a) Detroit Board of Education, Mumford Senior High School. One school year as a permanently assigned substitute teacher.
b) American Language Institute (ALI), San Francisco State University. Spring 2001. Teacher Intern, Level 48, Advanced Academic Speaking and Listening Skills.
a) Michigan Economics for Human Development: Volunteer. Work included translating English and Spanish for staff and patients at weekly medical clinics set up for migrant farm workers and their families.
b) Detroit/Windsor Human Rights Coalition: Assistant shelter coordinator. Tutored individuals and small groups of Central American refugees in basic English.
c) Citizen Coach, Project SHINE, City College Mission Campus. Coached individuals and small groups of elderly immigrants to help prepare them for their American citizenship test. One semester.
d) Conversation Group Leader, ALI. Conversational skills practice with small groups of intermediate and beginner ALI students. Two Semesters.
e) English 212, Advanced Grammar for Writing. Teacher's Assistant. Individual tutoring sessions. One semester.
f) English 209, ESL: Composition I. Teacher's Assistant. Individual tutoring sessions. One semester.
g) English Tutoring Center. Weekly tutoring sessions with an English 310 (ESL: Compostion II) student. One semester.
Under construction. Someone once said that the ideal teacher is one who more frequently acts as a "guide on the side" rather than as a "sage on the stage".
a) Michigan State University, Bachelor of Arts Degree, (History and Spanish). 1983.
b) San Francisco State University, Master of Arts in English, (TESOL). Expected graduation: December 2001.
Interests in the ESL Community
For the next year my focus will be on the English for Academic Purposes of the advanced students I will be teaching at the ALI. I am however interested in the BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) that are the focus of many immigrant populations within the United States. And, finally, I am interested in the international community of online learners of English and other languages.
a) Friends, hiking, swimming, flowers, plants, Buddhism, art appreciation. If I had the money: scuba diving, travel, and sailing.
b) About my family: I have two brothers and two parents. My older brother Ken, and sister-in-law Deborah, live in Cambodia where they both taught English before going in to business for themselves writing tour guide books to places such as Ankor Wat and Sihanoukville, among others. My younger brother Dale, is an industrial designer who grew up drawing cars in our hometown of Detroit, where he still lives and draws cars, but now for the Ford Motor Company, and on a computer! He and his wife Renee have two beautiful daughters, Daniella and Alyssa. My mother Shirley trained as a graphic artist, and later went on to draw greeting cards, in the 1950s, when she met father Nelson. My dad worked for over thirty years as an advertising salesman. He sold advertising space in an industrial machinery tabloid to his manufacturer clients who supplied parts to the automobile industry and other industries. They are both happily retired in Orlando Florida where my mom is the president of an auxiliary of volunteers that raises money for a local hospital. Among other interests, my father organizes and runs nine-ball tournaments, (billiards), as well as attends art classes to refine his blossoming artistic skills as a caricaturist/cartoonist.
