Middle/High School Visual Arts Educator
Bay Area, CA
e: nixon.christina@gmail.com
“The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is—it’s to imagine what is possible.”
Skills & Abilities
Developing curriculum and teaching art to adolescent students, using inquiry-based pedagogies
Fluency in Spanish and French
Building relationships with students
Extensive experience in teaching English as a second language
MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Power Point), Adobe Photoshop
Technical skills in photography, drawing, painting, stencil-making, Photoshop, sculpture, ceramics, and performance art
Teaching and writing art criticism and theory
Education & Training
Mills College Single Subject Credential in Art, certification 2018; Masters Candidate, expected graduation 2020
University of California Santa Cruz Bachelors of Studio Art, June 2011; Focus in photography, sculpture, conceptual art, and art criticism; Suma Cum Laude
EBC International TEFL/TESL Certification, Buenos Aires, June 2011; 160 hours of classroom training in pedagogy and curriculum design, 12 hours practicum
Higher Fire Ceramics Studio student and member, 2013-2015; 5-15 hours per week studio and class time
Teaching Experience
'17-'18: Student Teacher of Visual Art at East Bay Arts in Hayward, CA; 20 hours/week planning and instructing 90 high school art students; co-created and co-taught Street Art unit with social justice focus; designed and taught sculpture unit, focus on collaboration and research
'15-'17: TEFL teacher in Warsaw, Poland; and Ukraine; Traveled to students’ homes for private lessons, designed student and group-specific curriculum, and facilitated informal play sessions with kids ages one to twelve, using naturalization teaching techniques
'13-'14: Traveling Docent with San Jose Museum of Art; Training in Visual Thinking Strategy for Lets Look At Art (K-8) and Art In The Dark (8-12) programs; Fifty classroom hours annually fostering conversations about art among students ages 5 to 17; Specialization in bilingual Spanish-English classrooms, facilitating bilingual conversations about artwork
'11-'12: Traveling TEFL teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with Anglo School, American Forum, and English for Business; created custom multimedia English courses (beginner to advanced)
'08: Teaching Assistant for Public Art II at UC Santa Cruz; Created art history lesson plans; managed 30 art students working on a monument made of recycled bicycle parts; assisted professor with evaluations and class management
'07-'08: Writing tutor at University of California Santa Cruz; Tutored below-standard first-year college students in essay writing
Interests
Spanish language, Reading, Gardening, Innovative Pedagogies, Dance, Swimming, Fashion, Travel, Psychology, Learning new art forms, Dogs, Spending time with family