Sandra M.

Experience Summary

Contact me at 404-three five four-6560. All positions listed below included the (partial) development and implementation of comprehensive lesson plans that accommodated all levels of learners. I involved educational activities that engaged students in order to provide them meaningful learning experiences. My lesson plans always included authentic teaching materials and a meaningful content in order to teach culture, vocabulary, grammar and communicative tasks. January 2013 – present Graduate Teaching Assistant The University of Georgia GRMN2002: Instructor June 2013 UGA Freiburg Study Abroad Program Assistant Assistant to Dr. Heide Crawford, director of the Freiburg Study Abroad Program. The intensive study program included language and cultural classes as well as excursions and cultural immersion with the focus of “Freiburg – the Green City”. August 2012 – December 2012 Graduate Teaching Assistant UGA – Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies GRMN2001: Assistant to Dr. Renate Born April 2011 – August 2012 Berlitz Language Center Atlanta, GA German, English and French Teacher One-on-One and group lessons and Total immersion programs, adults 2012 MAX Award recipient for outstanding performance and excellent teaching skills February 2011 – July 2012 Hansa One Atlanta, GA German and English Teacher One-on-One and group lessons, adults November 20011 – April 2012 LanguageTrainers Atlanta, GA German Teacher One-on-One lessons, adults July 2011 The World Language Institute Roswell, GA French Teacher Summer camp teacher, children ages 4 – 14 February 2009 – April 2009 Presbyterian Elementary School Agona Swedru, Ghana English and Mathematics Teacher, grades 1-6 August 2008 – October 2008 The Boston Language Institute Boston, Massachusetts Translator and substitute teacher for German Group lessons, adults July 2004 – present Freelance Tutor Private tutor for English, German and French (high-school and university levels)

Teaching Style

Especially in private tutoring session, I am devoted to my student, planning the lesson around his/her specific needs. With regard to foreign language tutoring, I try to create a "full immersion" environment by mainly speaking in the target language. I know how to explain grammar in an age appropriate manner, and have always been a very patient tutor and instructor.

My Hobbies

I thoroughly enjoy dancing and foreign language literature. I am also love to hike and camp, and to discover the world by travelling as much as possible.

Other Comments

Here, I would like to add comments by my former students at UGA who were asked to anonymously fill out evaluations for the German classes I had taught: Question 1: What did you like best about this course, or what did you find most effective? - I enjoyed most the discussions of different cultural aspects, especially in comparison of American and German culture. - I liked that we learned a lot about German culture and that we got to have a native German as our instructor. - I like that the entire class was engaged and that we both enjoyed ourselves and learned at the same time. - I like the organization of the course and how all the assignment were stated in advanced. You were given the opportunity to succeed. - Sandra :) - Sandra was great because she is a native German. She knew when certain grammar is just colloquial or written, etc. She explained culture very well. - This course really pushed me to learn the material quickly. - Frau McGury is an exceptional teacher. It is a cliche that a good speaker makes each member of the audience feel that she is speaking directly to them, but McGury's speaking style has this effect. She is excellent at engaging the class and she interacts with individual students in a much more personal and less awkward way then most instructors are capable of. - I liked how it was entertaining and how the teacher involved everyone in the class. - I loved having a native German speaker because she could just tell us what it was really like in Germany and all of her stories were really great and funny. I felt like i had a better feel of what it was really like to live in Germany. It wasn't just reading about the city in the book, she could tell us what they were really like. I also loved when she showed us a video of all the riots that happen in Berlin on may day, i didn't know berlin that was crazy. - Sandra always made the class interesting, which is the most important requirement for learning. - What I found most effective were Sandra's use of cultural examples to explain grammatical or semantic concepts. She could use interesting facts about Germany and the German people to make dry subject material interesting and memorable. Question 2: Please comment on any aspect of the course that in your opinion deserves particular mention. - Good teacher that encouraged speaking German in class. - This class is probably my favorite out of my five courses this semester. I love German, and Sandra made the class fun while still teaching us what we really needed to learn. - a very enjoyable course - Two out of my four german teachers here have been good, and McGury was exceptional. - Sandra, as an instructor, was phenomenal. I learned so much and felt challenged throughout the semester. She put a lot of effort and was always prepared. She is by far one of the best professors I have had at the University. Any shortcomings that I experienced throughout the semester, were caused by time issues and the syllabus.

All Subjects I Tutor

• Dyslexia
• English

• English ESOL
• French

• German
• Grammar