Teaching

My teaching focuses on active learning, student engagement, community engaged scholarship, and bilingual/translingual pedagogy with experiential learning as a integral part of each class. I create a supportive plurlingual learning community for students to explore and think critically about language and linguistics.

Active Learning

My teaching centers around the concept of active learning, where students are the active creators of knowledge, and teachers are the facilitators. Active learning has been demonstrated as much more effective than traditional models of lecture-style teaching (Freeman et al., 2014; Jankowski, 2017; Prince, 2004). Furthermore, active learning promotes the development of life-long learners.

Community-Engaged Scholarship

A key component of the active learning and student-centered learning in in my courses is based on community-engaged scholarship. Community-engaged scholarship connects what is being taught in the classroom to to the surrounding community, cultural heritage, and local environment. Community-engaged scholarship is motivated by the belief that all communities have valuable intrinsic knowledge, assets, and resources. By partnering with the community, both the community and the student gain important insight. Additionally, engagement with the community promotes civic responsibility and leadership.

Bilingual/ Translanguaging Pedagogy

Where would a linguistics course be without a variety of language practices? In my courses,we will embrace all language varieties as having inherent value. Instead of a deficit perspective, we recognize multiple and diverse language practices as enriching our classroom environment, our learning, and ourselves. At any time, my students are encouraged to use Spanish, English or other languages or combinations of languages as a resource.

Teaching Experience

Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Undergraduate Coures:
ENGL 3370: Language and Culture
ENGL 4370: Introduction to Border Languages
ENGL 4395: Community Language Project
ENGL 4375: Language Acquisition
ENGL 3375: Intro to ESL

Graduate Courses:
ENGL 6361: Discourse Analysis
ENGL 6375: Language & Culture
ENGL 6366: Community Language Project
ENGL 6370: Intro to ESL (Teaching Methods Course)
ENGL 6374: Second Language Acquisition Theory

Lecturer in ESL and Linguistics, University of New Mexico- Los Alamos
Introduction to Linguistics
Beginning & Intermediate ESL

Teaching Assistant, University of Arizona
SPAN 160: Issues in Popular Culture of Latin America    CLAS 329: Art & Film History
INDV 101: Introductory Linguistics

Sole Instructor, University of Arizona
PORT 305: Portuguese for Spanish Speakers
ENG 101, 102: First Year Composition
ENG 108: First Year Composition for ESL Students

Volunteer Co-teacher for Graduate Level Course, University of Arizona
SLAT 596: Graduate Student Professional Seminar

Volunteer EFL Teacher, Church of the Brethren, São Paulo, Brazil
pre-K to adult

Bilingual Long-Term Substitute, Millville Public Schools, Millville, NJ
4th & 5th grade

Spanish Long-Term Substitute, Central Bucks High School, Doylestown, PA

Spanish 3 & 4

English Instructor, Instituto Cosmos, Cholula, Puebla, Mexico

pre-k and elementary