Teaching Experience
At Brown and Holy Cross, I have had the privilege to experience a variety of teaching contexts. I have been students’ first contact with the language, assisted advanced students in bridging the gap between classroom language and literary analysis, and helped develop the professional language capacities of medical students with Hispanic patients. I have taught and tutored students of all ages, and who were interested in learning Spanish for a variety of reasons. I have also been fortunate to have the chance to further reflect on and develop my own teaching practice by acting as a mentor for my peers.
Additionally, I have taken considerable advantage of the departmental and campus resources, such as the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, as well as the presence of the Instituto Cervantes at Brown University, to cultivate my reflective teaching practice. I am constantly reappraising the effectiveness of my instruction and instructional materials based on student feedback, and believe my enthusiastic and demanding, but relaxed classroom demeanor is effective in providing an exciting, comfortable, and authentically task-based environment in which students feel confident enough to speak up, make errors, and improve. I have been delighted to see many of my students go on to perform adeptly and confidently in advanced Spanish courses, to take advantage of study abroad programs, or to become concentrators in the field of Hispanic Studies.
Teaching assistants are responsible for individually teaching sections of multi-section courses, implementing the Department of Hispanic Studies' syllabi, designing and implementing daily lesson plans, grading papers and exams, and holding weekly office hours. Teaching fellows have the additional responsibilities of mentoring new TAs by sharing materials and teaching advice, and assisting the faculty course supervisor with administrative tasks. I taught all courses in the Department of Hispanic Studies as a teaching assistant unless otherwise marked.
* indicates that courses were taught as a teaching fellow
** indicates an original course designed and implemented by me
Language Courses Taught at the Department of Spanish, College of the Holy Cross
- Intermediate Spanish II (Fall 2011, anticipated Spring 2012)
- The second course in the two-semester intermediate sequence, this fast-paced class provides further practice in advanced aspects of the Spanish language, with a continued focus on Hispanic culture.
- Introduction to Literary Genres (anticipated Spring 2012)
- Designed as an introduction to drama, poetry, cinema, and prose fiction of 20th-century Spain and Spanish America, this course familiarizes students with literary analysis and further develops their oral and written skills.
Language Courses Taught at the Department of Hispanic Studies, Brown University
- Basic Spanish I (Fall 2006)
- This is a fast-paced course for beginners with little or no prior experience speaking Spanish. The course stresses acquisition of skills including speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing, as well as providing an introduction to the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.
- Basic Spanish II (Spring 2007)
- A continuation of Basic Spanish I. This course continues to focus on acquisition of communicative skills (speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing), and completes the introduction to cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. With successful completion of the course students will be able to understand simple texts, carry on short spontaneous conversations involving everyday topics (such as modern day life and its pressures, health, art and culture, nature and the environment, relationships) and write simple texts with good command of grammar and sentence structure.
- Intermediate Spanish II (Fall 2007)
- This course offers an exploration of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures through a variety of thematic foci: the world of work, the arts, globalization and technology, leisure, and celebrations. It focuses on vocabulary building, the examination of some of the more difficult points of grammar, and moving students towards a more sophisticated level of comprehension and expression. Students work with readings, including literary texts; songs; film; and the visual arts.
- Advanced Spanish I: Conversation and Culture (Spring 2008)
- This course focuses on the development of speaking and listening skills, with particular attention to fluency and accuracy. Students work with a variety of readings (news, literature, etc.), videos, movies and music and participate in daily classroom discussions that engage critical thinking skills and encourage in-depth exploration of issues relevant to the Hispanic world. There is also ample opportunity for students to explore topics of their own interest through student-led activities and presentations. Grammar is reviewed and writing skills continue to be developed.
- Advanced Spanish II: Advanced Composition (Fall 2008, *Spring 2008, *Fall 2010)
- This course focuses on development and improvement of writing skills across genres and with particular emphasis on the academic essay. The writer's workshop format emphasizes peer and instructor feedback as well as multiple revisions of written assignments. Readings and films promote advanced level linguistic and cultural analysis centered on topics including identity, media and communications, human rights, and relations between the U.S. and the Hispanic world. It offers individualized grammar review.
(top ↩)
Courses Taught at the Brown University Medical School**
- Medical Spanish (Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011)
- This is a course I designed specifically for second-year medical students. The course focuses on the acquisition of practical medical vocabulary and its implementation in authentic, useful medical scenarios.
(top ↩)
Courses Taught at Continuing Studies, Brown University**
- Spanish 3 (Spring 2010)
- This is a course I initially designed specifically for a small class of professionals interested in Spanish. The course focused on improving their capacity to meaningfully communicate while strengthening core grammatical understanding. In later semesters, the class was altered to accommodate students who wished to repeat the course in order to further strenghten their language abilities with more challenging authentic, communicative materials.
- Spanish 2 (Spring 2011)
- This was a course I designed to provide the strong foundation in grammar and basic vocabulary necessary to advance to Spanish 3. Grammar and vocabulary practice was provided through textbook materials as well as authentic sources such as newspapers, literature, music, and film.
(top ↩)