Experience Summary
I am a doctoral candidate finishing up my third year in the Department of French and Italian at The Ohio State University. My major is French, with a specialization in second language acquisition (SLA), and secondary specializations in modern French culture and French cinema.
In addition to my studies, I also teach French within the Department. In my five years of experience, I have taught the first four levels of French, in addition to intensive versions that combine two of the levels together. During the summer of 2008, I taught algebra and geometry to 9th- and 10th-graders in the Upward Bound program at Columbus State.
Outside of school I have been tutoring for seven years. I have tutored subjects such as math, English, ACT/SAT prep, and creative writing. I recently became involved with interpretation for a high-school student from Haiti for his Ohio Graduate Test (OGT). I have also done contract work for toy companies, university departments, and international speakers on campus. In addition to French, I have conversational competency in Portuguese and Spanish, with reading knowledge of German, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese.
I love to teach and interact with students. While I specialize in teaching at the college level, I worked at a tutoring organization where I interacted with children between the ages of five and eighteen. I am enthusiastic and energetic; I enjoy a challenge and the opportunity to learn new things.
Teaching Style
Being a current student myself, I can appreciate the hardships and struggles of education. I feel that you must always level with your students, no matter what the age. The students are the ones who must lead the class. However, we as educators have a duty to guide and to nourish this idea. We must be leaders who encourage a positive and productive learning environment, while also maintaining an enjoyable experience. I believe in a split between communicative and explicit teaching. Students are given input through examples and other meaningful activities. They then are encouraged to attempt their own output through group work, homework, or discussion. At this point, students are prepared to solidify their learning with charts, graphs, mnemonic devices, and/or questions/answer sessions. Finally, new material is segued into the review, restarting the learning cycle. This overlap teaches students that knowledge isn’t linear or finely separated. All ideas are given as being interpedently important.