English Language Learners

I currently teach adult ELL at the Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences (SCALE). I teach Level 1 students, so we focus on communication in everyday situations, an introduction to basic grammar, and familiar topics like food, family and work. I design two-hour lessons that aim to strike a balance between modes of speaking, listening, reading and writing, with an emphasis on small group conversation. I also seek to include cultural components in the class, through popular music, poetry, literature, film and visual arts. Though historically classes have been taught in-person, due to the pandemic we have switched to a remote model, so I am in an ongoing process of adapting curriculum to a virtual classroom.

SCALE

 

Art Education

I have spent most of my teaching career as an art educator and teaching artist. I have taught art at the Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts, the Boston Center for the Arts, and Art Resource Collaborative for Kids (ARCK), among other organizations. I have taught across a range of media: painting and drawing; sculpture, ceramics and weaving; printmaking and screenprinting; and video, installation, and murals. At different times I have worked with students from K-12 both in school classroom settings and OST projects (Out of School Time). Teaching in Boston, many of my students have been low-income students of color, and many of the projects I have led have approached art through a lens of social justice, or used a contemporary artist of color as an exemplar and catalyst.

Teaching Artist CV

Student Gallery

 
Afterschool chalk art.jpg

Somerville Community Schools

Along with teaching adult English Language Learners, I am a Lead SPED teacher in the afterschool program at the Brown School, through Somerville Community Schools. I work primarily with 3rd-5th grade students, leading STEM, Literacy and Arts clubs like Codebreakers, Newspaper and Creatorspace. We strive to integrate SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) into all aspects of the program, and also foster leadership opportunities for the older students.

Somerville Community Schools