As an educator I seek to have a significant impact on the success of students and faculty that I serve. I want to inspires and assists student and faculty while serving courses diverse modalities. I consider how diversity impacts urban students' learning and use diversity for student learning. I differentiate instruction by designing learning experiences that focus on students' individual needs in the context of faculty requests. By assessing students' information practices in group settings, I create dynamic learning activities where students learn from each other voices and consider resources for rigorous academic work. In my culturally sustaining practices, I seek to integrate students' culture providing culturally relevant examples and resources that help students see themselves as an integral part of the academic world.

Through hands-on learning experiences, I encourage students to share who they are, their research, and career plans. Knowing the student's voice, I grounds digital information fluency instruction in faculty requests, transforming assignments into professional development opportunities for students. I expands students' horizons by bridging what they are doing as information researchers with examples related to their future use of information resources in other universities and the corporate world. I create safe spaces for students to share who they are, learn about each other, gain digital fluency, and recognize transferable skills. At the end of my classes, students have found what they need on their own terms. They understand the importance of practicing academic integrity with excellence and its relation to their expertise.

Because I focus on individual needs, my teaching practices do not stop when class is over. I nurture the growth of students as independent learners by developing their digital competencies on-demand. I provide personalized learning experiences by appointments at times convenient to the students onsite or online. With my "just in time" approach to service, students know they can rely on me, talk with me openly but in confidentially I provides equitable access to expert assistance focusing on empowering students to achieve personal excellence.

Alexandra Alméstica, Ph. D. Student

University of Houston, College of Education

Department of Curriculum and Instruction: Learning, Design, & Technology

November 2021