Kim Airola

Creative, passionate, and adaptable college-level English/Creative Writing instructor and experienced high school English/Phonics teacher with a Master of Arts in English (emphasis in Creative Writing: Poetry) a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (emphasis in Fiction), as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and German. 

2+ years' experience teaching diverse communities of college students and adults online and in person, in large and small settings. 2 years' experience teaching high school English in a diverse environment. 3+ years' experience teaching and tutoring grades 1-8, in large group and individual settings. 1 year experience teaching Creative Writing to adults at St. Anthony’s community center in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. Founded and facilitated a creative writing club for high school students (2 years), including a student-produced online literary journal. Long-term substitute teaching experience in Special Education and in facilitating a phonics intervention program for middle schoolers.

My goal is to help students find meaning and empowerment through literary education so that they can experience fulfilling life paths while making use of their individual abilities. Because I believe that storytelling is essential to the human experience, I strive to enable students to strengthen their unique voices. I am passionately dedicated to creating inclusive, safe, and inspiring spaces where students can learn authentically and strengthen their own voices, bringing about real change for the future of our world.   

EXPERIENCE

Swing Education – Head of Phonics Intervention Program, Caliber ChangeMakers Academy, 5th through 8th Grade

JANUARY 2025 - Present

●   Long-term substitute role as a Phonics Intervention Specialist, 

supporting students with low literacy scores in grades 5th through 8th.

● Daily instruction to groups of 2 - 6 students, teaching phonics concepts and oral reading skills. 

● Marked improvement in student Words Per Minute scores for grades 6 - 8 after 6 weeks. 

Swing Education – Special Education and Speech Support Long Term Substitute Teacher

AUGUST 2024 - DECEMBER 2024

●   Long-term role as a substitute Special Education teacher, supporting 

students with learning disabilities and Individualized Education Plans. Providing support in classroom environments as well as in the Special Education classroom. Facilitating student meetings with speech and language pathologists.

Swing Education – Substitute Educator

AUGUST 2024 - Present

●    Substitute teaching in both short- and long-term for grades PK through 12.

●   Classroom management, individual student support, instructing according to curriculum

Summit Tamalpais High School — 9th Grade English Teacher

AUGUST 2022 - August 2024

●    Teaching 100 9th grade English students each year in a diverse community setting

●    Mentoring one class of students from 10th to 11th grade: facilitating group activities, conducting one-on-one check-ins, and helping students to create concrete steps to achieve their personal and academic goals

●    Editing and assigning online work via the online Summit Learning Platform

●    Effective classroom management practices

●    Development of engaging and innovative curriculum according to CCSS and school-specific requirements

●    Maintaining a vibrant and healthy relationship with students and their families in order to promote student success

●    Founder and Faculty Advisor of the Creative Writing Club and student-run online literary journal, Fairy Lights Collective, Issues I (2022-23) and II (2023-24)

San Francisco State University — Graduate Instructional Aide

AUGUST 2021 - DECEMBER 2021

●    Assisted in an in-person, upper-division undergraduate Creative Writing course.

●    Provided instruction and feedback to a group of eight to ten writing students during class sessions and online.

●    Prepared and presented lessons, guided class discussions.

●    Responded to students’ written work via online portal.

San Francisco State University — Professor of Creative Writing (Graduate Teaching Associate)   

JUNE 2020 - AUGUST 2020

●    Taught an online Creative Writing 101 course during summer session, instructing students on the basics of fiction, poetry and drama writing

●    Online course development and lesson plan creation related to a novel, various poems and short plays, and a textbook

●    Reviewed student work, provided individual feedback and grades 

San Francisco State University — Professor of Creative Writing (Graduate Teaching Associate)

AUGUST 2019 - DECEMBER 2019

●    Taught a weekly Creative Writing 101 in-person course to 100 students, instructing them in the basics of fiction, poetry and drama writing

●    Created PowerPoint lesson plans, writing assignments, and lectures

●    Online course development and curriculum design using iLearn system

●    Held office hours

●    Provided individual written feedback and met with students

●    Responsible for timely grading of student work 

St. Anthony’s Foundation, San Francisco — Volunteer Instructor of Writing

JANUARY 2019 - MAY 2019

●    Taught Creative Writing to a diverse group of adult students at a community center serving food and housing needs for members of San Francisco’s Tenderloin community

●    Co-founded and co-created the course with one other graduate student volunteer. Planned writing assignments, presented lessons, led workshops

●    Participated in community outreach to inform potential students about this free course 

San Francisco State University — Graduate Instructional Aide

AUGUST 2018 - DECEMBER 2019

●    Assisted in an online Creative Writing 101 course of 100 students

●    Provided individual feedback to a group of 20 students several times per week through an online portal

●    Provided regular student progress reports to professor

●    Assigned grades to 20 students 

Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing (Emphasis in Fiction, Teaching)

SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY, MAY 2022

4.0 GPA

RELEVANT COURSEWORK:

●    Correlative (focus)in Teaching Creative Writing

●    Teaching Creative Writing (course)

●    Practicum in Teaching (course)

●    Community Projects in Writing: Volunteer Writing Instructor

Master of Arts, English

(Emphasis in Creative Writing: Poetry, Teaching)

SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY, MAY 2021

4.0 GPA

RELEVANT COURSEWORK:

●    Correlative (focus) in Teaching Creative Writing

●    Practicum in Teaching (course)

●    Teaching Creative Writing (course)

●    Community Projects in Writing: Graduate Instructional Aide

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:

●    Participated in poetry readings at The Poetry Center

●    Participated in virtual readings (during COVID-19) with The Ana Literary Magazine

Bachelor of Arts, Humanities/German

SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY, DECEMBER 2017

MAGNA CUM LAUDE

DEAN’S LIST

RELEVANT COURSEWORK:

●    Linguistics for Foreign Languages (Tutoring Component)