Me

I guess this is where I introduce myself to anyone who might be reading this relatively new blog, Web 2.0 for ESL. My name is Rita, and I am an ESL instructor at the Milwaukee Area Technical College-Oak Creek Campus in Wisconsin.  For the past eleven years, along with teaching, I also served as the Instructional Chairperson for ESL, Basic Skills, GED, and Foreign Language departments at our campus.  Before coming to MATC, I taught Spanish in the Milwaukee Public Schools, served as a bilingual resource teacher in the Kenosha Public Schools, taught ESL at the University of Alabama’s English Language Institute, and taught and served as assistant director of the American School of Laguna Verde (Escuela El Farallon) in Veracruz, Mexico.

To date, I would say I have had amazing career opportunities.  I am fortunate  to be able to say that I have NOT enjoyed teaching at one place more than the other, and that I have NOT enjoyed working with one age group more than the other.  Each place I have taught has taught me more, and I can say the same about each age group with which I have worked.  I have learned that each age has its own beauty and its own needs, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with such diverse students.  But, I’m not done yet.

Since teaching at MATC, I have developed an affinity for working with technology, and fortunately the school has afforded me the ability to experiment with its new technologies.  About thirteen years ago I developed a partnership with ITESM-Estado de Mexico in order to connect and partner our students via two-way video.  We connected my Spanish as a Second Language classes with their English as a Foreign Language classes and had our students working together on projects via technology for approximately six weeks.  It was a tremendous learning experience for both groups.  The students on both campuses realized how small our world was becoming and how interconnected we could all be with the help of technology.

The world continues to shrink, and I continue to look for ways to globalize my classroom and my students. Through web 2.0 technologies, I am connected daily with people around the world and am endeavoring to facilitate this for my students and colleagues as well through technology classes that I’m teaching for both groups.  With tools such as this blog and connections via Twitter, I hope we will all be successful in this pursuit.

Thanks for visiting this blog.  Please do not hesitate to leave comments.  I would enjoy hearing from you and sharing a moment in time with you!

Contact Information:

                * Twitter: @ritasimsan          * Skype: rita.simons.santiago          * Delicious: simonssr          Facebook:  Rita Simons Santiago