Izolda (Iza) Savenkova
Manhattan
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Russian Language Instructor
Middlebury College (The Kathryn Wasserman Davis)
06.2018 - Current
Conducted entrance and exit OPI testing of students (the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines).
Organized pedagogy workshops for new instructors.
Taught Russian Level 3 (Basic Intermediate Russian) during the 8-week-intensive program on campus in Vermont in 2018, 2019, and Russian Levels 4-5 (Advanced Russian) during the online 8-week-intensive program in summer 2020 and 2021.
Led a refresher course (13 people) online in summer 2021 and 2023.
- Textbooks used:
V puti; Этажи: Intermediate Russian Textbook; Panorama.
- Additional service:
-organized classes exclusively in Russian;
- created lesson plans and designed a syllabus for a new online course;
- designed detailed list of Russian resources to help students go beyond classroom environments and delve into topics of interest;
- created and led conversational meetings between native speakers from different professional fields for open discussions with students.
Lecturer in Russian
Columbia University
07.2022 - 07.2023
Designed and taught Intermediate Russian course.
Supervised and trained graduate students who taught Intermediate and Advanced Russian courses.
- Additional service:
-provided special tutoring and conversation practice sessions outside of class;
- incorporated authentic materials into all topics;
- sourced optimal curricula and developed lesson plans to fully cover target material for each course.
Visiting Lecturer in Russian
Dickinson College
08.2018 - 06.2022
Designed and taught Russian courses from Beginning to Advanced.
Coordinated and trained graduate students from Higher School of Economics (Moscow) who taught students online;
Assisted a Director of Moscow program in organizing abroad summer schools.
- Courses taught:
Beginner's Russian (101, 102), Intermediate Russian (201, 202), Masterpieces of Russian Literature, Russian for Discussion, Popular Culture and Media, Independent Studies (Seniors).
- Courses designed:
Russian Phonetics, DLPT exam preparation, Russian language through contemporary media, the first online summer course at Dickinson college - Grammar in Context.
- Additional service:
- created lesson plans for courses, modifying throughout year to meet time constraints and specific interests of class;
- applied OPI techniques to assessment of student progress at the advanced level;
- trained department TAs and Russian tutors in the Multilingual Writing Center;
- organized regular cultural activities for students, including cuisine nights, Russian Table, online meetings with Russian-speaking guests, and games.
Associate Professor of Russian
Russian State University For Humanities
06.2015 - 04.2019
Taught Russian as a foreign language to a variety of students of different ages and abilities, from no prior knowledge of Russian to Level 3 TORFL certification.
Assisted in coordinating Middlebury and Dickinson Moscow programs.
- Courses taught:
Russian grammar course (2016-2017) and Conversational practice.
- Courses designed:
Intensive survival Russian course; The socio-political context in Russia at the present time (2017) for students at Middlebury School in Russia; TORFL exam preparation course (A2-C2).
- Additional service:
-provided special afterschool tutoring and conversational practice sessions at summer schools between 2015-2017;
-organized dedicated and affordable cultural activities for students, including: theatre, art exhibitions, and cinema for summer schools between 2015-2017;
-participated in regular planning development meetings, reviews and curriculum evaluation, and review sessions;
-planned and organized hands-on activities to encourage active student participation, involvement, and teamwork;
-fostered a positive classroom environment with mutual respect and consideration as collective goals;
-worked cooperatively with other language instructors to develop and share curriculum strategies.
Education
Master of Arts - Philology, Teaching Russian Language As A Foreign
Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia06.2013
Bachelor of Arts - Russian Studies
Volgograd State University
Volgograd, Russia06.2011
Languages
Russian - Native (Superior OPI certificate)
English - Fluent with TOEFL certification
Polish - Proficient Reader
BOOKS
- [co-author 50%] ПРО-ДВИЖЕНИЕ: Advanced Russian Through Film and Media, Alyssa DeBlasio and Iza Savenkova. Georgetown University Press, 2022
- [co-author 25%] РОССИЯ ПОД СТУК КОЛЁС: Intermediate Russian (Russian Textbook for teaching reading and listening), w/a group of co-authors (forthcoming spring 2023 with Zlatoust)
Certification
- CASLS Certificate Program in Intercultural Competence, 2023-2024
- AATSEEL Certificate Program in Diverse and Inclusive Pedagogies, 2022
- ACTFL OPI Tester Certificate at all levels, 2021
- STARTALK Critical Language Assessment Program (CLAP), Second Language Acquisition, 2021
- Valley & Ridge: Sustainability Across the Curriculum Workshop, Dickinson College, 2021
- ACTFL Certificate of participation - OPI Familiarization - Hybrid (7/14/20 - 7/20/20)
- ACTFL Workshops: Online: 2020 Fall Institute: ACTFL OPI (English/Mixed)
PUBLICATIONS
- [co-author 50%] Globally Integrated Community-Based Pedagogy for the Russian Classroom: Developing a Historic Walking Tour as a Community Project, w/ Alyssa DeBlasio and Irina Filippova. Teaching Russian without a Textbook: Dynamic Teaching for Dynamic Times (forthcoming spring 2022).
- Assessment in a virtual language classroom: Challenges and changes. FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING ISSUES, V. 7, Collection of articles, pp. 317-322, Published concurrently as revised and expanded article in conference proceedings for the Peoples Friendship University of Russia conference on the American cultural scene, Moscow Russia, 2020.
- [co-author 50%] Специфика проведения разговорного клуба на курсах дополнительного образования. Российско-китайская научно-методическая конференция «Проблемы лингводидактики в неязыковом вузе»: сборник тезисов / Московский государственный технический университет имени Н. Э. Баумана — Москва: МГТУ им. Н. Э. Баумана, 2017. — 296, [4] c.
- [co-author 50%] Русский язык как иностранный в Интернете: ресурсы и инструменты (статья), Язык, литература, культура: Актуальные проблемы изучения и преподавания: сборник научных и научно-методических статей/ Ред. кол.: Л.П. Клобукова и др. –М.: МАКС Пресс, 2011. – Выпуск 7. - 372 с.
- Средства выражения персональности в рассказе Г. Сенкевича «Старый Слуга» и его переводе на русский язык. Материалы Международного молодежного научного форума «ЛОМОНОСОВ-2010» / Отв. ред. И.А. Алешковский, П.Н. Костылев, А.И. Андреев, А.В. Андриянов. [Электронный ресурс] — М.: МАКС Пресс, 2010.
SELECTED INVITED TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS
- Social Justice in the Russian Language Curriculum, a co-host of a series of trainings for the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program language instructors (the Russian and Persian language programs), w/ Olga Klimova Magnotta, January-February 2024
- DEIA in Russian Language Classroom: new trends and teaching insights, a host of the workshops for language instructors at Middlebury Summer School, June 2023
- Teaching ethnic and cultural diversity at all levels of Russian, a host of the workshops for language instructors at Middlebury Summer School, June 2022
- Implementing the DEIA principles in Russian Language Classroom, a co-host of the Workshop for language educators at AATSEEL Conference, February 2022
- How to Forge a Strong Community in an Online Classroom, The STARTALK Russian Summer School, University of Pittsburgh, July 2021
- 7 Activities to Build Community and Positive Classroom Culture During Online Learning, ACTR Teachers' Lounge, June 2021
- Presentation of Про-движение: Advanced Russian Through Film and Media, w/Alyssa DeBlasio, Disability Working Group of the Russian Studies Workshop at Indiana University, May 17, 2021
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Russian Language Curriculum, a co-host of a series of trainings for the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program language instructors (the Russian and Persian language programs), w/ Olga Klimova Magnotta, April-May 2021
- Using Authentic Materials to Introduce the Topics on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Russian Language Curriculum, January 15, 2021. University of Pittsburg, ACTR, Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies. https://youtu.be/8PHCP7ywGzw
- Co-curricular activities and events; building communities of learners: ACTR National Conversation, June 2020, ACTR. https://youtu.be/0I7u2FqUrgs
SELECTED RESEARCH GROUPS, AFFILIATIONS & SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION
- ACTR Board of Directors, co-chair of Post Secondary Russian Scholar
Laureate Award Committee; - Co-organizer of the St. Petersburg State University Olympiad in Russian as a foreign language in the USA;
- CLS (The Critical Language Scholarship) evaluator;
- Co-author of the project Teaching Diversity and Inclusivity in a Russian Language Classroom in High Schools, w/Mark Trotter and Olga Klimova Magnotta;
- Host of the Foreign Language Pedagogy Podcast on teachrussian.org language community.
Timeline
Lecturer in Russian
Columbia University
07.2022 - 07.2023
Visiting Lecturer in Russian
Dickinson College
08.2018 - 06.2022
Russian Language Instructor
Middlebury College (The Kathryn Wasserman Davis)
06.2018 - Current
Associate Professor of Russian
Russian State University For Humanities
06.2015 - 04.2019
Master of Arts - Philology, Teaching Russian Language As A Foreign
Moscow State University
Bachelor of Arts - Russian Studies
Volgograd State University
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