I am a firm believer that language is a vehicle for expressing meaning, interacting, and communicating; all of which students learn by doing. Students learn by actively engaging in meaningful and communicative tasks and should play the role of negotiators, group participants, and risk-takers.
I design my lessons to be communicative so that the tasks will approximate real language use and are meaningful to my students. For example, in my classes, students have collaboratively written a graphic novel, planned vacation trips to places around the world on a budget, and built and operated a lemonade stand for local charities. By actively engaging in these types of activities, students have the opportunity to be creative with the language and use it to achieve real-world goals. If tasks are meaningful, students are likely to retain a second language.
When I’m in front of the classroom it is my objective to fill the role of facilitator, needs analyst, and motivator. This means that I work hard to engage students in relevant, appropriate and interesting classwork. My lesson plans are filled with a variety of tasks to suit varied learners and learning styles. My hope is that by providing an interesting, and safe classroom that addresses students’ needs; I can foster strong atmosphere for learning excellence.
As I reflect on my beliefs regarding teaching and learning, I find that my mission as a teacher is threefold:
To this end, I employ different strategies to accomplish these objectives:
Positive Environment: I believe students should be made to feel welcome and at home in the classroom. Whether I’m teaching at a university in the United States, or I’m in classroom of a private school in Shenyang, China. It is made clear to students that they are in a safe space of learning. Students are allowed to make mistakes during class time with feedback provided in an appropriate manner. I believe students should be encouraged to make mistakes in the classroom, so that they are not making them outside the classroom. I believe building self-confidence is key to lowering barriers to learning a new language.
Curriculum/Lesson Planning: I believe curriculum and lesson planning should be done with class outcomes and what students will need to achieve these outcomes. Weekly, and monthly planning to fit in learning objectives is imperative for a productive classroom. My classes are constructed with varied tasks: for example, in any given day we might be negotiating meaning in groups, do an information-gap exercise in pairs, or perform a presentation on supplementary material.
Assessment: I believe throughout the semester, students’ performance should be monitored and students should be asked to elicit feedback anonymously to identify the particularly troubling aspects of our curriculum. This coupled with traditional and alternative testing to make sure students are achieving the standards set out from the beginning. It’s important that students know that fair, and valid testing has an important place in measuring progress.
I’m an effective leader and dedicated educator practiced in facilitating daily operations within fast-paced and high-stress environments.
I have an extensive background developing lesson plans, tutoring students, and teaching English as a Second Language. I’m experienced in leveraging project management skills to develop new tools for cost and time savings and efficiency improvements.
I’m comfortable creating and maintaining relationships with key internal and external clients whether they are students, staff, faculty or stakeholders.
Intensive English Instructor
West Virginia University
August 2014 to May 2017
EFL Instructor
Liaoning University
Jan 2013 to Feb 2014
Social Media Analyst
Data Quality Campaign
Mar 2012 to Aug 2012
Program Assistant
West Virginia RESA 7
Aug 2011 to Jan 2011
M.A. World Languages, Linguistics, Literatures
West Virginia University, 2016
B.S. Journalism
West Virginia University, 2010
Licensed Substitute Teacher
WV RESA 7, 2018
Advanced ESL Instructor
Literacy Volunteers
Sept 2017 to Current
Event Organizer
WVU Intensive English Program
August 2014 to May 2017
Social Media Coordinator
WVU Intensive English Program
Jan 2016 to May 2017
Volunteer
Girls On the Run 5K
May 2017
Volunteer
WVU Collegiate Recovery
Jun 2013 to Dec 2013
English Tutor Volunteer
Liaoning University
Aug 2013 to Feb 2014
Foreign Language Partner
WVU Intensive English Program
Aug 2006 to May 2007
Time Management/Organization
Patient & Empathetic
Strong Oral/Written Communication
Multicultural Awareness
Course Materials Development
Technology-Focused
English, Spanish, American Sign Language
“Paden is warm, energetic and upbeat. He gives good one-on-one attention during work time and provides positive reinforcement. Paden shows natural ability as an educator and students enjoy paying attention to the content he is teaching.”
“Paden is a really helpful teacher that spends all his time to help students without becoming angry. This is a really good way to help students. Also, I like the way that Paden helps us on our essays. I am proud that you taught me this semester.”
“Paden’s teaching strength is that he has a great energy in class. I can see that he’s excited to be teaching and working with the students. He is also able to create a comfortable learning environment for the students.”
“The instructor is so helpful and his explanation is clearly[sic]. I like his class.”
“Paden shows a lot of confidence and control of the class. He has a good relationship with the students. Paden uses varied techniques and strategies to make class interesting. The students respect him.”
“Although there are students from other countries and we have difference pronunciation’s[sic] problems, he managed the class. I had a fun[sic] totally, and it’s useful! Thank you!”