About Me
"What we learn becomes a part of who we are." ​- Katty R. Jeffords
As an attentive Middle School English subjects teacher in the Dominican Republic, I needed an inspiring teaching and learning platform that encourages me and inspires other international educators to help our students be lifelong learners, effective communicators, responsible citizens, and spiritually sensitive individuals. I created Inspiring Teaching Design as a creative outlet seven years ago, and it has grown into a wonderful place to share personal experiences, ideas, and professional knowledge of ways to improve classrooms and meet the educational needs of the international educators' community.
In 2015, I created www.ITD.today to offer ideas and resources and helpful hints, tips, and tricks to teachers or those passionate about education who foster the love for learning in day-to-day challenges and need to add some bliss and creativity to their educational environment. ​
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I dedicated my free time and made ITD my hobby with a mission to inspire educators around the globe to upgrade their classrooms into active learning environments where students interact with peers, identify and investigate problems, design solutions, and transform their understandings with technology serving as a means of support and productivity. In a long run, it became my mission - to help educators get kids involved in a 21st learning environment and teach with better results, lead with a positive impact and live with a greater purpose to create local change on a global scale.
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"By learning you will teach, by teaching you will learn.." - Latin Proverb
Through my five years long work as a teacher, I defined myself as a very professional, passionate, knowledgeable, dynamic and creative educator who spent ample time in my class preparations and specialized in managing students efficiently and maximizing learning opportunities in diverse 21st century skills orientated classroom settings. I taught ICT skills and used it to enhance the lessons with monitors and 1:1 technology, the Internet, videos, voice and sound clips, etc., effective and efficient methods of teaching wilts focusing on the individuals needs of each student. The school's management and colleagues saw me as a motivated, enthusiastic educator with a strong desire to foster a cohesive student learning atmosphere. I came to understand that being a teacher is one of the hardest yet most rewarding career out there. My children found my classes fun, enjoyable and worthwhile learning experience, which enabled them to understand the situation better and tackle challenging problems. My competence and expertise were appreciated by students’ parents, school administration and colleagues.
"I truly believe in educating future leaders nurturing the intellectual, social-emotional and physical development in a student-centered environment, focusing on developing the 21st-century skills using technology, science, arts and ethics within local and international environments, educating global citizens that will serve their communities and the world. I am committed to innovation and the ability to overcome obstacles in preparing students to be 21st-century learners. "
– MrsRU in 2014
My views on learning styles were influenced by the work of Howard Gardner who believes that we have multiple bits of intelligence, furthermore, that each child has the potential to be gifted, but that this can present itself in many different ways. Therefore, all children have their preferred learning style, which best suits their intelligence. I believed that my job as a teacher was to meet children’s learning needs best while recognizing the importance of trust, and successfully established relationships with students that resulted in a safe and comfortable but challenging learning environment. A nurturing, inviting, and stimulating environment is a condition where students thrive emotionally, socially, and academically. In addition to this, empowered and inspired students strive for continuous knowledge and improvement beyond the school.
I also believe that teachers are designers of curriculum and that if we want it to play a meaningful role in our student learning, then teachers need to be experimenting and reflecting with the support from the school. Therefore, professional education is the most meaningful when it supports curriculum design which should go hand in hand with professional knowledge.
So, when I prepared my lessons, I made a conscious effort to ensure I provided the children with different learning styles to best meet their needs. For instance, to introduce children to Human Body Systems, I got the children to explore Microsoft Corinth Classroom App and share their findings and reflections on the class blog. Kinesthetic learners were thereby catered for in the physical movement and manipulation, visual learners used 3D interactive models to create detailed collages, and audio learners participated in class discussions and debates.
In mid of 2016, my hubby and I moved to Norway, a fresh new start, closer to my family. Since then, I have had to postpone my hobby and dedicate all my energy and time to establishing ourselves in a new foreign land, where we are still learning the language, northern traditions, culture, and way of living. We both fell in love with the country, and today we call it our home.
Last November, after many years of waiting, we were finally blessed to hear, " Congratulations! You are pregnant!". I couldn't hold my tears in and was caught in unbelief; I asked my doctor: "Are you joking?" The best phone call I have ever received. So, today in 2019, while counting the days till the due date when I see my little angel, I decided to redesign ITD with a focus on our family life as I gain insights and inspiration from our daily challenges. Therefore this blog features experiences, products, and activities (whether I or others create them.) that encourage joyful family bonding, create fun learning opportunities, inspire positive relationships, and build a happy, healthy, connected family.
Walk into our home on a random day, and you will likely find me reading picture books with my daughter, crafting, playing on the floor, or taking pictures of her and our four-paw baby. When the kids are otherwise occupied, I work from home as a freelance web designer, the author behind ITD, and a bartender for a few hours in a local international cafe/ bar. Today, I thank my gods for our precious daughter; I cherish each and every day of my life spent with her.
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This August 2022, I started working as a teacher again to support the local Lithuanian community but primarily for my desire to be back to doing what I love most - educating kids. Therefore, I will be sharing my created resources on the page "Augame Lietuviais" - Growing as Lithuanians.
Meet Us
""...Love is work, but most of all love is realizing that every hour, every minute, every second of it was worth it because you did it together" - Monique A. Honaman
We are the Ninja-Parents, otherwise known as Roberta and Emil
I am Lithuanian by birth, the Dominican Republic I call my second home, but now I reside in Norway. In my heart, I'm a citizen of the world. Since 2011, I have been married to my best friend - Emil, one of the kindest people I have ever met. He was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. He conquered my heart at the moment I saw him back in Alaska, USA, in 2007. We both came to Denali National Park, Alaska looking forward to exploring and experiencing the land of the unknown from what it seemed the opposite sides of the world through the Work and travel USA | J-1 Exchange Visitor Program. Since then, not every day has been rainbows and unicorns and we have to deal with our life's imperfections. However, today I still feel, I am truly in harmony with my hubby, and we do love our perfect - imperfections because they are our "gifts" - the good they bring to us, and the good they bring out in us, and so much more.
Disclaimer: This is my website and the opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the previous or current employer. This policy is valid from 10 July 2015. I am not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites, and various other topics, if I am it will be indicated as "sponsored". The views and opinions expressed here on this website, Facebook, and/or others social network platforms are purely my opinion and thoughts. If I claim or appear to be the expert on a particular topic or product or service area, I will only endorse products or services that I personally believe in, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.