Meet Our Learning Support & English as an Additional Language Staff

Natasha Kane

I am a passionate teacher with over 12 years of teaching experience in Special Education Needs (SEN). Originally from Belfast, in Northern Ireland, I completed a two-year PGCE, training in both Primary and Secondary Education and specializing in Key Stage 2 and 3. I went on to work in three private SEN schools, in the United Kingdom, working with a variety of learners with a range of individual needs.

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Adriana Balseca

Before joining BISH, I worked as an English and Spanish tutor to primary and secondary pupils. I have been trained as a professional EAL teacher through the Cambridge English Language Teaching Certification program. I am also a Spanish Teacher certified by the Instituto Cervantes-Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.  I am passionate about teaching languages and I speak four of them English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. I am currently enrolled at the University of Texas to obtain a degree as Master of Arts in Bilingual Education.

 

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Alison Belcher

Accreditiations

LDT, CALT, BA Hons.

Certified Academic Language Therapist and Licensed Dyslexia Therapist

I have been working one on one with dyslexic students since 2010. Prior to becoming an independent dyslexia therapist, I was a member of staff at the British International School of Houston from 2002 to early 2011, working as a Learning Support Assistant with students in Foundation and Key Stage 1. For a number of years I was also a parent here. I am fortunate to be continuing my association with the school in the capacity of private therapist, helping students both within school and also in my home in Spring, northwest Houston.

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Anna Gibbons

Coming from a family of teachers and inspired by my dad’s love of learning, I always hoped that I would one day become a teacher, but after graduating from Liverpool John Moores University in 2002 with a degree in Drama I decided to quench my thirst for performance and follow dream number 1… I began touring the UK for a leading ‘Theatre in Education’ company based in Scotland, and worked contractually for six years as an actor and tour manager. 

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Nicola Gorman

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Libby Gunn

Growing up with a close family member who is profoundly deaf made me very aware of communication needs and led to me studying for a degree in Human Communication and  Communication Disorders, alongside Linguistics. I volunteered for a year in Romania with children and young people with a wide range of learning needs. This confirmed my desire to train as a teacher and I completed a PGCE in Primary Education. I worked for several years in primary schools in Hampshire and Surrey before my husband’s work took us overseas. Living in different countries provided me with a great opportunity to experience different educational settings and I was fortunate to be able to volunteer in the schools my children have attended in various locations.

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Samantha Halverson

My passion for teaching came early on. I remember playing “school” with my sister as a young child in which my role was always the teacher. My first job in high school was teaching gymnastics and subsequently my other jobs throughout high school contained teaching components. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 2010, I decided to continue my passion for teaching (and traveling), teaching English in Colombia and then later in the Republic of Georgia. Upon returning to the United States, I completed my Masters Degree in Education, with a focus on Alternative Education, at Concordia University in Wisconsin. I started teaching at North Broward, the Nord Anglia School in South Florida, in 2014 working with High School Students with learning differences. I loved the opportunities a Nord Anglia school can provide students and the growth opportunities it provides teachers, so I decided to transfer Nord Anglia schools in the summer of 2017 joining the team here at BISH as a High School Learning Support Teacher. I am an advocate for ensuring all students receive the accommodations they need and love every minute of working with students who learn differently. I am a promoter of Visual Thinking, Mind Maps, using games to teach, utilizing technology in the classroom, and an encourager of using accessibility features to help students learn. I consider myself lucky to be in a profession that allows me to be a lifelong learner.

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Chelsea Kirk

While studying Fine Art and Sculpture at the University of North Texas, I took a class called Introduction to Linguistics that changed the course of my career. Language and communication became a new passion. I moved to Prague to earn my TEFL Certification and began my career teaching English as a Foreign Language. I taught in the Czech Republic, Germany and China before moving to Colorado to work towards my Master’s degree. I graduated in 2014 with an M.A. in Linguistics for TESOL Professionals from the University of Colorado. After a brief stint in Austin and again in China, I finally landed in Houston, Texas. I earned my Texas Teaching License and taught English for English Learners at Westbury High School. Now I am a proud member of the staff at BISH. In my experience, information and learning is best absorbed when it is fun and relevant. I make an effort to explain the rationale behind what I teach and make and effort to connect lesson content to each student’s personal goals and motivations. I also sympathize with the restless students and the wandering minds (I am one of those myself). Therefore, I make an effort to design my lessons to be fast-paced and offer a variety of activities for all learning styles.

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