Language is performative; that is, linguistic forms are not divorced from those who produce them and are not devoid of social meaning, which is never fixed and always reiterated and renegotiated in performance. Using this framework, I appreciate and value innovation and variation as inherent to understanding any language variety. As a linguist, I have incorporated this conceptualization into my teaching practice.

Below is my teaching experience as an instructor of linguistics:

LECTURER

CALS 426: Chicanx and Latinx Sociolinguistics (Sonoma State)

SPAN 304: Introduction to Spanish Linguistics (Sonoma State)

"Foreign" language education in the United States is largely based on Eurocentric notions of "standard" language pedagogy. In my teaching practice, I aim to celebrate language variation and translanguaging while having discussions with my students about how hegemonic language marginalizes certain communities.

These tenets of my practice began to develop as a volunteer teacher for the Canal Alliance and my short but valuable tenure as a secondary teacher, during which I taught second- and heritage-language courses. The hyper-focus on standardized language and lack of pedagogical materials to decolonize the classroom motivate me to continue my journey of learning and teaching at the post-secondary level.

GRADUATE STUDENT INSTRUCTOR/TEACHING ASSOCIATE:

Spanish 101/102 (Sonoma State)

Spanish 2 (UC Berkeley)

Spanish 3 (UC Berkeley)

Spanish 4 (UC Berkeley)

A vital and rewarding component of the Ph.D. experience is to mentor. At UC Berkeley, I have served as a mentor for GIGS (Getting into Graduate School), where I guide undergraduates who are thinking about or applying to graduate school.

After receiving a Certificate in Remote Instruction in the Graduate Remote Instruction Fellowship Program, I became a mentor for Graduate Student Instructors in the Winter 2020-21 program. In our workshops, we explored best practices for online instruction while developing final projects that included planning course sites, creating low-stakes assessments online, and developing a new syllabus. Go to Resources for a slideshow on how to use digital tools for the (a)synchronous [language] classroom.