Teaching

Teaching Experience

My teaching focuses on providing students with opportunities to engage in active learning in the classroom, whether it's an elementary language course or an introductory course in language acquisition. Students learn best by being involved and taking initiative in their own educational process. As such, I am a proponent of the flipped classroom approach, where students are introduced to new material as part of their homework, thus allowing for class time to be used for discussing, analyzing, and creating projects related to the day's topic. In my classes, students engaged in projects that are collaborative, creative, and multifaceted, following the principles of Project Based Learning. These projects develop skills that prepare them for success in the 21st century.

To date, I have taught in an array of settings: the non-profit sector, corporate classes, large and small public universities, and a private elite institution. I have worked in classrooms around the United States and internationally. These experiences have informed my views on the importance of diversity and have taught me how to create and adapt classes that appeal to a multitude of learners.

2019-present: Kansas State University

I am currently an Assistant professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages at K-State University. I teach a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses related to pedagogy, Spanish language, and linguistics. I am also involved in the Coordination of the Spanish Language Program, where I work with my colleague, Dr. Raelynne Hale to oversee our Spanish I-IV sequence, both in-person and online, as well as the graduate teaching assistants and instructors who teaching within this program.

In Spring 2021, I was a K-State Teaching & Learning Center Highlighted Teacher and am a K-State Teaching & Learning Center 2020-2021 Fellow Recipient. I have also presented for the TLC professional development series, which are made available on the TLC past events page or you using these links: "Pulling back the curtain: Illuminating the how and why of learning in our classes" and "Backward & Ungraded: Promoting Equity Through Assessment".

Office Hours:

Monday noon-1pm
Thursday noon-1pm
By appointment

I've designed a seminar in Bilingualism and Cognition that focuses on how different types of bilingualism affects cognition and how cognitive factors impact language use among bilinguals. I also developed an intermediate-level course for our department's Spanish for professional business contexts, which focuses on historical, social, and political circumstances that have affected and continue to impact commerce in the Spanish-speaking world.

I also teach the Second Language Pedagogy course for the Department of Modern Languages. In this class, students develop a knowledgeable, well-rounded teaching persona by examining psychological theories of learning, critical pedagogy, applied linguistics, and approaches to language learning. Throughout the semester, students compile a teaching portfolio that effectively communicates their beliefs and practices in the modern language classroom.

To promote formal Spanish language use and professional skills, I teach a course in Professional Spanish for Business Contexts, a course I redesigned to focus on the political, economic, and social movements related to commerce throughout the Spanish-speaking world from 1492 to today through a variety of texts, such as historical diary entries, legal statutes, marketing campaigns, literature, art, and film.

I also regularly teach an MA-level course in Advanced Spanish Grammar. In that course, students investigate Spanish grammar in use by searching digitalized corpora; they then visualize their findings so that they are accessible to a wider audience.

Curriculum Design

As coordinator of the Spanish language program, I redesigned the basic language sequence (first four semesters), including developing an Open Educational Resource (OER) for the 4th semester course that explores Spanish in the Great Plains and beyond. I have also worked collaboratively with other members of the Department of Modern Languages to create Multilingualism in the U.S., a speaking proficiency course for World Language students in the College of Education, and a new bridge course, Spanish Communication through Pop Culture, that prepares students for upper level Spanish courses. In Spring 2023 I received a grant through K-State Global Campus to develop an asynchronous section of 4th semester Spanish online and in 2024 I received a second K-State Global Campus Development Grant to design an asynchronous option for our Spanish 101 course.

2016-2019: Princeton University

I served as the course coordinator for Intensive Beginner / Intermediate Spanish at Princeton University, which is one of three courses that implements an online learning platform, Aprendo, rather than a traditional textbook. This online platform facilitates the flipped classroom approach by providing students with input on target grammar and vocabulary before coming to class, thereby maximizing class time allotted for interactive communication. Additionally, this tool allows us to incorporate current events and real-world material related to course content, which promotes student interest and engagement. You can read more about the project in the July 2019 issue of FLTMAG.

I also served as the chair of the Spanish language curriculum evaluation committee, which was charged with evaluating the sequence SPA 101-102/103 - SPA 107 that completes the Spanish language requirement at Princeton.

East Pyne, Princeton University

2009-2016: UMass Amherst

I joined the MA program at UMass Amherst in 2009 and continued to the doctoral program in 2011. In addition to my studies, I had an appointment as a Teaching Associate in Spanish, teaching all four courses for the requirement as well as Advanced Spanish Grammar, the first course of the major/minor. I also conducted online Spanish courses for Elementary Spanish I & II.

In addition to my work as a Teaching Associate in Spanish, I had a cross-departmental associateship in the Linguistics department teaching Introduction to Language Acquisition.

2015-2016: Westfield State University

In 2015, I began as an adjunct professor of Spanish in the World Languages and Cultural Studies department at Westfield State University, a small public university in western Massachusetts. Here, I developed a new writing curriculum to help beginner and intermediate-level students structure their written compositions while focusing on language use.

El Milán, Universidad de Oviedo, España

2013-2014: Universidad de Oviedo

In my second year of the doctoral program at UMass, I was selected to participate in the UMass-Oviedo instructor exchange program. I spent a year at the University of Oviedo in Asturias, Spain as a visiting lecturer teaching English at the Intermediate (B2 on the CEFR) and Advanced (C1) levels.

2006 Part II: GEOs English Academy

In July 2006 I began working at GEOs English Academy in Honolulu, Hawai'i leading their Children's English summer camp program. At the end of the summer, I transitioned to adult classes, teaching English courses ranging from beginning English grammar to advanced conversation.

2006 Part I: Phoenix Projects

After graduating from the University of Puget Sound, I spent four months teaching basic literacy and math skills to children in Kaqchikel-speaking Santa María de Jesús, Guatemala with the Phoenix Projects. This is where my interest in multilingualism and language acquisition was fomented.

2004-2005: ESL volunteer

In the last year of my BA degree at University of Puget Sound, I got involved with the Organization Centro Latino, a non-profit organization working with Latino immigrants in Tacoma, Washington. I regularly volunteered with their ESL classes, helping the class participants practice their English conversation skills and role-playing common situations.

Courses Taught

Kansas State University, Assistant Professor of Spanish (2019-present)

Graduate

Second Language Pedagogy
Bilingualism & Cognition
Advanced Spanish Grammar

Undergraduate

Professional Spanish for Business Contexts
Intermediate Spanish Conversation
Introduction to English-Spanish Translation
Spanish IV: el español en mi entorno

Coordination

Spanish I-IV

Princeton University, Lecturer (2016-2019)

Intensive Beginner / Intermediate Spanish - course coordinator (2017-2019)
Beginner Spanish II
Intermediate Spanish, Spanish in a neocolonial world
Intermediate / Advanced Spanish, The Latino community in the U.S.

Westfield State University, Adjunct Faculty (2015-2016)

Elementary Spanish III

University of Massachusetts Amherst, Teaching Associate (2009-2016)

Elementary Spanish I & II
Online Elementary Spanish I & II
Intensive Elementary Spanish
Intermediate Spanish I & II
Advanced Spanish Grammar, Teaching Assistant
Introduction to Language Acquisition, Teaching Assistant

Universidad de Oviedo, Visiting Lecturer (2013-2014)

Intermediate Conversational English, level B2
Advanced Conversational English, level C1

GEOS English Academy Honolulu (2006)

English Conversation
Elementary English
Summer English Kids Camp

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