Keenan M. Sweigart
Applied Linguist and Second Language Educator
Courses Taught
Baltimore City Community College:
(Spring 2019-Present)
Refugee Assistance Program
I have just begun teaching in the Refugee Assistance Program, whose goal is to provide educational support in the areas of English Language Learning and Intercultural Education as a means to aid our target population in their integration into the United States.
I look forward to providing insight into my educational interactions with my students throughout our time together.
Baltimore City Community College:
(Fall 2018-Present)
Pre-GED ESL -- 3 Sections
As a lecturer in Pre-GED ESL, my focus is to provide support in two principle ways: math education and English language (reading) education. In my courses, my students and I navigate the difficulties of both areas of education through both GED-preparatory materials and my self-developed pedagogical materials. In both instances, our focus is the mastery of the concepts that underly test-related information.
Baltimore City Community College:
(Summer 2018-Present)
Community ESL -- 4 Courses
In the summer of 2018, I began working with Baltimore's ESL community at both the low and high intermediate levels. These classes were both engaging and enjoyable, as the students had a great deal of enthusiasm as well as motivation to learn. Many of my students have succeeded in passing the CASAS reading tests and have progressed to the advanced levels at BCCC.
Baltimore City Community College:
(Fall 2018-Present)
English Language Instruction -- 4 Courses
During my engagement with the center for English Language Instruction, I have taught four courses focusing on the topics of: Fluency and Vocabulary, Advanced Writing, Beginner Oral Communication, and Advanced Oral Communication.
I have had the great pleasure of assisting students of myriad background in the development of their language and intercultural abilities in pursuance of post-secondary degrees, advanced degrees, and greater career opportunities.
Steelton-Highspire School District:
(2017-2018 Academic Year)
High School and Elementary School ESL
As a long-term ESL substitute teacher, I worked with Steelton's international student population. Primarily my work took place at the high school level. However, I also worked with a number of students at the elementary school.
The Pennsylvania State University
(Fall 2016-Spring 2017)
Workshops & Modules with
English for Professional Purposes Intercultural Center (EPPIC)
During my lectureship in Penn State's department of Applied Linguistics, I worked with the international student (undergraduate and graduate) and visiting scholar populations. My work consisted of developing pedagogical materials that focused on English for Academic and Professional Purposes in numerous subject areas, such as (intercultural) teacher education, writing for specific academic genres, and delivering academic presentations. After developing the pedagogical content, I led workshops and modules both at PSU main campus and Milton Hershey Medical Center via telecommunication.
I feel like I'm starting to present my emotion and humor in German. It's nice!
~Student in GER002
The Pennsylvania State University
(Spring 2016)
German 003
In addition to teaching in a CBLI approach, I incorporated the Strategic Interaction model of language learning into both my German 2 and German 3 classes this semester. This model aims to create real-world language-learning situations in drama-based scenarios. Such scenarios unfold in the course of group/individual role playing situations. The inclusion of this model in the classroom lead to a number of exciting and SL-rich learning experiences.
The Pennsylvania State University:
(Spring 2016)
German 002 -- 3 Sections
What a semester! For the first time, I taught multiple sections of German as a full-time lecturer. This was truly a great experience for me on a number of levels; not only was able to develop my practice, but I was also able to work with a number of students from different backgrounds, levels of proficiency, and motivation. Of course the array of student differences in previous semesters was evident, but with a larger scope of students, the variation was even greater. As such I was posed with a number of difficulties in attempting to mediate all students while keeping the whole class on the same general level. Moreover, I needed to do so across three different sections. This, of course, pushed me into a whole other level of thinking that was wonderfully fruitful. This semester, I began to see improvements in my teaching that unfolded before my eyes; the students and I worked on the language on conceptual levels (much like the previous semester) that were new and exciting for us all—we discovered language concepts in German and were able to relate them back to English concepts, which was wildly exciting to take part in. I owe this development in great part to Vygotskian Praxis, which allowed me to connect my research interests to my practice as a teacher.
I like the flow charts. They help me think better. ~Student in GER 002
Oh! Can you make a flowchart for that?!
~Student in GER 002
The Pennsylvania State University:
(Spring 2015)
German 001
During this semester, my colleagues and I decided that we might approach German language instruction in a communicative-based language teaching (CLT) approach. As such we incorporated German as a second language textbooks and I taught in a manner entirely different to the way I had taught before. In retrospect, there are many things that could have been done differently. Specificly the assessment types were needed to be altered from the more formalized approaches put in place at U.S. institutes of higher education. Indeed, such formalized assessments (requiring some form of measured outcome) constrain the type of learning that occurs in CLT. Sadly, our work towards altering the curriculum and creating different language learning opportunities through an alternate style of teaching were not received well for some number of reasons. This was, however, a wonderfully interesting, informative, and perspective-broadening experience.
The Pennsylvania State University:
(Fall 2015)
German 002
This semester, I was fortunate enough to see how students develop after the learning process in GER 001. Being that I had taught the prior course, I was able to draw on the students' knowledge of previously learned materials and understand of how they might have developed to the point, which was invaluable in informing the development of learning materials and assessment tools and structuring classroom interactions. One major step that I made in the development of my teaching strategy during this semester was this inclusion of cognitive linguistic schemas in a conept-based approach to language teaching (CBI/CBLI), which provides students with a holistic, systematic, explicit representation of the learning object. Such an approach is posited to allow for more precise and deep uptake of information on behalf of the learner.
ESL 015: ESL Composition for American Academic Communication II
ESL 015: ESL Composition for American Academic Communication II
ESL 015: ESL Composition for American Academic Communication II
The Pennsylvania State University:
(Fall 2014)
ESL Composition for
American Academic Communication
During the second semester of my MA program, I taught an ESL course as a practicum teacher, in which I was supported by my mentor (Ronald Boben). Through his lively character and abundant passion, Ron kept the room alive. Moreover, Ron helped shape my understanding of classroom interaction and development through one-on-one discussions as well as in-class guidance. As an up-and-coming teacher, visiting a classroom of this type was exactly what I needed!
The Pennsylvania State University:
(Fall 2014)
German 001
During my first semester of my MA program, I taught a German level one course at The Pennsylvania State University. As this was my first unaided teaching experience, it was certainly eye-opening and provided a space for the development of my teaching skills.
