Ángela Puentes, Teacher

Luz Ángela Puentes Piñeros considers herself a lifelong learner. In fact, her first motivation when she joining MIS was to be part of a community of learners. Due to this fact, one of her most important concerns is to make her classroom a place to inquire and encourage children. Teaching has been an extraordinary expedition for her. This started after completing her Bachelor of Arts in Education at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional of Colombia, her native country. As a result of this BA, Ángela has strong feelings about education as a way of stimulating children's abilities and making them active participants of their own learning. To further foster her professional development Ángela later delved into studies of English-Spanish translation in addition to a Master's Degree in Education at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

She has taught in English language immersion schools with a great interest and focus in the area of academic assessment. Academic assesment is an area in which she spent time doing independent research as well as being the topic for her Master's Thesis. Her familiarity with the International Baccalaureate (IB) philosophy started with her experience at the Colegio CIEDI international school in Bogota, Colombia, an IB World School. At CIEDI she was part of the IB certification staff and was recognized with the “IB Teacher Profile” award.

Another areas of interest of her's is research into the use of Differentiation Inquiry as a way of teaching. This teaching method gives students the opportunity of being involved in autonomous spaces, which lets them take control over their cognitive processes. Kids are free to ask, to act, to make mistakes, to explore and discover; in contexts where there is a variety of learning styles. Being committed to education, Ángela has attended IBO workshops that allowed her to enrich her teaching and learning practices. Additionally, she believes that teachers reflecting on their practices enable them to think critically and transform education as part of a continous renewal process.

Ángela is a firm believer in The Magellan International School's philosophy and considers working at MIS an opportunity to grow and support both her professional and personal development. "I deeply believe in the philosophy of international education as a way to make of this world a better place to live and to foster a more peaceful world where differences amongst peoples are respected. The philosophy goes beyond an educational framework, it is a lifestyle that allows us to cooperate from the classroom to enhance mutual understanding, strengthen relationships and provide an opportunity to teach and learn in a world that needs a thoughtful consideration of universal interests and values despite our differences."

Among Ángela's other interests there is community service which she takes on as a serious mission in her own country and which has taught her that giving is the best way to reach happiness. In her free time Ángela enjoys reading, walking, skating, and spending time with her family.