About me

My name is Paola Ruiz. I’m 32 years old. I was born in Chiapas and grew up in Oaxaca and at the age of 12, my family and I moved back to Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas to start my middle school studies.

I am a civil engineering graduated from Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas. Three years ago, I was offered a position to teach English and started to work in a public secondary school in the hills of Chiapas. Due to the experiences I had trying to find a way to teach effectively, I decided to apply to the B.A. in TEFL.  Soon I found it wonderful and gratifying to teach in an indigenous area. So my students are the reason I am here, I wanted to become a better teacher in order to impact on their lives.

I have awarded some scholarships to attend training courses related to TEFL in the USA. Those experiences have had a great impact on my personal life and professionally. I am so thankful for all the opportunities that being an energetic and concerned teacher have brought me. I picture myself studying a master in the future and becoming a teacher’s trainer.

Thank you my dear colleagues for reading.

Paola Ruiz

Purpose

Hello e-mate and welcome to my e-portfolio.

The purpose of this e-portfolio is to keep a record of every activity I´ll be carrying during the learning experience “social service”. Therefore there’ll be enough evidence of my development as an English teacher, thoughts, insides and reflections based on the teaching experience.

SS Activity 1. Identification of Academic goals

Three years ago, six months after getting a job as an English teacher in a public school in the hills of Chiapas, I couldn´t even picture myself to get so far. After the first months of teaching I realized that in order to become a professional in this education field, I needed to invest time in learning how to teach English, even though I have studied EFL since junior high.

At this moment I can say that I have gained self-confidence in some areas and still struggling with time management; sometimes I feel that I do not optimize and exploit my teaching hours. But what I really love are the great experiences that the BA in ELT has given to me, the motivation from my teachers and peers, their shared knowledge that I take with me, which have helped me to take the way to become a teacher trainer in the future.  I have given workshops to colleagues from state and abroad as a participant of scholarship programs. I have high expectations about where these experiences will take me in the future.

Regarding the test and according to what I answered, I might say that it hasn´t been easy so far, but with effort and the willingness to perform well in the classroom and find out that it has impacted in my student’s life, it’s totally worth it.

Sometimes I find it difficult to recall all the information from the theory-knowledge and have to go back to my notes or books in order to clarify my thoughts, however I think that the teaching techniques and strategies I put in practice everyday and reflect from one group to another really has helped me to grow as a professional teacher. On the other hand my weakness is the research field, which involves a deep work of theory background, research methods that will lead the researcher to a high level of data analysis and interpretation.  I truly believe that with the guidance from my facilitators and the help from WRAP, I´ll find it comfortable to work on my “experiencia recepcional” next semester.

Thank you for reading. Feedback is welcome. Read you soon.

Paola Ruiz