​My name is Ingrid Corpuz, and I am overjoyed to be the Title III, Part A: Multilingual Learner and Immigrant Program Manager for the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) and an Adjunct Professor for St. Joseph's University's Bilingual Child Study and TESOL Program in New York. I am originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where I taught K-12, but I have been living in the United States for 20 years. I lived and taught in New York, but immediately after Hurricane Sandy, I relocated to North Carolina. I was a CMS ESOL Educator for 6 years before transitioning to South Carolina. I have been married to Benjamin for 17 years, and we have an amazing young boy named Dylan.  

 

Over the past ten years, I have taught various grade levels and collaborated with and trained educators and educational leaders working with multilingual learners. As an active learner and researcher in the field of education, I have gained extensive experience interpreting and analyzing data to drive academic growth for school districts. I pride myself on being a high-achieving educational leader. I have focused on extracting, summarizing, analyzing, exploring, and presenting data using a variety of tools such as Excel, MS Access, and SQL as data sources to identify key metrics and draw conclusions about school and district-wide academic and language growth, reinforce compliance regulations, and conduct academic research. I have incorporated newly learned data tools such as SSRS and Power BI for reporting purposes providing new options to fully automate the reporting process. Throughout my education, teaching, and leadership experience, I have excelled as a learner, professional development presenter, grant writer, data analyst, and academic researcher.

As an educator, leader, and learner, Some of my most satisfying experiences as an educator have come from helping my most struggling students to grasp difficult concepts and overcome language and academic barriers, through a combination of individual conferences, class activities, group discussions, and collaborative work with classroom teachers and support staff. I have developed, led, and participated in professional development training at the district level in the states of NY, NC, and SC, as well as abroad, to provide educators, support staff, and administrators with support on data-driven and differentiated instruction, assessment accommodations, and classroom modifications for MLs and other struggling learners. My beliefs as a TESOL educator and leader consist of methods that will effectively promote a student’s moral, emotional, mental, and social development, providing overall assistance to their socialization process as they learn and develop abilities and skills with guidance and tools for self-development. Although I embrace a constructivist approach and theories of multiple intelligences by Gardner and the zone of proximal development by Lev Vygotsky, I do rely on the stages of development theory by Jean Piaget.

My educational philosophy is based on my thoughts on what makes an educator valuable to a school and, particularly, to students. An effective educator is, first and foremost, someone who genuinely cares about the quality of the education a student is receiving. Whether teaching children, teenagers, or adults, the content should be introduced using higher-level thinking tasks stimulating students’ mental abilities – the challenge is the key to success. An educator is a leader. A great leader has two primary responsibilities: to set the direction of the class/school and to help everyone believe enough in themselves and the course/school’s vision to reach a goal. Whether leading future educators, other school personnel, or parents, welcoming and embracing diversity and challenges, being compassionate, advocating for those in need, and relying on the passion for commitment and innovation to effect change are essential characteristics of leadership in and out of the classroom. I aim to instill a love for learning and impart knowledge to students by enabling them to fulfill their potential without limiting their ability to learn and discover the power of knowledge. My approach is to ensure that my students have ample opportunity to express ideas, explore their potential, and develop their skills by providing a climate of acceptance and respect to build confidence to bring greatness out in others. I value dedication, perseverance, and the needs of others - students, family, and educators - to reach a goal. I strive to be an educator and leader who inspires communication, collaboration, and reflectivity and motivates others to do the same.

English Language Learners require new and/or modified teaching strategies across the entire curriculum. However, these strategies can benefit the entire class, as they will compel teachers to reevaluate their teaching methods and expand on their creativity. I intend to embrace individual children’s needs and provide the necessary tools for their success, independent of their background, economic status, race, and/or learning ability. Ultimately, an important aspect of a TESOL educator's responsibility is to acquaint international students with cultural patterns for successful socialization and communication within the American culture. Frequently, this role calls for the teacher to act as a bridge to assist students through the more difficult and trying moments of culture shock. Overall, teachers have the potential to build the bridge between what the learners have and what they need for the next level of understanding and acceptance of themselves and a new culture.

I am here for you and your students! We are in this together!

“The idea of education is not to teach the maximum, to maximize the results, but above all to learn to learn, to learn to develop, and to learn to continue to develop after leaving school.”
– Jean Piaget, The Child and Reality