Resumé.
"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
--Albert Einstein
My Goals:
Option I: To apply the multi-tasking, organizational, and strong interpersonal skills I have improved within public education to a new occupation & setting.
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While I love teaching, I am well-equipped to adapt to a new, hopefully fast-paced and challenging job. I excel most in low levels of chaos.
Option II: To re-apply my skill set and love for learning to an educational institution in the Pittsburgh area.
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To positively impact my students’ lives by forging positive relationships, enhancing critical thinking skills, fostering a love for learning, and providing students with the tools to grow into better-rounded, more open-minded and tolerant citizens of an ever-increasingly globalized society.
"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice... choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education. --FDR
Teaching Experience.
Skills
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German: fluent, heritage
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html, CSS, JavaScript
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Technology
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Blended learning
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Personable & positive
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Intense work ethic
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Flexible and open-minded
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Creative and collaborative
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Student motivation and empowerment
High School Educator
German I, II, III Honors, IV Honors, and AP German
Carolina Forest High School
2015-2019
An integral part of an innovative and growing German program, I have helped to elevate our program to one of the most successful in South Carolina. After the past four years at CFHS, I remain energetic, empathetic, charismatic, and passionate about my students and their learning, due in large part to the positive impact I have on their lives. I will always be grateful for the coaching and club sponsorship opportunities, and thus the different capacities in which I was able to learn from my students. Although I will miss some of my them, we are all chasing our goals and moving on to better places.
Through working at Carolina Forest High School, I have also had the opportunity to collaborate with other professionals. We have learned a great deal from one another and continuously work toward more realistic, communicative, and hands-on methods in teaching our students the language and culture, as well as valuable life lessons. Especially now, world language courses are an essential means of teaching open-mindedness, cultural awareness, and tolerance in an increasingly globalized society.
In addition to my teaching roles, I am part of an activity committee at CFHS and the school improvement committee. I coached two seasons of track, and currently am a homebound instructor for students with various needs that prevent them from attending regular classes.
For sample lesson plans, student work, and classroom/professional development clips, please view my interactive portfolio.
Teaching
&
Technology
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Google Classroom/Drive
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Padlet
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Edublogger
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FlipGrid
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Pear Deck
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Kahoot and Quizlet
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Memrise and Duolingo
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SnapChat Exchange
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Instagram Contest
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Web Design
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Published Article
Professional Development
Personally, I have led two district professional development sessions with the topics of remaining in the target language during instruction (2015-16) and student motivation (2018). I quite like doing this, as it A) helps ignite ideas in others and B) is vastly entertaining and beneficial to remind teachers how their students feel. Because we are the only school in the entire district with a German program, I enjoy beginning the sessions as I would my German I classes, something both I and the many Spanish teachers enjoy.
Although a fair number of professional development sessions have been erased due to hurricanes, my colleague and I are both members of the AATG (American Association for Teachers of German) and SCFLTA (South Carolina Foreign Language Teachers Association) and attend our chapter's meetings twice a year. This has always been a great opportunity to connect with teachers from across the state and share a wealth of resources. One year, we were also sent to the nationwide language conference for three days in Boston.
Unique Student Opportunities
Friendship Connection
Each year, we have been a participating school in this affordable exchange program. Students can either host a German teen for free, or pay to do the full exchange. For the full exchange, our American students then travel to Germany in June to live with the same person they hosted here in the U.S., also for a month. By doing so, they truly get a feel for the country and the people, rather than racing around Europe for ten days and $4,500. We have wonderful success with this program, and absolutely no safety issues.
Field Trips
In the past, we have both traveled to the College of Charleston for German day and a job fair, as well as visited Coastal Carolina University to hear Boeing speak. This allows students better opportunities to see real-world application of their course work, and also ignites a fire in some of them to actually think about the future.
German Club
Our German Club, in conjunction with our chapter of the German Honor Society, participates a great deal in activities during school hours as well as in the community. We have performed a fairy tale for the local first graders (all in German, with sets created by students), read to Kindergartners, educated middle schoolers at a Cultural Heritage Night, held our own German Christmas treat bake-off, and more.
Student Teaching
ELA, German II, II Honors, some IB
Scarlett Middle School and Northville High School
2014-2015
As part of the Masters and Certification Program at the University of Michigan, we all did a rotation both in a middle and high school. We also helped at the Detroit Alternative School several Saturdays. I gained experience both in Title I and relatively high SES schools, within and without my future content area concentration. Inadvertently, I also attended an IB professional development day, which has actually been quite helpful in my current AP course creation.
Teacher Assistant
5th Grade Deutsch als Muttersprache
Deutsche Schule Ann Arbor (DSAA)
2015
As part of one of my undergraduate German courses, I had the opportunity to assist a fifth grade teacher at the DSAA during their Saturday classes. I planned and executed games, as well as mini-lesson plans. Apart from speaking in German the entirety of class, a main goal was to prepare almost all of the students for a proficiency test in order to return to German schools once their parents were done working in the Detroit area.
Other Work.
Longbridge (Switzerland)
English Teacher and Camp Counselor
2016
I spent a month in the summer in an English immersion camp with 45 Swiss children ranging in age from 13 to 17. We taught English via a variety of activities during one morning and one afternoon session, interspersed with other language acquisition games and culminating with a large and intricately planned evening program. For more information visit http://www.longbridge.ch/home/
Panera Bread Co.
Cashier/Barista, master pastry eater
2014
Undergraduate Admissions
Administrative Office Assistant
2011-2014
I worked with incoming applications for LS&A in a team environment, upgrading from the traditional filing system to electronic documentation and filing.
IJGD German Volunteer (Ingolstadt)
2011
As part of a summer language and volunteer program, I helped to plan, design and execute the Kinderfest (festival for children) with students from other countries. During this time, I not only acted as a translator from English to German and vice versa, but also worked the information and face-painting sections of the festival.
Education.
University of Michigan
2014 - 2015
Masters of Arts with Certification (MAC Program), Secondary Education
German Major, 3.99 GPA, advanced low OPI
University of Michigan
2010 - 2014
B.A. German Concentration
Psychology Concentration
Graduated with distinction; GPA 3.8. Despite having a part-time job, I also took advantage of some of the variety of clubs Michigan has to offer by actively participating in German Club, Circle K (volunteer work), and K-Grams (acting as a pen-pal to a grade school student). A runner, I ran with the Running Club from time to time as well, racing in the Detroit Marathon in 2013 and qualifying for Boston.
Goethe Institut Schwäbisch Hall
2012 & 2013
Level C2
I loved living and studying here to such a great extent, I attended two summers here. Although a small town in Baden-Wurttemberg, there was an endless amount to see and experience, in part due to the ease of utilizing public transportation in order to travel almost anywhere in Germany. The area was beautiful and the Schwabians very warm and welcoming. Not only was I taking classes in the mornings and living completely immersed in German culture (something not new to me, as I lived with my grandmother in Thuringia every summer for months), but I was also learning through the cultures of my classmates; at the school itself, over 30 countries were represented! It was a fascinating experience--I met many great people, learned a great deal about languages and cultures, and saw and experienced amazing things through travel to places such as the Bavarian Alps, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, and more. I love Germany and still return every summer.
Elmwood High School
Elmwood, IL
Graduated May 2010
Valedictorian, graduated with beyond a 5.0 (5.0 scale)
Honors
&
Awards
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Teacher of the Year Nominee, 2017 & 2018
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Gifted & Talented Teacher Certification
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University of Michigan James B. Angell Scholar
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University Honors, 6 Semesters
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Member Phi Beta Kappa Society
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Illinois State Scholar
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Sterling Merit Award
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EB Athlete of the Week
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Valedictorian