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Vicki Callagan

vcallaga@pierce.ctc.edu

Hello!

I’m Vicki Callagan and I love teaching in the Intensive English Program! Even though I have been teaching here for many years, I never stop learning about new teaching methods. Every quarter I work at improving my lessons. Because I want learning to be exciting, fun and “real world,” I often use technology and media in my classes. I especially like to create student lessons which involve computers, the Internet, Power Point presentations and film. I teach all levels of the IEP and all classes: Writing, Reading, Grammar and Listening/Speaking.

My international experience includes over eight years of teaching and living abroad:  seven years in Germany, one year in Italy, and summer teaching positions in Mexico and Japan. I hold an M.A. in Multicultural Education and TESOL, and a B.S. in Secondary English Education. In recent years, I have also studied web site design, video and digital film production, and Advanced Placement Writing techniques.

In my free time, I enjoy kayaking, skiing, hiking, working out, and watching foreign films. Visit my IEP class website at: http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/staff/vcallagan

Diana Casey

dcasey@pierce.ctc.edu

Diana has been teaching at Pierce College since 1986, and has been teaching ESL for the last eighteen years. She has an M.A. in English, B.A. degrees in French and Latin, and several years of international experience working in Germany and Mexico. "What I like best about teaching English to international students," Diana says, "is that I am able to take a ‘virtual' trip around the world each day by visiting with students from so many diverse countries and backgrounds." She also enjoys the enthusiasm her students bring to learning English, and finds their excitement contagious. Diana sees teaching and learning English as participatory and interactive, and works to provide opportunities for her international students to interact with American students in the classroom. Her hobbies include skiing, reading, swimming, poetry, oil painting, sewing, cycling, and hiking.

Bob Koch

rkoch@pierce.ctc.edu

Bob has been teaching English as a Second Language since 1976 and has been in the Pierce College Intensive English Program since 1996. He holds an MA in TESOL and a BA in Fine Arts, along with a Washington State K-12 teaching certificate for Art and Japanese. He spent several years living and teaching in Japan and loves working with international students here in the U.S. He believes that the perfect learning environment is one that is secure, friendly, and allows for students to acquire naturally new language skills from the energy of the people around them, as well as from their own strengths and weaknesses. Bob enjoys travel, world music, foreign films, and the study of other languages and cultures.

Margot Rose

mschwan@pierce.ctc.edu

My name is Margot Rose and I teach in the IEP program here at Pierce College. I have taught in a variety of ESL programs over the past 15 years in college and community settings in Washington and Maryland. At last count, I have taught English to students from over 65 countries. My master’s degree in TESOL is from Shenandoah University in Virginia. My research interests include the history of the English language and the role of motivation in second language learning.

I live with my 15-year-old daughter, Sarah, and my 18-year-old son, Jesse. When I have free time, I enjoy exercising, gardening, walking my dog, watching international movies with my kids, cooking, and reading. I have to admit that I also do a lot of ESL related independent research and language learning during my free time as well. Some people say I work too hard, but I am thankful that I love my work.

My international experiences include living my early childhood years in France and studying in France for one year as a young adult. I still return regularly to visit my father and practice my French.  However, most of my international experiences have evolved right here in the United States. For example, my extensive volunteer and professional experiences as a Southeast Asian refugee family advocate, ESL family literacy instructor, and  immigrant youth worker in the late 1980s and early 1990s helped me to develop cross-cultural skills, commitment to diversity and justice, as well as  greater international awareness.  My broadening global perspective during those years also led to my decision to shift my language learning efforts from French to Khmer and to exchange my dreams of becoming a comparative European literature professor for a slow to evolve career as an ESL teacher.  

Finally, I love teaching beginning to advanced level English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills to international students from many different countries and cultures. I cannot imagine a more rewarding profession and feel very fortunate to be teaching in the IEP program here at Pierce!

Kristen Blegen

Intensive English Program (IEP)
kblegen@pierce.ctc.edu

Kristen Blegen holds a B.A. in English from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and a Masters in ELL Education from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.  She taught ESL in Salamanca, Spain for two years and has been teaching at Pierce College for over five years in the ESL and International Education departments.  Other travels include Ecuador, Bangladesh, Portugal, France, Italy, Czech Republic, England, Wales, Ireland and Norway.  Her hobbies include studying voice, theatre, and reading.

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