Relevant Experience

September 2017-Present: Language and Cultural Assistant with BEDA Madrid

Colegio Santa Rosa in Zaragoza, Spain | Colegio San Vicente de Paul in Cartagena, Spain

For as long as I can remember, my ultimate personal goal was to live in Europe. When I found the Bilingual English Development and Assessment (BEDA) program, I knew that this could be a great opportunity not only to live in Spain but also to develop professionally. This was my third bilingual working environment and it afforded me the opportunity to improve my own Spanish while creating engaging lessons for my students to practice their English skills.

While my role is focused on spoken English, I pulled in my experience using all four modalities to help create dynamic classes for my students to enjoy. My classes have ranged from Infantil (ages 3-5) to Bachillerato (ages 16-18). While sometimes, I have found it challenging to have such a wide range of students, it has only enriched my own experience to be able to work with a range of academic abilities, ages, and backgrounds.

September 2016- May 2017: Field Experience and Student Teaching at Cheektowaga Central Schools and Niagara Falls City Schools

As a part of the University of Buffalo Masters of Education Program, we were required to spend one full academic year completing observations and student teaching apprenticeships in two local schools. The English to Speakers of Other Languages program required 50% instructional time in primary and secondary placements. I spent September - March in Cheektowaga High School (CHS), observing classes in many content areas focused on ELL students. My practicum began in January and was one of the most important periods of my teaching career.

In CHS, the ELL student population was diverse. There were students who were refugees with limited formal education. Some students struggled academically and were in Special Education programs. Some students were gifted but with a very low language of English. This position in particular taught me the importance of differentiation in instruction. Additionally, this was the school that my students really leaned on my instruction and help. I was available after school for two hours daily to help students complete content coursework or to play language learning games. My time with this incredible group of students was far too short - I will never forget them.

After CCHS, I spent March-May in Geraldine Mann Elementary School in Niagara Falls, NY. This placement was one of the first true co-teaching environments I worked in. The classes were often split into literacy stations, the content teacher would allow me to work with students at the writing station. This was also the first time that I was introduced formally to the New York State Standardized testing for ELL students. Out of the ten week placement, five weeks were spent testing. While at times this was taxing, it was extremely important to see the overall process of assessing language learning.

February-August 2015: Americorps term of Service at Health Sciences Charter School, Buffalo, NY

After volunteering in Colombia, I decided I wanted to finish the year of service in my hometown of Buffalo, NY. I applied for a 6th month term of service and completed 900 hours of volunteering at Health Sciences Charter School. While there, I was a support teacher in the Social Studies department. My primary focus was working with two co-teachers on the Participation in Government course. Before I arrived, the course was designed to work in Google Classroom but needed some major development throughout my term of service. My coteachers and I redesigned the curriculum with our students in mind and also planned and implemented lessons each Thursday that were technology-free. On one such Thursday, I set up a field trip at the Federal Courthouse where the students talked to judges, police, lawyers and public defenders. Many students remarked that it was an eye opening experience to have as teenagers from the inner city.

In addition to Government, I was a push in support teacher in Economics and, after seeing the need, US History. Both classes were large and were required for graduation. Although it was not mandatory, I enjoyed helping with US History, so I dropped my planning period to push in with support. I particularly focused on one student who was on the brink of graduation - she needed to pass many classes in order to walk the stage. Luckily, after her initial suspicion, she started to come for help after school from me as well as her 3 class periods that I worked in. That student walked the stage with her peers - when we called and gave her the news, she fell off her bicycle.

As Americorps members, we had monthly professional development seminars that we participated in. The seminars varied and involved everything from poverty simulations to resume workshops. Americorps was dedicated in developing professional alumni who would contribute to the local community significantly when out terms ended. We also engaged in a plethora of school activities, fundraisers, field trips.

August 2014-January 2015: Volunteer English Teacher at Ambientalista School in Cartagena, Colombia

Some of the other Volunteers at a Hello Cartagena event

My time at the Ambientalista was brief but extremely valuable to my development as a teacher. I initially had signed up for a program to go to volunteer in Thailand but unfortunately, our program was cancelled due to a military coop. When presented with the other options, it seemed like moving to Cartagena was the best fit for me. The one catch was that I was going to miss the month of Orientation by the time I got to the country which did affect my ability to use the language, handle culture shock, and understand the focus of Colombian schools.

Other volunteers and I as judges of our high school's English song competition

I was lucky enough to be placed in an amazing school in the barrio San Jose de los Campaños. I was asked to work with the primary classes focusing on English oral vocabulary and pronunciation. My school, headed by rectora Maria Auxiliadora, was one of the best schools in Cartagena and was known for its environmental focus. The classes were large - often over 40 children - but it was such a valuable experience. It really made me realize that there was so much about teaching that I needed to revisit and reflect on. The experience convinced me that it was time to pursue my graduate degree as soon as possible. When I was told that I was going to change schools, I was devestated. Due to a quirk with my program, I was going to have nowhere to work for over three months. Because of this, I thought it was important to continue my year of service. I came home and began my Americorps term of service.

I recently revisited the school and was reminded of how lucky I was to work with such a passionate principal, caring teachers and amazing students. My experience at the Ambientalista made me want to become the best ESL teacher I could be so I could give my best to my future students. I still miss my students peeking out of their classrooms to whisper "Seño!" and wave to me.

September 2011-June 2014: Latin Teacher, Mount Mercy Academy, Buffalo, NY

My time at Mercy was not only the longest but also the most enriching of my professional experiences. Please see my resume for more specific information, but read on for some of my overall take aways and thoughts about working at Mount Mercy.

My Latin Two class decided to surprise me with Roman Hairstyles before Christmas Break

My time at Mount Mercy started as a huge surprise. I came home from an amazing summer abroad and suddenly I started getting calls about working at this Catholic school in South Buffalo as a Latin teacher. To say I had not considered teaching before is not all together true but I did not see it happening so quickly. I interviewed with the principal, Margaret Staszak, and asked her to take a chance on someone with no teaching experience. I would not say I immedidately was an amazing teacher, but I did feel like I had a gift with connecting to my students. They embraced my kookiness and produced some truly spectacular work. One of my classes in my first year even nominated me to receive the Spirit of Mercy award at the end of the year, which you can view here.

Throughout my time at Mount Mercy, I was able to become involved in many aspects of the school. I was a moderator for Rachel's Challenge and student government. For Rachel's Challenge, we wanted to empower the students to be the positive change they wanted to see in the school. We helped coordinate a gift drive for needy students and made sure all students received kindness cards throughout the year. The moderation of student government was also a substantial job. I was responsible for collaborating with students and other moderators to plan Spirit week, the Winter Dance, holiday candy exchanges, community outreach, retreat days, field days and many other weekly occurances.

The 2011 crew proudly sitting in our deepest trench

In the summers of 2011 and 2012, I participated in an archaological field school in the town of Hassloch, Germany. Both summers, we were excavating a tumulus, a bronze age burial ground, in a nearby forest. The first summer we focused on learning the precise technique from our German counterpoints. We made two perpendicular trenches and excavated approximately 2 meters into the tumulus. I was able to work with Paul, the local archaeological surveyer, who taught me how to survey the surroundings appropriately. I also spent a lot of time working with Frank, a professional archaeologist in the Rhineland Pfalz, who was a mentor on how the precision necessary when working with archaeology.

In addition to digging our tumulus, we were able to take many day trips to local museums, cities, and other sites that gave us insight to the Bronze Age history of the area. The above picture was taken on a day trip to the city of Heidelberg where we visited the university and hiked to the top of the Heilegenberg (the mountain in the background) to see a Nazi theatre, the remains from Bronze Age hill tribes and a Medieval monestary.

During the second summer, we were able to excavate a quarter of the entire tumulus. We had considerbly more finds of different types of artifacts and remains and shared a similar comraderie even in our multilingual worksite. This picture was taken on the 4th of July with the entire crew including Mattias and Stephan, French imaging specialsts, Dr. Jordan, a British archaeologist, along with his children and dog! Luckily, I got the place of honor holding Maya and hanging out with Max and Emma, the two children who frequently visited our site. The full blog from this year of excavations can be found here, along with my glib post about our yellow water mister, here.