Years before I began my undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon, I told my mother, a long-time worker in the field of education, that I would never become a teacher. I had been disillusioned by school during my time as a student, and I wanted nothing more than to get my Bachelor's and leave classrooms behind. Almost immediately, I found in linguistics a love of language. Soon after, I found in the studying of language acquisition a love of teaching. I threw myself into every tutoring and volunteering opportunity I could find, and each moment I spent only furthered my conviction that my future was in language teaching. I joined the Language Teaching Studies program, and have only continued to find my passion since.

Since beginning my time at LTS, I have had numerous opportunities to teach, tutor, and observe in language teaching classrooms. I have worked in language teaching contexts that cater to learners across ages and proficiencies. I have developed a love for thoughtful, intentional lesson planning and curriculum design, and a passion for the inclusion of authentic sociocultural materials in the classroom. I have read and researched extensively on the development of literacy skills in ESL teaching contexts, and the ways to provide useful and effective explicit instruction. And I have explored ways to meet students' individual learning needs, so that each student in my classroom will have an equitable path to success.

As I continue in my teaching career, I am working passionately to further improve myself as an educator. I hope to delve even further into Digitally Mediated Language Learning and Game-based Learning, and I am actively looking for opportunities to continue my research into ESL literacy. This portfolio represents a self-discovery of my identity as a teacher, and highlights a year's worth of growth and improvement as I developed my pedagogical knowledge and instructional experience.