Professional Development

Equity in Instruction Leadership Academy (EILA)

During the spring of 2019, I participated in the Equity in Instruction Leadership Academy (EILA) through my workplace, the Community College of Aurora. The goal of EILA is to understand who our teaching practices are and are not working for. As an institute that focuses on equity, this means the primary focus is on understanding how race/ethnicity plays a role in how students of color (Asian, Black, Latinx, Native American, and other groups) are experiencing our courses and college. EILA uses a framework of participatory action research in which the participants act as the researchers into their own classes. Participants conduct inquiries such as classroom observations, document reviews, deconstructing classroom practices, surveying students, and reviewing data disaggregated by race/ethnicity and gender to make visible the ways in which minoritized students are experiencing our classrooms.

Presenter, Annual Pace University Faculty Institute

In May 2018, I presented preliminary research on the challenges that non-native English speakers face in college classrooms. The Pace University Faculty Institute is an annual event bringing together hundreds of faculty across New York. 

Title: Diversity and Language: International Students in the University Classroom

Description: Pace University has 1,700+ international students representing more than 128 countries. For most of these students, English is not their first language. Add to this group the immigrant and long-term resident students who speak English as a second language (ESL), Pace has a sizable percentage of students who are nonnative speakers of English. These students bring a diversity of language, attitudes, and cultures that enhance our institution. Yet, many of our ESL students report feeling like outsiders in their university classes. From stereotyping “foreign students” to misunderstanding the linguistic and cultural challenges that ESL students face, many professors are devaluing a large portion of our student body. This session will present techniques for working with ESL students that professors across disciplines can use to highlight diversity and increase positive learning outcomes for all students.

Presenter, Annual Pace University Faculty Institute

During the Spring of 2018, I was part of a committee seeking to develop and implement an inclusive, anti-racist writing curriculum for first-year students at Pace University. In May 2018, we presented our findings at the Pace University Faculty Institute. 

Title: Strategies for Implementing an Inclusive, Antiracist Curriculum in English 120 Honors

Presenter, Tech in Ten, a New York Region Workshop

Tech in Ten workshops are sponsored by NYS TESOL. Each presenter has ten minutes to demonstrate a tech tool for ESL education. In November 2016, I was asked to present a novel idea for incorporating technology into the classroom.

Title: Using Podcasts in L2 Instruction

Description: In ten minutes, teachers will learn 2 activities they can use to incorporate podcasts into their curriculum: Extensive Listening Projects and Student-Produced Podcasts. Teachers will be provided with some resources they can use to listen to and record podcasts with their students.  

Presenter, NYS TESOL Annual Conference

I was selected to conduct a workshop at the 2015 NYS TESOL Annual Conference in White Plains, New York on using podcasts in L2 instruction. 

Title: Using Podcasts in the L2 Classroom

Description: Podcasts are a powerful and effective language learning technology, but few teachers are using them. This workshop details how podcasts can be used to improve L2 listening, speaking, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Participants will be introduced to podcast resources and activities they can incorporate into their lessons. Specifically, participants will learn best practices for selecting and using podcasts with their students as well as how to create a class podcasting project, where their students work in groups to write, record, and publish their own podcasts. 

Consuming and creating digital media such as podcasts can not only help our students improve their L2 proficiencies, it can also expand their global literacies. Hundreds of thousands of stories from around the world are available for download directly to their iPods. Just as easily, our students can record and share their own voices. More teachers should be using podcasts in their classrooms. This workshop aims to show teachers how to do it. 

Winner, APPLE Award for Excellence

My master's thesis entitled Second Language Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition Through Extensive Listening to Podcasts was selected by the Department of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Teachers College, Columbia University for the Applied Linguistics and Language Education (APPLE) Award for Excellence. This honor is awarded yearly to recognize the most outstanding master's thesis within the department.

Presenter, Applied Linguistics Winter Conference

I was selected to present my research at the 2015 NYS TESOL Applied Linguistics Winter Conference (ALWC).

Title: Second Language Lexical Inferencing: Learning Strategies and Success

Abstract: How do L2 learners infer the meaning of unknown words? Which knowledge sources are the most successful for inferencing? This presentation reports on an introspective study that was conducted to investigate the potential relationship between lexical inferencing success and the knowledge sources L2 learners use when confronted with unknown words in a text. Data were collected through introspective think-aloud protocols of four advanced ESL learners who attempted to infer new word meanings from context. The results of this study show that L2 learners use a variety of knowledge sources when inferring the meaning of unknown words while reading. Contrary to previous research, participants did not cite background knowledge of the topic as helping them infer the meaning of unknown words. The results also show that word morphology was used most often in correct lexical inferencing and that participants were more likely to use a single knowledge source while inferencing rather than a combination of knowledge sources. This presentation discusses the pedagogical implications for lexical inferencing strategy instruction. 

TESOL Methods Workshop : Trends in Curriculum Design

During this workshop, my group and I collaborated to design a curriculum for a course we would likely teach in the future. The result of our efforts was a flipped classroom curriculum for a university-level English for academic purposes (EAP) course.

Over the course of two days, we successfully designed a curriculum, created a course website, syllabus, student needs analysis, as well as a sample lesson plan to showcase our vision. You can view the curriculum we designed and our final project here: Academic English Course 

About the workshop: Teachers College, Columbia University two-day workshop focused on curriculum and course design for adult learners. Participants are introduced to factors in course development such as context, needs, goals and objectives, materials and evaluation, course organization and content conceptualization. They also explore, discuss, and create resources and materials for their target student population.

TESOL Methods Workshop : Trends in Online Teaching

During this workshop, I had the chance to examine different ways of employing and integrating online teaching with face-to-face instruction. As part of my final project, I produced a sample course introduction Vialogue and designed an online quiz. 

About the workshop: Teachers College, Columbia University two-week workshop introduced participants to the basics and best practices of online teaching. The workshop simulated an online class, so that students got a chance to experience the class from the online learner's perspective. Different workshop modules focused on fostering a collaborative online environment, addressing student concerns, evaluating online materials, and providing substantive feedback. The class was conducted on Moodle. 

New York State Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (NYS TESOL)

I am a member of NYS TESOL and Operations Chair for the 2015 TESOL Applied Linguistics Winter Conference (ALWC) at Teachers College, Columbia University. 

NYS TESOL supports professional educators concerned with the education of English language learners at all levels of public and private education in New York State. The interests of NYS TESOL include classroom practices, research, program and curriculum development, funding, and legislation. - Adapted from the NYS TESOL website