Experience Summary
While studying at Bradley University, I worked with the CHOICES program tutoring local disadvantaged High School students in core curriculum: History, English, Math, Science, etc. As a French tutor, I volunteered to help my fellow classmates learn the French language.
After obtaining my Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Spanish from Bradley University in May of 2006, I continued to provide educational instruction as an AmeriCorps KEYS volunteer. As a team of AmeriCorps members, we developed a grant-winning curriculum that benefited underprivileged youth, provided one-on-one instruction to struggling elementary students in Math and Reading, counseled at-risk youth, and taught lessons at a day camp for disadvantaged children. In addition to my service in AmeriCorps, my primary project as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine was to teach English at a secondary school 18 hours per week. This position required developing my own class-specific lesson plans from scarce resources for teaching students in grades five to eleven, organizing extracurricular English clubs and providing instruction at summer English camps for Ukrainian youth
Teaching Style
I was trained as a Secondary School teacher to use the Communicative Method of instruction. This helps students to create meaning from their studies and link classroom learning to outside experiences. I try to plan lessons and educational activities specific to student needs and interests. I work well with groups and individuals, Americans and internationals. In order to enable students to think outside the box, I use a variety of resources, including media, to explain topics and involve students. My lessons are consistent and balanced with listening, reading, writing, and speaking activities.