A bit about me...
​
Momentan unterrichte ich Exploratory und Deutsch I an der North Hills Middle School. Meine Schüler sind ausgezeichnet und lernen so viel, so schnell! Immer bin ich überaus glücklich, wenn ich höre, wie oft sie zu Hause oder in anderen Kursen Deutsch mit einander reden. 2019-2020 war ich die Deutsch I, III, und III Honors Lehrerin an der High School. Wir haben nicht nur eine Pandemie überlebt, sondern sind mehr als Menschen gewachsen und haben mit Durchhaltevermögen weiter gelernt.
​
Am Anfang meiner Karriere unterrichtete ich 2015-2019 Deutsch I, II, III Honors, IV Honors und AP Deutsch an der Carolina Forest High School. Ich habe auch ein Stepteam und Deutsch Verein geleitet; dazu war ich auch eine Girls Distance Track Coach.
Mai 2015 bekam ich meinen Masters in Secondary Education von der Uni Michigan, nach nur einem intensiven Studienjahr.
Vorher studierte ich Deutsch und Psychologie als Hauptfächer an der Universität Michigan; 2014 erwarb ich meinen Universitätsabschluss mit einem BA. Die fünf Jahre waren hervorragend…
...Go Blue! Im Laufe des Studiums reiste ich jeden Sommer nach Deutschland, um meine Oma und meinen Onkel dort zu besuchen, und auch um am Goethe Institut in Schwäbisch Hall zu studieren.
Seit ich ein Baby war, war ich relativ oft in Deutschland, da ein Teil meiner Familie noch dort wohnt. Ich mag es sehr, in Deutschland und Tabarz zu sein----es ist meine Heimat. Vielleicht werde ich irgendwann in Berlin oder in Süddeutschland irgendwo wohnen und Englisch unterrichten…Das Leben ist lang und ich habe viel Zeit, um mehr zu reisen, neue, tolle Menschen kennen zu lernen und neue Erfahrungen zu sammeln.
Als ich in der High School war, wohnte ich in Elmwood, Illinois, in einem ganz kleinen Dorf zwischen Maisfeldern in der Mitte von Nirgendwo. Bei uns gab es keine Deutschkurse (da seid ihr besser dran).
Einige von meinen Lieblingsdingen:
die deutschen Bäckereien besuchen (Brötchen, Semmeln)
Bücher lesen
Basketball spielen
Im Wald wandern…. wie grün die Umgebung im Sommer in Deutschland ist! und die vielen Waldwanderwege!
die Farbe blau
Sport & draußen sein
Neue Erfahrungen
Reisen
Skills
-
Heritage speaker of German (fluent)
-
Personable
-
Intense work ethic
-
Flexible and Open-Minded
-
Creative and Collaborative
-
Teaching with Technology
-
Drive to continuously learn
-
Self-betterment: have attended multiple AATG and ACTFL conferences
​
Teaching Experiences
German Teacher
(World Language Exploratory & German I, III, III Honors)
North Hills Middle and High School
2019-current
​
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, I enjoy teaching both high school and middle school students here in the Pittsburgh area and genuinely love my job. My students are the best part of every work day, and I always strive to foster critical thinking, creativity, and a positive classroom environment. All of my students learn to communicate in the language and can speak spontaneously on a variety of questions, not only because this is good practice, but because it is also more engaging for them (particularly after so much virtual instruction where breakout rooms and Zooms were the best we had). Be it a German egg hunt outside, race games in the classroom, GimKit Among Us, or speed-dating speaking activities, my students have fun while engaging with the language and each other.
Through collaboration with my department, I helped to redesign our German curriculum through the use of authentic media and a more proficiency-focused, ACTFL standards-based assessment style. My first year was spent with the high school students and then, due to seniority, I was moved to the Middle School, where I helped to build a strong German program that is now bursting at the seams. I love teaching both the upper level German courses to young adults, as well as starting with a blank slate/igniting an interest and passion for the language and culture with my younger students.
​
German Teacher
(I, II, III Honors and IV Honors, AP)
Carolina Forest High School
2015-2019
​
For four years, I was an integral part of an innovative and rapidly growing German program. Energetic, empathetic, charismatic, and passionate about my students and their learning, I often had a positive impact on my students. In order to best give them all possible opportunities, I gave up my prep period each day in order to teach the AP course. Through working at Carolina Forest High School, I often had the opportunity to collaborate with other professionals; we learned a great deal from one another and continuously worked toward more realistic, communicative, hands-on methods in teaching our students the language and culture as well as valuable life lessons. Our classes are an essential means of teaching open-mindedness and acceptance in an increasingly globalized society. Throughout this experience, I gained a great deal of experience in presentation and student engagement, classroom management, coaching, and club sponsorship. I am especially proud of my distance runners and German Club!
​
​
Student Teacher
Scarlett Middle and Northville High School
2014 - 2015
As part of the MAC Program, we all began helping with the summer program at Scarlett Middle School, a title one school in Ann Arbor. I was placed in the ELA classroom with eighth graders I quickly grew to know and love, where I taught often in one-on-one or small group activities. While this was a great experience, more content-related learning occurred at Northville High School, where I began observing September 2014 with my mentor teacher, Dr. Hubert Rast. As he already knew me and my personality from University class and tutoring the previous year at NHS, he granted me a good deal of freedom and responsibility in the classroom, resulting in wonderful learning experiences (although they may have seemed slightly rough at the time).
After having helped prepare the finals for the IB and German 2/2H classes, I began lead teaching at the start of the second semester in January 2015 in Northville High, educating students in German 2 and German 2 Honors classes (2 preps).
Teacher Assistant
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, where class was held approximately three Saturdays out of every month. For each meeting, I planned a game/activity for the children, entirely in German, and also helped some one-on-one. Our class was for
students to whom German was a mother tongue, oftentimes whose parents were in the automotive industry. Apart from speaking in German the entirety of class, a main goal was to prepare almost all of the students to take a test in order to return to German schools once their parents were done working in the Detroit area.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Excel in:
-
Positive teacher-student relationships
-
Inspirational and motivational teaching
-
Differentiation and incorporation of student interests
-
Curriculum Design
-
Innovative Planning
-
Organization and quick execution of tasks
-
Delegation and problem resolution
Honors/Awards
-
Teacher of the Year Nominee, 2016-2018
-
University of Michigan James B. Angell Scholar
-
University Honors, 6 Semesters Undergraduate
-
Member Phi Beta Kappa Society
-
Illinois State Scholar
-
Sterling Merit Award
-
EB Athlete of the Week
-
Valedictorian
Teaching with Tech.​
-
Google Classroom / Google Suite
-
Padlet
-
German Musik
-
Web Searches/authentic materials
-
Duolingo and Memrise
-
GimKit, EduCandy, Kahoot, Quizlet
-
FlipGrid
-
Wordwall and Blooket
-
wizer.me
-
Edpuzzle and other video options
-
Smart/Promethean Boards
-
Microsoft Office
Other Work Experience
​
Longbridge
English Teacher and Camp Counselor
2016
​
I spent a month in the summer living in a house with 45 Swiss children ranging in age from 13 to 17. This was an immersion camp in which we taught English during a morning and afternoon session, interspersed with other language acquisition activities and culminating with a large and intricately planned evening program at the end of each day. For more information visit http://www.longbridge.ch/home/
​
Panera Bread Co.
Cashier/Barista, master pastry eater
2014
​
Undergraduate Admissions
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 Work Camp
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.
2010 - present
2010 - present
Education
University of Michigan
2014 - 2015
Masters of Arts with Certification (MAC Program), Secondary Education
German Major
A rigorous one-year program renowned for educating highly effective teachers, it's been quite a ride this past year! Beginning in June of 2014 and ending July 2015 (when placement ends for summer), I had the opportunity to receive valuable teaching experience throughout the entirety of the program, from a small group and one-on-one setting at Scarlette Middle School to observation and student teaching at Northville High School for the entirety of the NHS school year (Tuesdays and Thursdays until January 4, Monday-Friday the remainder of the school year). While I have been persevering and working hard, my students make everything worth it!
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
Finished at level C2
I loved living and studying here to such a great extent, I went back a second summer! 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 would always go back in a heartbeat.
Elmwood High School
Elmwood, IL
Graduated May 2010
-
Valendictorian, graduated with beyond a 5.0 (5.0 scale)
