Patricia Munoz

About

I have been working as an English teacher for 9 years, even before I got my bachelor and I am really grateful that life has given those opportunities. I have been learning a lot since I, for the first time, was standing in a classroom. I have a clear and strong conviction that teachers are those who were born with that gift of teaching and/or developed the passion through the experience. I love my profession because it allows me to share and build knowledge in every minute of a class but overall, it also gives me the chance to learn as well. Teachers are meant to be learning and teaching simultaneously and every time. I have experienced teaching, children, teens and adults. I enjoy all the ages and I am prepared to make their learning very fun and significant. I create my own material for any level of English but I also can adjust to a syllabus or planning. I consider that being a teacher of English as a Second Language in Ecuador is something that has to be taken with a lot of love, respect, seriousness and empowerment. As an Ecuadorian woman, student, professional I can say that, Ecuador needs a change in the Educational System. It is not fair that we “study” English for more than 10 years during our school life and at the end we are not able to fluently communicate in English. I use many different techniques and strategies to apply in an ESL classroom that really help students to be able to communicate in English. I consider that all the 4 skills are important when learning English but we need to reinforce the Speaking skill. Students need to trust themselves when speaking. When teaching something it has to be in a fun and lovely way. I love that my students feel free to choose what to do in the class when respect and responsibility are the main values to take into account. It is really important that the class is full of emotion, and has very interactive activities. On my free time, I help friends translating documents for their final school projects, their companies, certificates, an more.

Experience

Victoria Bilingual Christian Academy

Sep 2019 – Present

Quito

English teacher

I am currently working in the academy; it is a bilingual and IB school. My first year I worked as a primary teacher with 2nd and 3rd grade. It has been a really great experience as these children have a high level of English. It is super nice to work with groups no more of 15 students. This year I am working with preschool students and also primary. As these new COVID 19 era is all over the world, we as educators have to also get prepared and trained to be teachers in a virtual way, which is very hard but full of challenges and new learning.

House O Orange

Apr 2018 – Apr 2019

The Netherlands

Cultural and Linguistic Interchange in The Netherlands

During this year I lived in Utrecht, a province of the Netherlands. I lived with a Dutch family where the common language was English. I was in charge of taking care of 3 children of 6,4 and 3. They were not yet able to speak English, so I had to learn Dutch. It was very challenging but I was very excited to learn a completely new language which I had not had any idea of. I went to a language school with a Dutch native teacher. After 3 months I was already able to understand and communicate with them and their friends. Regarding to my duties I was in charge of playing with the kids and teaching them English in a natural environment, play, feed, pick them up and bring them to school. The last 2 months I read to them once a week one book in English and one in Dutch.

QUALITY UP LANGUAGE SCHOOL

Apr 2017 – Mar 2018

Ambato

English program validator, English teacher, translator and Coordinator

When I worked in this English program, at first, my Canadian colleague and I were in charge of creating a program for beginner learners. Then we had to validate it with 14 students. The validation worked, so we started to build up the other levels. After the pilot phase, I taught different levels every two months. I worked with Level Preparation, Level 1, 2, 3 and 4, with students from 14 to 45 years old. I was also in charge of the Kids section; Level Preparation and level 1, children from 8 to 10. My duties as a teacher were to plan, teach, grade, do reports and have individual teacher-parent conferences. There were some times when I had to do marketing activities as well. The last 5 months I was the coordinator of the English program, this was a great experience and very challenging for me, as it was the first time, I was hiring teachers and training them. As a coordinator my functions and responsibilities were to plan the curriculum per cycle, create placement exams, observe other teachers´ classes, provide feedback and if needed create a training course, organize an English file and keep it up to date, delegate responsibilities, coach and support new teachers, decide with staff which new materials to buy. See to a friendly, cooperative and professional climate amongst the staff at all times, check individual lesson plans and provide feedback if necessary, create games on/or activities, among other things. As a translator, I translate some kids´ books, including maths, scinece and art books.

UNIDAD PEDAGÓGICA UNIKIDS UK DAYCARE

Sep 2015 – Mar 2017

Ambato

English teacher for children

Working in this daycare was my first and best experience in regards to toddlers. I had never worked with such young learners, I had students between the ages of 2 to 4 years old. I had numerous responsibilities ranging from lesson planning, teaching, arts and crafts, songs and presentations, as well as feeding, diaper change, cleaning, etc. I learned to do all these things in a fun and interesting way. Working with children is something that gives me a sense of purpose and it is something I enjoy very much.

UNIVERSIDAD INDOAMÉRICA DE AMBATO

Oct 2014 – Nov 2016

Ambato

Substitute English teacher

During my time as a substitute teacher I learned a lot. I was in charge of students between the ages of 18 to 45 years old only on Saturdays for a 4-hour class. My duties involved; planning, teaching, grading, etc. It was a rewarding experience but it was very hard to have students learning a second language for more than 3 hours in a classroom, but I managed it to make it fun and less stressful for the students.

INSTITUTO TECNOLÓGICO SUPERIOR “ITS BOLIVAR”, AMBATO

Mar 2013 – Aug 2013

Ambato

English teacher assistant (internships)

The experience I had in this High School was very challenging and I learned a lot. Challenging because this High School is a public institution, and it was very hard to control discipline, but I think my strong personality helped me a lot. Within the classes I was in charge of preparing the grammar and energizer sections. At the beginning it was hard for the students and for me to do this, since most of the teachers use at least 85% of Spanish in English classes, but I was not allowed to use Spanish. But after some weeks, the students´ comprehension and listening skills were developing amazingly. They were able to understand most of the explanations and commands in English. During the energizers, they were very active and their concentration span was longer. I was in charge of the grading process and planning. I also had to design quizzes and exams.

CHARLOTTE ENGLISH INSTITUTE - AMBATO

Oct 2011 – Mar 2012

Ambato

English laboratory teacher

During this time, I was in charge of the lab, in which all the students from different levels came to me for extra practice. We had different digital books, games, and exams. My job was to set each student in his/her activity, guide them and also help them if they required reinforcement.

Education

UNIVERSIDAD TÉCNICA DE AMBATO

Sep 2010 – Feb 2016

BA IN EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES: MAJOR ENGLISH, Education

Skills

Languages