My motto in life is: "Spend less time complaining, and more time creating!"
GENERAL INFO:
I'm a natural-born teacher, poet, and baker.
I'm an insufferable idealist, a spontaneous dreamer; and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I am an Education junkie.
I am also an old soul.
13 is my favorite and lucky number.
Coffee is my lifeblood; I only take a glass of wine with dinner on occasion. My ideal parties are of the dinner or board game varieties.
Likes: traveling, farmer's markets, wind chimes, birds, old books...
Dislikes: numbers, close-mindedness, most technology, milk...
EDUCATION & BACKGROUND:
I graduated cum laude from Muhlenberg College in 2011. There, I was a member of the Alpha Mu Gamma foreign language society and I held a position as French Club Secretary.
I volunteered as a math & reading tutor at Casa Guadalupe after-school program, working with disadvantaged students. I brought my love for creative writing to life as the Editor-in-Chief of Kalliope, M'berg's foreign language literary journal, and a contributor to Muses, their creative arts journal.
I'm a member of Phi Mu sorority, Phi Kappa Chapter.
Being green and environmentally-conscience is extremely important to me; I was activist of EnAct Environmental Action Team & continue my activism today by advocating for clean energy, signing petitions, recycling, composting, and protesting against Monsanto and GMOs.
I studied abroad in Paris through CIEE’s Critical Studies program in the spring semester of 2009. I was fortunate to be able to take a 3rd year comparative literature course at the Sorbonne Censier.
I completed master's-level course work at Marywood University.
PIANO TEACHING:
Every morning I wake up with a song in my head and love in my heart, fingers reaching for keys. I have played & taught piano for as long as I can remember: out of my parent's house, at a summer camp, in Paris, in Cali, at my home in grad school...
TESOL:
I have a lot of experience working with international students. My family has taken in French exchange students regularly for ten years now. My parents currently house a Korean exchange student for the school year, and I was also an active member of Marywood's International Club during my time there at grad school. I have many French, Middle Eastern, South American, and African friends. I understand how to interpret for, communicate with, understand, and make myself understood by internationals, even when I don't speak their native tongue.
GENERAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
Creativity is the sky in which my spirit circles, the sun for my planet’s orbit. Former students have told me that I inspire a love for learning. This seems appropriate as I am a huge bibliophile and consider myself a lifetime learner and education junkie!
I have had many classes and experiences in differentiating instruction. The more my students express their creativity, the better. I would just like to provide methods and means to guide them through their individual creative processes. I believe in Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, and I apply this to all of my work.
I do not agree with most forms of standardized testing. I also believe in providing a structured environment and thoroughly lesson planning; I tend to be a bit ambitious, but in my mind it’s better to have too much preparation than not enough. In my work as a child therapist, I have found that the younger the age of the child, the more routines and structure are required. However, I don’t get tripped up by changes in the plan; I am able to readily adapt to any situation.
I find thorough subject knowledge, adaptability, open-mindedness, patience, and “withitness” to be five of the strongest indicators of a good teacher, and these are all areas in which I excel.
I believe that all students are intelligent, just in varied ways. Whether a student exhibits linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, natural intelligence, or a combination of several of these, ALL students have the ability to learn. As an instructor, we should PRESUME intelligence. In my view, the brunt of the responsibility for the learning process lies with the teacher. It is up to us to create lessons, activities, materials, to make any adaptations needed, and to facilitate the learning process.
SPECIAL NEEDS BACKGROUND:
I have an extensive background working with children who have special needs. I worked as a TSS (Therapeutic Staff Support) from May 2008-May 2012. I worked with 2 different companies. During this time, I worked with 7 different clients with an array of needs. Work with my clients was punctuated with school semesters from 2008-2010. Unfortunately, the nature of this career is that the GOAL is to lose your clients as you help them work towards functional independence and equip their families & teachers with the necessary skill sets and training.
Needless to say, I am a very patient and understanding person. I even went so far as to potty train a 10-year-old girl and to learn elementary Sign Language.
I provided music, play, cognitive behavioral, and Rogerian therapies. I am very creative and a great communicator who is used to working closely with parents.
I would love to get to know you!
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