Sandra Konrad is an experienced instructor with a background that includes an MEd in family education along with over 30 years in adult education, and she considers teaching English to be her “culminating career.”
Sandra began teaching at CCI-LEX in May of 2019 with her journey beginning as a communication skills instructor then later on teaching advanced CCI. Sandra considers herself to be a “utility teacher” given her openness to being able to teach anywhere she’s placed!
The multicultural environment at CCI-LEX was a lovely surprise for Sandra when she first started teaching there, recalling how nice it was to see students from all over the world! The front end staff along with the teachers and volunteers all contributed to making Sandra’s first few months at CCI-LEX memorable:
“To me, it’s a great place to work—very friendly. The front end staff are delightful. They get people to where they need to be, whether it’s a class or a bathroom, they’re always there to help you.”
Thinking back to her earlier days at CCI-LEX, Sandra recalls the challenges in creating original lesson plans and integrating students into a class with ongoing enrolment. A part of being an instructor at CCI-LEX means that “you’re always on the spot, working with what’s right in front of you”, and it’s incredibly tough for Sandra to have to say goodbye to her students when they’ve moved onto their next adventures.
One of the things that Sandra loves about teaching is being able to witness her students coming together and communicating in a language that was once completely foreign to them:
“I don’t get excited when I see them filling out a worksheet, but when they’re using that new skill together, especially when you think about all the different languages in the classroom, I’m just in awe.”
Sandra loves to encourage her advanced students to become LEX teachers. Given the fact that many of her students had once gone through the LEX program and know what it’s like to be new to Canada and try to build their own community in class, Sandra believes that her advanced students would be able to foster unique connections with LEX students!