developed reading curriculum aligned to Texas state standards (TEKS) for preK-6 elementary students in Title I school districts (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
International Scholars Program, IDEA College Preparatory San Benito (San Benito, Texas)
Founded, developed, and coordinated school’s first-ever study abroad program: a yearlong extracurricular seminar on cultural perspectives culminating in a ten-day trip to Monteverde, Costa Rica with 11 tenth-grade students. In partnership with The Cloud Forest School/Centro de Educación Creativa (Spring 2013)
Futuro Latino Learning Center (Baltimore, Maryland)
Developed ESL grammar guide and training materials for beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels. Trained, supervised, and evaluated 10-15 student volunteers per semester (Fall 2010, Spring 2011)
Instituto Monteverde, English as a Second Language (Monteverde, Costa Rica)
Designed and wrote a complete 12-week, 24-class basic course of English with full curricula for four levels as well as an ESL Teachers Orientation. Translated educational materials and curricula from Spanish to English for use in the Monteverde Institute Spanish Department (Spring 2009)
WORKSHOPS FOR FACULTY CONDUCTED
“Best Apps for Multimodal, Inclusive Dialogue.” Technology Enhanced Learning Symposium, Faculty Innovation Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, May 2021.
“Inclusive Difficult Dialogues in the Language and Cultural Studies Classroom.” Department of French and Italian, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, April 2021.
“The Art of the Dialogue Question Set.” American Anthropological Association Virtual Workshops, Dec. 2020.
“Teaching with Love and Logic.” Teach For America Professional Development Workshops for Teachers, Rio Grande Valley, TX, Jan.-April 2013 (4 sessions).
“Student-Led Dialogue with Socratic Seminars.” Teach For America Professional Development Workshops for Teachers, Rio Grande Valley, TX, Jan. 2013.
“3-point Sentences for Vocabulary Instruction.” Teach For America Professional Development Workshops for Teachers, Rio Grande Valley, TX, Dec. 2012.