Experience Summary
I began my college career with ambitions to become an elementary school teacher, earning 33 credit hours in Marquette University's Elementary Education program and logging 80 hours of observation and in-class aide work in the Milwaukee Public School system. Upon leaving this program and picking up at the Universtiy of New Mexico, I graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Spanish, leaving me with near-native proficiency in that language and a burgeoning ability in Portuguese, which was my minor field of study. Before beginning at UNM, I taught for one year as a team teacher in a preschool catering to homeless families where I was exposed to teaching in a setting heavily influenced by social and personal developmental delays, leading to some creative teaching experience. During this time, I also spent a semester tutoring an English-speaking first grader in Spanish.
Teaching Style
I have always been drawn to children and have enjoyed being with and teaching them. Before working in preschool, my teaching style was unrefined, and based largely on a general paternalistic instinct. My experience at the preschool taught me the value of coordinated language use in dealing with different students in different situations between care-givers. I learned how to be very direct with students while still maintaining compassion and understanding. I respect children's need for expression, but I also know the importance of rules and boundaries. Within those boundaries, though, I believe that kids have a lot to teach older generations as we teach them. My personal attitude towards education adds great respect for the student and her or his mind to respect for myself and my mind, with the goal of bettering both.