Curriculum Vitae

Ethos

I believe that emotional intelligence is an essential ability needed to build a mindful community.  I aim to support children's socio-emotional development by constructing a safe environment where I can enhance experiential learning through playful inquiry, agency, and collective reflections that support multicultural relationships.

Experience

Early Years Teacher-Researcher

International School Eastern Seaboard- IB School. Thailand.

August 2018 - present

• Nurture children's wonders through the IB Learner Profile, applying units of inquiry to empower knowledge into taking action towards community projects that stimulate an ecology of listening.

• Foster student agency by developing a safe, caring, and cooperative environment of individuals who have a voice in their community.

• Guide inquiry and stand-alone lessons through split-screen teaching to develop Approaches to Learning as children become agentic participants.

• Construct provocations that stimulate Story Workshop experiences, wonders into Maths discoveries, and metacognitive experiences of UOIs.

• Implement the Inquiry Cycle to guide learning experiences of UOIs.

• Apply technology as a creative tool with a meaningful purpose for students to document and reflect on their learning experiences. 

• Develop documentation for individual and collective activities that involve provocations, invitations, discoveries, and exploration of child-led interactions and dialogue. 

• Holistically evaluate student performance through daily observations and differentiated formative assessments related to the units of inquiry.

• Create and deliver mindfulness activities that stimulate socio-emotional skills, open-mindedness, risk-taking, and reflective participation that promotes dialogue in the support of multicultural perspectives.

• Maintain daily communication with families using the Seesaw platform to tell stories of children's learning experiences, inviting community engagement.

Reggio-Inspired Teacher

Systems Little House International Kindergarten. Vietnam.

August 2015 - June 2016​

• Stimulated children’s interest where self-discovery and innate discovery was the result.  

• Fostered children as individuals who are able to construct their own learning by interacting with others in their environment, while becoming empathetic communicators.

• Created weekly newsletters showcasing students' discoveries and developments as child-led approaches that can be adapted at home.

• Produced documentation for special classroom projects which explained individual children’s thoughts, their understanding of the world, thus, showing transformation in their discoveries and perspectives.

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Bilingual Reading Specialist

Walnut Creek Elementary. Austin ISD. Texas, USA.

January 2012 - July 2014

• Supported the development and implementation of curriculum, instruction, and assessments across all elementary grade levels.

• Facilitated learning in the classroom by assisting instruction while modeling lessons for teachers, evaluating delivery of instruction, and offering ideas for the application of differentiated support.

• Collaborated in implementing new technologies that enhanced students’ academic engagement, while promoting project-based instruction.

• Evaluated student performance by maintaining records of their progress, and created lessons responsive to the targeted academic and individual needs.

• Developed training for new and existing teachers in the application of the Language Arts curriculum by creating professional development sessions.

• Attended weekly meetings as part of the campus’ administration team, presenting students' individual needs through data analysis.

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Bilingual Primary Teacher

Manor Elementary. Manor ISD. Texas, USA.

August 2009 - July 2011

• Developed and implemented lesson plans that fulfilled the requirements of district’s curriculum aligned with state academic standards in all subjects.

• Reflected accommodations for differences in students’ learning styles. 

• Applied project-based learning strategies for content-area subjects.

• Transitioned students from Spanish to English instruction fostering the continuous development of the mother-tongue.

• Conducted ongoing informal and formal assessments analyzing students' individual needs.

• Worked cooperatively with grade-level team to create meaningful lessons. 

Lifelong Learning 

Aesthetic Education for Democracy 

Opal School - Portland, USA.

Jan - Feb. 2021. Online 

Developing your Story Workshop 

Opal School - Portland, USA.

Oct - Dec. 2020. Online

Children and the Digital

Reggio Children Italy (Webinar)

October 22, 2020 

How To Amplify PYP Essentials in Whole Group Instruction

Erin Kent Consulting - Tonya Gilchrist

Asynchronous Webinar

September 20, 2020 

Design as a dialogue between adults & children and children & children

Reggio Children Italy (Webinar)

September 22, 2020 

Music & Children

Reggio Children Italy (Webinar)

July 22, 2020 

Opal School Summer Symposium:

An Ecology of Listening 

Opal School (online)

Portland, USA.

June-July, 2020 

Making the PYP Happen: Implementing Agency -Category 1 

NIST International School

Bangkok, Thailand.

September 20-22, 2019 

How Virtual Reality Works

University of California San Diego

EdX MOOC 

July - August 2019 

Apple Learning Series: Everyone can Create, Everyone can Code, Accessibility, Visioning. 

Apple South Asia 

Bangkok, Thailand.

November 2018 - May 2019 

Reggio Emilia Principles and Values Workshop by Dr.  Stefania Giamminuti

Knowledge Source Institute

Chiang Mai, Thailand

November 17-20, 2018

Design & Development of Educational Technology   

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

April - May 2017

EdX MOOC             ​

Gifted & Talented Education       

2010 and 2011.

Texas. USA

Pedagogical Methods

• Driven by an Ecology of Listening

• Socio-emotional learning focus

• Socio-constructivist approaches

• Documentation practices as a reflective focus with children

• Reggio Emilia foundations to nurture and advocate for the Image of the Child

• Provocation encounters

• Inquiry-Mindset

• Transdisciplinary learning

• ATLs to guide learning experiences

• Agentic student empowerment 

• Student-centered instruction

• STEM integration

• Artistic and aesthetic focus

Education

Masters in Education

Lamar University. Texas, United States.

June 2017 - December 2018

Teacher Leadership. 

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Yoga Teacher Certification

Zenith Yoga. Hanoi, Vietnam.

September 2016 - April 2017

200 Hr Hatha Yoga studies: philosophy, technique, anatomy.

Teaching Certification

Huston-Tillotson University. Texas, United States.

January 2008 - April 2009

Early Childhood and Primary Years Bilingual Education (Spanish).

Bachelor of Arts

Tadeo Lozano University. Bogota, Colombia. 

January 2000 - May 2005

Major in Graphic Design

Study of visual communication, humanities, and design.

Conferences &

Workshops

21st CLHK Conference 

Early Years Strand- Presenter

When Walls Speak: Documentation as a catalyst for reflection. 

Rescheduled due to COVID19 - Hong Kong - January 18-30, 2021

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MORE Latinamerica 

Non-profit organization that empowers the Latin community- Presenter

MASTERCLASS: Healing the Inner Child to Parent with Compassion

Online workshop. October 7, 2020.

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Apple Distinguished Educators Conference 

Participant

Chinese International School, Hong Kong. November 2019​

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Apple Education South East Asia 

Innovation at School- Presenter

CLIPS: Video Documentation as a way to amplify student voice

NIST International School, Bangkok. November 2019​

Accomplishments

• SDG Ambassador implementing the Global Goals into inquiry units.

• Chosen as part of 11 classrooms around the world to present a Take Action project for the Take Action Global organization and the United Nations

• Technology leader for WASC accreditation committee 2019-2020 

• Implemented and co-founded a Reggio-inspired preschool at ISE.

• Delivery and preparation of Accessibility workshop with iPad device for parents and teachers.

• Created animation club as an after school activity in ISE.

• Community yoga classes at ISE.

• Yoga instructor for children, teenagers, and family programs in a Yoga studio.

• Campus facilitator and liaison for the district’s grant program at Austin ISD.

• Director and curriculum developer for the Summer school programs of 2012 and 2013 at Walnut Creek Elementary.

• Translated curriculum for the science department of English Language Learners in Austin ISD.