Bio
Ms. Elizabeth Kitching has been working for the LAUSD Division of Adult and Career Education since 2000 and a CCAE LAM member since 2012. She began as a long-term substitute with the Franklin Community Adult School (now a part of the East Los Angeles Occupational Center). She then opened a satellite branch at Garvanza Elementary School and, when that site was closed, worked with her principal to scout and recruit another site, the Highland Park Nazarene Church, from 2001 to 2010 to continue to serve her students. There, she so engaged students that the program swelled from one to three classes to serve students of all ESL levels. With the changes in adult education in the subsequent years, Elizabeth gave her service to the East L.A. Service Center and ultimately Evans, where she is now.
Throughout these years, Elizabeth has shown incredible flexibility and resilience. Not only has she taught every level and multi-level courses, she has pivoted from academic ESL to CBET (family literacy) overnight. She has team taught, taught on Saturdays, taught split shift, taught distance learning, led or collaborated on multiple teacher committees from multiple textbook selections to school celebrations, graduations, parent meetings, and beyond. At Garvanza Elementary, regardless of the fact that she never knew each day where she'd teach (library, parent center, gym, or classroom) she brought her wonderful, needs-based curriculum and student-engaging activities to her students.
In order to accomplish this over years of increasing changes in adult education and to maintain high student retention and persistence, Elizabeth has had to be at the top of her teaching game for each of the ESL levels. Great teachers like Elizabeth can only do this by investing time and energy (and resources!) in professional development, curriculum and materials creation, presenting to others, and meetings galore! Elizabeth was a consistent and on-going member of the ESL/CASAS Teacher Academy in 2013 and continued with the Academy as it morphed into a community of practice (COP) over the next few years. She has engaged in CALPRO module trainings and CATESOL, LARAEC, and CCAE conferences as a member over the years. Elizabeth has been a presenter at the local and state levels and helped develop curriculum at the school and division levels. She is not only a specialist with literacy and beginning ESL learners but has post-college and EBRI training in best practices for teaching advanced reading and writing. She is a master at facilitating cooperative learning, contextualized learning, and critical thinking.
At the heart of Elizabeth's "amazingness" is her passion for service to students. She connects with students at a sensitive, responsive level in both English and, when necessary, Spanish to make her classes student agency-based with students bringing their needs and interests to classes to help drive the curriculum. She gives them the platform to speak rather than just being a "talking head". She is sensitive to all students' first languages and teaches in a culturally-linguistically responsive way that enables students to highlight their strengths and funds of knowledge. She knows the value of English language competence such that she has not only developed satellite sites, but, with the support of her church, Avenue 54 Bible Chapel, administered a free, summer ESL and family program. She creates class community like few others and brought together a small group of women learners to support a traumatized peer such that this learner went from frozen to fabulous, blooming as her social-emotional needs were met. What is truly amazing is that Elizabeth has done this despite her untenured status, enduring many challenges with "the system" while continuing to teach with love and expertise.
Ms. Elizabeth Kitching has been working for the LAUSD Division of Adult and Career Education since 2000 and a CCAE LAM member since 2012. She began as a long-term substitute with the Franklin Community Adult School (now a part of the East Los Angeles Occupational Center). She then opened a satellite branch at Garvanza Elementary School and, when that site was closed, worked with her principal to scout and recruit another site, the Highland Park Nazarene Church, from 2001 to 2010 to continue to serve her students. There, she so engaged students that the program swelled from one to three classes to serve students of all ESL levels. With the changes in adult education in the subsequent years, Elizabeth gave her service to the East L.A. Service Center and ultimately Evans, where she is now.
Throughout these years, Elizabeth has shown incredible flexibility and resilience. Not only has she taught every level and multi-level courses, she has pivoted from academic ESL to CBET (family literacy) overnight. She has team taught, taught on Saturdays, taught split shift, taught distance learning, led or collaborated on multiple teacher committees from multiple textbook selections to school celebrations, graduations, parent meetings, and beyond. At Garvanza Elementary, regardless of the fact that she never knew each day where she'd teach (library, parent center, gym, or classroom) she brought her wonderful, needs-based curriculum and student-engaging activities to her students.
In order to accomplish this over years of increasing changes in adult education and to maintain high student retention and persistence, Elizabeth has had to be at the top of her teaching game for each of the ESL levels. Great teachers like Elizabeth can only do this by investing time and energy (and resources!) in professional development, curriculum and materials creation, presenting to others, and meetings galore! Elizabeth was a consistent and on-going member of the ESL/CASAS Teacher Academy in 2013 and continued with the Academy as it morphed into a community of practice (COP) over the next few years. She has engaged in CALPRO module trainings and CATESOL, LARAEC, and CCAE conferences as a member over the years. Elizabeth has been a presenter at the local and state levels and helped develop curriculum at the school and division levels. She is not only a specialist with literacy and beginning ESL learners but has post-college and EBRI training in best practices for teaching advanced reading and writing. She is a master at facilitating cooperative learning, contextualized learning, and critical thinking.
At the heart of Elizabeth's "amazingness" is her passion for service to students. She connects with students at a sensitive, responsive level in both English and, when necessary, Spanish to make her classes student agency-based with students bringing their needs and interests to classes to help drive the curriculum. She gives them the platform to speak rather than just being a "talking head". She is sensitive to all students' first languages and teaches in a culturally-linguistically responsive way that enables students to highlight their strengths and funds of knowledge. She knows the value of English language competence such that she has not only developed satellite sites, but, with the support of her church, Avenue 54 Bible Chapel, administered a free, summer ESL and family program. She creates class community like few others and brought together a small group of women learners to support a traumatized peer such that this learner went from frozen to fabulous, blooming as her social-emotional needs were met. What is truly amazing is that Elizabeth has done this despite her untenured status, enduring many challenges with "the system" while continuing to teach with love and expertise.