I told my friend Malahkiyah that I was going to explain one of my teaching strategies or “parables” that I shared with my student(s) who were being disruptive during the class. Here goes…

ME: Let me explain something to you all. This classroom is a bank. I am the bank teller and the knowledge that I dispense to you is the money. Each of you are here to make a withdrawal. Some of you need your money (knowledge) to one day pay for college. Others may want to start a business or maybe buy someone you love something nice.

As a new Ph.D. graduate actively engaged in the faculty search process I have been fortunate to have a plethora of wonderful experiences post-graduation.  Currently, I am finding myself in a position to give back to the students who served to motivate me to pursue my doctorate degree in Adult Education Learning and Organization Development.

I am applying for university professor positions and was also blessed to be welcomed back as a long-term substitute science teacher with the Columbus City Schools (CCS) district in Ohio.  There are no words to express the joy that I have for teaching and learning.  This is especially true as I am able to work with our ESL, immigrant and racial minority group students attending CSS.  Being a substitute teacher with the capacity to accept long-term working assignments with pre-K through high school students has been great!  It has allowed me to introduce my scholarship, perform community engaged work, and utilize the academic training I gained during my time at the University of Georgia.

Additionally, the invaluable experiences that I gained as an educator living abroad in Chile, South America, while also serving as a visiting scholar at the Universidad Católica del Maule, have all  come together as applied learning to the benefit of the students that I am now teaching here in the United States.  Below are some recent photos from my assignment at Independence High School and words of thanks I received  from both my students and instructional professionals who evaluated my teaching this past October.  I was able to effectively use the learning style and problem-solving constructs obtained through my research using Spiral Dynamic Theory in order to help ESL students learn.  I also was able to use foundational adult learning philosophy such as co-generative group learning in the production of lesson plans and the delivery of academic content that helped our immigrant population of culturally diverse students to learn mathematics more effectively.

#ILoveBeingAnEducator  ❤

Powerpoint presentation used to test prep for examines.

My incentives and tactile learning games helped make learning engaging and exciting!

Using games to promote collective group learing and mastery of mathematics core competencies.

Using whatever materials and resources avaialbe to make high-quality learning be realized in our classroom.

Sharing best practices and teaching pedagogy with ELL/ESL Instructional Professionals.

Teacher Evaluation from my students.

Homemade cards and letters of thanks from my students. ❤

Our ESL students arrived to the US from different countries around the world. Many enroll with limited English language abilities