Bio

I am a goal-driven professional Language B (English) educator with more than 4 years of teaching experience and a solid commitment to every student’s social and academic growth and development. I graduated from the University of Costa Rica, one of the best universities in Latin America. I have a bachelor’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language, a licentiate diploma in Educational Administration, and a licentiate diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

I started working as an IB Educator in 2019 at Yorkín School, the best private high school in Costa Rica. Since I arrived at the school, 100% of our students have successfully obtained their IB Diploma. Moreover, many of them have been able to join international universities from all around the world. Additionally, last year, 100% of my students obtained a 7 in their Language B internal assessments. I consider myself an expert in helping my students write their Extended Essays in Language B (English) and improve their writing, reading comprehension, and speaking skills.

Furthermore, I am committed to creating a learning atmosphere that is stimulating and encouraging to students. Finally, I can consistently individualize instruction based on student’s needs and interests.

Teaching Experience

Organization: Yorkín School
2019 – Present
Role: International Baccalaureate English B Teacher, English Teacher & English Department Chair.
Key Responsibilities
▪ Planning, preparing, and delivering lessons (Language, Literature, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge/CAE)
▪ Develop creative and responsive approaches to teaching and learning.
▪ Cambridge English Teacher.
▪ Helping students improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills via individual and group sessions.
▪ Checking and assessing students’ work.
▪ Designing school’s aims and objectives and implement policies.
▪ Supervising and evaluate school policy effects and act where necessary.
▪ Assess, organize and execute flexible curriculum and effective assessment framework.
▪ Strategize development of emerging technologies to extend the learning experience.
▪ Plan, support and assess individuals and teams’ work to ensure task delegation.

What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy is based on two principles: **Excellence and Impact. **

As an instructor, I always teach my students the importance of being outstanding and caring about the quality of every single thing you do in your life. I love working with my students to develop the best strategies to surpass ordinary standards. Moreover, I believe that teaching is about making a positive impact on the life of others. At the same time, you teach your students about the significance of their roles as scholars who can change the world through intercultural understanding and global engagement.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

First, I would establish a positive relationship based on respect and commitment. Second, I would attentively listen to my students’ concerns and learning needs to define their learner profile. Third, I would assess my student’s prior knowledge to understand what elements we should work on. Then, we would establish our learning objectives. Finally, I would select the best resources for developing our future lessons, and I would explain to my student how we can achieve our objectives.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I always try to share with my students my passion for learning. In this way, students are more likely to create their own emotional connection to learning. Moreover, I encourage them to share what they feel about learning, and I teach them to visualize what a finished project or task will look like. Furthermore, it is paramount to coach students to set realistic and challenging goals based on their personal learning strengths. Finally, I always support my students in committing themselves to get started on achieving their goals.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Motivation comes when a student can understand the relevance of a studied issue or concept. It is easier to stay motivated if you understand why you are learning something. Therefore, it is critical to incorporate students’ fields of interest into your lessons to show them that what they are learning can change their immediate context and the world around them.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

First, I would consider the learning style and my student’s personal learning strengths to find the best alternative to teach the difficult skill or concept. I would take my time to analyze the student’s performance, and we (teacher & student) would study and critically analyze the feedback that I have given to him or her.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

First, I pre-teach difficult vocabulary and concepts. Second, I would teach them different reading strategies such as skimming and scanning. Third, we (teacher & student) would deconstruct the text. The previous process involves recognizing specific elements from the text such as its purpose, context of production and reception, audience, register, style, and tone. I also believe that it is essential to teach them the value of reading every day. I also like to discuss the text with them after reading it critically.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

Thinking routines (circle of viewpoint, compass points, think-pair-share, etc.) that promote visible thinking are fantastic options for starting any lesson.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling with?

By incorporating their fields of interest in our lessons. Moreover, by giving praise to acknowledge student’s effort and important accomplishments.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?