I began my teaching career as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. I had long worked with elementary-aged students as a tutor and volunteer in high school and college, and pursuing a Master's in Chinese allowed me the opportunity to teach American college students Mandarin. At DePauw University, where I taught Introduction to Chinese, I had the highest retention from first term to second term in the history of the program. I also taught ESL to adults, an experience...
I began my teaching career as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. I had long worked with elementary-aged students as a tutor and volunteer in high school and college, and pursuing a Master's in Chinese allowed me the opportunity to teach American college students Mandarin. At DePauw University, where I taught Introduction to Chinese, I had the highest retention from first term to second term in the history of the program. I also taught ESL to adults, an experience that opened my eyes to the everyday obstacles that come with living in the US when not fluent in English. In this capacity, I helped my students do so much more than learn language; I helped them navigate time-sensitive situations in daily life.
In 2016 I began teaching in the secondary world. I have taught ELA and Mandarin for the past ten years. I find that my background as a language learner makes me uniquely poised to help students tackle difficult aspects of foreign language learning. In the ELA world, I have taught World Literature (four years), British Literature (four years), courses in composition, and worked with a number of my students on their personal essays for college. I take pride in making my courses engaging for students, even the ones who are not self-proclaimed lovers of English. I work to get to know my students as individuals so that I can make the content relatable and valuable.
