Experience Summary
As a current Ph.D. candidate in literature at UC Davis, I have excellent grammatical, analytical, and rhetorical skills because of my own seminar paper writing and extensive reading. I have spent one year as a teacher’s assistant under professors of English. In this position, I have led small discussion groups on my own, met with students individually to discuss their work, and graded this work according to university standards. More recently, I have taught the required first year university writing course and am responsible for leading classes, and designing in-class lessons (on grammar, how to analyze different types of texts, MLA formatting) and written assignments (especially essays) to satisfy the goals of the program. I also meet with students to give one-on-one feedback on past and future assignments, and proofread/edit written work. Furthermore, I have studied French for over five years, one of which was at the college level.
Teaching Style
Most satisfying to me as a teacher is getting a student motivated to learn, not by the promise of a grade but rather by getting him/her engaged in the subject and wanting to become more skilled in a given area, which ultimately does result in allover classroom success. To incite this engagement, I enjoy designing and teaching lessons that are relevant to a student’s life outside of the classroom. I love to work one-on-one with students so that I can spend an adequate amount of time with him/her to make suggestions for improvement and also to encourage by telling the student what he/she is doing well. Because I have a younger brother who has been diagnosed with ADHD, I am patient, understanding, and can relate to students of all ages— from the junior high level to the college level.