Hello all, My name is Serece. I was a classroom teacher for over 15 years, premdominately 4th grade, in the Los Angeles area. This year I have transitioned into my school's art teacher for TK-5th grade. I am excited for my new adventure in teaching. I am looking forward to learning about the arts from different cultures to enhance my knowledge and lessons, which is what led me to this course. I will be teaching a mixture of Zoom and prerecorded lessons, as well as, conducting art related academic discussions for certain grades. 

Pre-covid, you would find me enjoying nature as I complete the 52 Hike Challenge or in an audience watching live entertainment, whether it be a theatrical performance or, my favorite, concerts! During quarantine, I have had the time to explore the visual arts in webinars, online museum tours, classes and research. Art and creativity has always been a passion of mine and it feels amazing to be able to devote so much time to it now. 

Hi! My name is Jennifer Dikes, and I teach in New York City. This is my 16th year of teaching, all of it in New York City public schools. I teach International Baccalaureate history, global politics and theory of knowledge to 11th and 12th grade students. I will be working completely online for the foreseeable future though my district is planning to have hybrid instruction (though that hasn't started yet). During quarantine, I've been taking classes (like this one) and watching webinars that I would not have had access to in the pre-covid world. 

In the pre-covid world I spent a lot of time in movie theaters and working out in group settings. In our new world, I'm spending a lot of time in the nearest (mostly empty) botanical garden and exploring my area in long walks.

I'm really excited to join this class.

Delighted to have this chance to get to know everyone. I'm the director of the USC US-China Institute and have the privilege of working with our leader Catherine Gao. Before moving to colleges and universities, I taught middle and high school English and social studies in San Diego for a couple of years. I lived in China for several years in the 1980s and 1990s and, before covid-19, visited a lot. I'm a historian, but am interested in many subjects. I love to travel and I look forward to hearing your ideas about how to bring Asia alive for your students.

Hi! My name is Zoey, and this is my third seminar with the institute. I taught 4th-5th grade for 4 years in Los Angeles, but over the past year I have gotten married, moved to a new house, and transitioned to a new school and grade level. I'm now teaching 1st grade and it's been an adventure on Zoom, but I am really enjoying getting to know my students. 

Pre-covid, I loved going to Disneyland and watching musical theater with my husband. During quarantine, I have been doing a lot of reading and video gaming, especially on my Nintendo Switch. I have been taking Chinese lessons for the past year, and have been continuing them on Zoom. I also started learning some really basic coding. I've worked on a little bit of C, and done a lot with Scratch. I'd love to bring it into my class once I have more than two hours of instruction per day!

Hello everyone! My name is Hilary Gushwa and I teach 11th grade English and AP Lang in South LA. My pre-covid hobbies remain somewhat intact: I spend a lot of time reading, hiking, camping, and immersing myself in different political realities (aka watching Parks and Rec and The West Wing). With regard to virtual learning (which I'm expecting us to do for the rest of the year), I have also found that almost every aspect of teaching online takes a great deal longer to both plan and implement. I am, however, incredibly grateful to be safe at home, and am really looking forward to this course.

Hello! My name is Nayeli Ruiz-Sanchez. This is my first year teaching and am currently working with Los Angeles Unified School District. My school has a set instructon schedule via zoom from 9:00am to 1:45pm Monday-Friday. I really miss the energy from the students and working at the school without the students is pretty sad. I'm hoping that one day I will get to teach my students in person and get to interact with them versus interact on a screen.

Pre-Covid hobbies included going to the movie theaters, trying new restraunts and bars, amusement park, concerts, etc. Since quarantine began I have been struggling to find a new hobbie, but I have found awesome zumba workouts to destress when needed. Other than that I have found myself cleaning my house and devoting time to taking care of my health to change to a better and healthier lifestyle.

Hello! I'm Susie Suh and I teach 8th grade U.S. History in LAUSD. Currently we are following district protocol with distance teaching. Even there are many challenges that come with it, I am trying to make the best of it by using technology to my fullest advantage. Working from home also means more time to rest/lesson plan/grade.

My pre-Covid hobbies were going out to new cafes/restaurants, reading, hiking, and market shopping for my cooking adventures. I definitely jumped on that baking bandwagon during covid. There is something extremely comforting and fulfilling about baking bread!