ok, i mentioned i need help with my cover letter. well, here it is. any comments or ideas are greatly appreciated. i wrote the first few drafts in a prosaic and somewhat long-winded style. i am going for brevity here, but feel i need to explain what the hell i am doing in mexico and why teaching english down here is still relative to teaching in the states (is it?).

here it is:

My name is William Davis and I am applying for the position of English teacher posted on the Higher Education Jobs website. I can offer to Sheridan not only skills as a teacher, communicator and creator, but also a perspective molded by international experience as I have taught in Mexico for the last three years with students of diverse social, economic and ethnic backgrounds.

My current position at the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) involves designing and developing courses based on improving student writing and communication skills. A recent set of courses I have created intertwine the study of literature and technology (my students are high level English speakers who excel in exchange programs in English-speaking nations) in an effort to remind the students that reading, writing and creativity are inclusive ideas. Focusing on activities that allow learners to participate actively rather than passively, these classes invite not only student-teacher interaction, but peer communication as well.

The areas in which I give classes are the Bi-Cultural Program, the International Baccalaureate as well as in the Humanities Division in the university. The Bi-Cultural Program requires students to take half of the course load in English and half in Spanish. As a result, the language skills of these students can easily be compared to that of a high school student in the USA. The International Baccalaureate Program offers a special opportunity as my students have studied English since primary school and read and write in English on a level of first year college students (I also taught two years and two levels of undergraduate rhetoric and composition at Northern Arizona University and one year of high school in Virginia). With the IB program, I am free to design courses that not only encourage critical thinking and creativity, but blend other areas, such as Communication, Linguistics and Technology studies. The university courses combine the study of literature with developmental writing and communication skills through texts, art and web-based applications. In short, though I have taught classes in a foreign country for three years, the proficiency of the students is on par with some of the better secondary schools and colleges in the USA and a focus is on improving writing.

In graduate school I studied Native American Literature and Chicana/o Literature and presented papers in these areas. Undoubtedly the students at Sheridan College come from disparate backgrounds and age groups, and I would utilize this variety by explaining how differing points of view and perspectives enable a writer to communicate effective arguments.

At my current school, Blackboard and other web-based programs used to record grades, attendance, feedback, etc., form an integral part of the position. In order to better utilize these services, I have attended multiple training sessions and courses detailing their numerous attributes. I also participated in a 60 hour teacher training course designed to help educators better understand the needs of students, handle a variety of behavioral and external issues and incorporate values into courses taught.

Teaching at a small college in Wyoming greatly appeals to me as I am from a small town in Virginia and understand some of the nuances associated with areas of this type. As my CV exhibits, most of my teaching background is writing based and a large percentage of that with developmental writing courses. I feel that I would be an excellent addition to your staff and welcome the challenges this post entails. Please do not hesitate to contact me at wjurdan@itesm.mx if I can elaborate further upon any details or answer other questions.