01 PROFESSIONAL
MY KNOWLEDGE LEVEL
HISTORICIAN
75%
LINGUISTIC
70%
BLOGGER
70%
COMMUNICATOR
85%
SPORTMAN
80%
TRAVELER
85%
INVETERATE READER
80%
TECHIE
80%
I'M
DAVid
SORDo.
SPANISH AND HISTORY TEACHER & INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGIES
DSO
David Sordo (Huesca, 1983), bachelor degree in History, master´s degree in Secondary Teaching and master´s degree in Contemporary History by University of Zaragoza, Spain. University specialist in teaching Spanish as second language by University of Comillas, and master´s degree in teaching Spanish as foreign language by University of Alcalá, as well as DELE and IB examiner. After living and working in Spain and Australia, I have been teaching Spanish at Primary, Secondary and IB levels at Doha British School, Qatar, immerse in the research and practice of teaching Spanish through digital and online media. My upcoming objectives will focus on the assessment of the mobile technology use and virtual classrooms as methodology for teaching Spanish in diverse contexts. I have travelled around the world and I love sports, all type of technologies and History.
02 PORTFOLIO
03 Experience
2016-2017
Doha British School
Spanish Secondary Teacher
​
Teaching Spanish as a second language to KS3 up to IGCSE and Spanish B for IB students. This fantastic experience has served to put on practice all that I have learnt through my Primary experience as well as my master´s degree in teaching Spanish as 2L. Furthermore, I have added to my teaching all cultural and social elements from Spanish culture through UK and IB curriculum.
My main role consisted on teaching, assessing and evaluating Spanish from KS3 up to IB, as well as the design of curriculums, easy-to-follow digital resources, all type of authentic material and the organisation of my daily lesson. Moreover, I had the duty of being tutor of a Year 9 class, where my duties were the supervision and evaluation of a group of 25 pupils.
2013-2016
Doha Bristish School
Spanish Secondary Teacher
​
Teaching trough Year 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 has provided me with a new perspective on the challenges children face in this stage of their education. The most important step for languages has form throughout Primary, when the pupils are more able to learn and develop a language. The school utilises the UK National Curriculum for this subject.
As in charge of whole Primary I have organised and developed this department from zero, producing easy-to-follow interactive and paper resources, materials, week lessons, as well as the curriculum maps and schemes of work that we are following. I also organised and led my classes, further developing my skills in supporting planning and managing the subject for Primary.
2012-2013
Spanish teacher (private lessons)
After arriving in Australia, I worked as a private teacher for university students from University of Queensland, in Brisbane. This opportunity kept me up to date with teaching Spanish to adults and I experienced teaching different concepts and grammar to foreigners, giving me the opportunity to develop different methods of teaching.
2012-2013
Spanish and support teacher (private lessons)
Teaching Spanish across different ages and nationalities, I volunteered for utilised my strengths in language development. I produced easy-to-follow resources for these two subjects and worked with my colleagues in the planning. I further developed my skills in supporting and managing children faced with challenging activities in an unfamiliar environment.
04 education
Master’s degree in teaching Spanish as foreign language
University of Alcalá de Henares
To achieve the best qualification in teaching Spanish as a second or foreign language, I will be taking this master’s degree throughout the next academic year in order to obtain new skills, methodology, planning and different aspects of teaching a second language. This master is specifically focus on new technologies and how to improve teaching skills adapted to different curriculums and educational contexts, new trends of Spanish teaching, how to improve the public speaking or how to excel when teaching to different learners. In addition, it will provide me with the possibility of investigate and publish a research.
University Specialist in teaching Spanish as foreign language
University of Comillas
This university course has brought to me a number of skills for teaching Spanish, such as developing curriculums, designing outstanding lesson, improving the use of new technologies in a Spanish classroom, designing new materials and teaching for new publics. In short, I have acquired a wide range of new tools, which currently can apply in my daily lessons and in my schemes of work.
Master’s degree in Contemporary History
University of Zaragoza
My studies focused on analysing how history and culture impact on modern day international relations and the intricacies of world diplomacy and politics. Con-currently I learned how to communicate (speaking, reading and writing) in public and I took the opportunity to start my unfinished PhD in the same faculty, developing studies about education in my place of birth in the past century (PhD, Thesis title: “Primary school inspectors during the Second Spanish Republic in Aragon”)
Master’s degree in Secondary Teaching
University of Zaragoza
This intensive 12-month degree qualified me to teach children of secondary age (11-18). The master focused on education, curriculum, teaching and learning and professional studies and incorporated 6 months of observing and teaching in 2 diverse classroom environments. I was assessed on my planning and preparation, approaches to teaching, relationships with students, my ability to work collaboratively, my professional qualities and the implementation of inclusion policies. During my internship, I was responsible for the planning, assessment and reporting across all subject areas for History and Art classes, for which I received a high rating on completion. After that I passed successfully the state exams to become a state teacher.
Degree in History
Major: Contemporary History
University of Zaragoza
My degree developed my interpersonal skills and increased my knowledge of the history and how the human behaviour, physiology, personality, development and cognition are affected by History. Applying this knowledge to my teaching has provided me with an appreciation of different learning styles, recognition of individuality and an understanding of the different stages and rates of development of my students. It has also given me an appreciation of others and helped me to form positive working relationships with my colleagues.
05 CERTIFICATES
Qualified IB Spanish B examiner ​
To achieve this IBO qualification, I presented detailed evidence that met the examination and assessment standards required by the International Baccalaureate Organisation
Qualified Teacher Status, UK Reference number: 1640415​
To achieve the UK qualification, I presented detailed evidence that met the professional standards and requirements outlined by the General Teaching Council.
​
Qualified DELE Examiner (A1/A2, B1/B2, C1/C2, A2-B1 for schools) Reference Number: 074887
​
These four courses qualified me to exam all the Spanish levels (A1/A2, B1/B2, C1/C2 and A2/B1 for schools) following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR or CEF). I learnt a number of new skills of how to measure a language throughout speaking, writing and listening, as well as making interviews to candidates. This provided me a wider picture of how to teach Spanish more effectively.
​
Teaching Spanish to children: new audiences, new needs.
​
This course qualified me to teach children of primary (7 – 12). The course focused on the needs and psychology studies related with the teaching of languages; methodology and the affective component in the process of teaching and learning for children; and planning skills of Spanish as a foreign language.
​
Proficiency (C2), Advanced (C1) and First (B2) certificates in English by Cambridge University​
​
To achieve these three certificates I had to demonstrate my professional and academic proficiency skills in English.
​
English for Academic Purposes
​
My studies were focused on Academic English. I learned how to communicate (speaking, listening, reading and writing) in English for 8 months on an intensive language course at Queensland University, Australia. In 2014, I obtained the First and Advance Certificate by University of Cambridge.
​
University of Queensland Award for Academic Excellence 2013
06 skills
TEAM WORK
​
Why is teamwork so important nowadays? Effective collaboration and teamwork not only helps to optimise our learning but, more importantly, open our eyes and mind to diverse and different ideas, solutions and perspectives that, otherwise, we may never have considered. There are plenty of benefits when teaching through teamwork: interpersonal skills, coordination, delegation, collaborative learning, etc. Therefore, working in a team is one of my highest priorities when teaching.
​
DIFFERENTIATION
​
No one is like anyone when learning. As my students have different personalities, goals, and needs, offering personalized instructions is not just possible but also something that I consider as desirable and compulsory. Due to all these elements, I have always in mind how to differentiate in every single lesson, plans and curriculum maps thanks to different models of activities, assessments and resources. There is not a unique way to understand the same concept and, consequently, there are diverse ways to teach.
​
DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
​
In my daily lesson, the educational use of tools such as Google Classroom, Duolingo, Linguascope, Quizlet, Kahoot, and many others is a priority, as well as digital instruments: digital and interactive boards, tablets and smartphones, which help and support the students in order to understand and develop more and better any concept.
​
21st CENTURY
​
It is senseless to consider ourselves as mere transmitter of knowledge. The current present and future of teaching is based on being excellent guides of the student´s learning. Being reflective, principled, balanced and critic with the students, as well as an exemplary role for them, is helping me to become a true 21st century teacher, with the focus on the acquisition of abilities instead of knowledge.
​
COMMUNICATION
This is definitely a performance element to most of my teaching. An enormous portion of the student´s motivation is based on the capability to communicate from the teacher. Effective speaking, interpersonal and presentation skills are always present in my lesson but also humour, authenticity and
MOTIVATION
​
In any classroom there may be students who need to be told to work harder, disagreements between students or simply lack of motivation. The key point for sorting these issues out is being constructive, offering praise, being critic, giving them feedback and building a healthy, mature and fair relationship with the students in order to engage them into the lessons. Furthermore. the design of my daily units and curriculum have always present fun, music, humour and entertainment as fundamental part of the learning.
ORGANISATION
Having great organisational skills really helps me with my daily work. Having prepared the upcoming session, the marking and all the needs for the group make the lesson more accurate and appropriate to the required level. Having planned lessons, short and long-term curriculum as well as all type of material and activities has made me conscious of the value of this skill.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
07 PUBLIcations
​
Sordo de Pedro, D., Proposal of didactic unit based of digital ELE methodology. University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain, 2016.
Final thesis of Master´s degree in teaching Spanish as a Second Language, awarded with a scholarship and will be electronically published online by University of Alcalá by the end of 2016.
CONTACT
