Teaching

Teaching

I currently teach classes designed to help students manage digital distractions and reclaim their time and attention. Additionally, I also teach a problem-solving course where my students create innovative solutions to prevent children and adolescents from accessing smartphones and social media at a very early age, aiming to mitigate the negative effects associated with early exposure.

I have been an adjunct for the past nine years and I have had the privilege of helping hundreds of students elevate their well-being. Since obtaining my MSc. in Applied Positive Psychology, I have taught different classes and workshops in this field. Lately, I have specialized in digital well-being.

 

In my classes, I fulfill the following goals:

  • Foster an environment of psychological safety where all students feel comfortable engaging in group discussions and expressing their ideas.
  • Curate impactful educational materials and in-class activities that leave a lasting impression and inspire students to explore the material more deeply.
  • Model and demonstrate the application of concepts studied in class—such as empathy, growth mindset, digital well-being, self-awareness, and emotional regulation—through personal stories that showcase authenticity.
  • Inspire reflections and habit changes in students to incorporate new practices that support their well-being.

You can see a sample of courses I teach and have taught below.

I discovered my calling to teach when I was tutoring my friend Dani for the SAT (an American standardized test for admission to university). One day, Dani finally grasped a concept we had been working on for several sessions, and I felt really happy about that. I knew right then and there that I wanted to teach when I grew up. The issue was that I was a grown up already on a different career path. Nevertheless, I decided to pursue my newfound passion even if that meant taking a leap of faith, quitting a great job, and going back to school.

Fast forward to today, and I teach a variety of courses in the fields of positive psychology and math. Through various student-centered methodologies, such as the flipped classroom and gamification, I make my classes entertaining. I love and take pride in making challenging subjects comprehensible and enjoyable. Whether face-to-face or online, I carefully design different activities for each lesson to help grasp and bring home difficult concepts in an engaging way.

I use my strengths of creativity, kindness, zest, and—I like to think—humor to deliver hands-on and fun lessons. I love my job so much that, on most days, on my way home from the university, I blast music in my car and sing loudly to celebrate my satisfaction and happiness.

Current Undergraduate Courses:

IE Challenge

This is a mandatory upper-division course where students apply their problem solving skills and entrepreneurial mindset to tackle a societal challenge.
The specific challenge I pose to my students aims to address the problem of children’s early access to smartphones, social media, and the internet. Many children are given their first smartphone at a very early age, which is dangerous because it provides unrestricted access to addictive apps and inappropriate content. Other significant issues arising from excessive screen time include lack of empathy, cyberbullying, grooming, sexting, participation in fatal viral challenges on social media, lack of sleep, social comparison, negative mood, isolation, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia. Delaying the age at which children receive their first smartphone is a collective action problem that demands innovative solutions.
During the course, students will work in teams primarily applying the design thinking methodology while also incorporating tools from the field of positive psychology.

Imagining Your Future with Your Best Self

This elective course is designed for third and fourth-year students who seek to enhance their personal and professional lives. By exploring and practicing hands-on concepts from the science of positive psychology, such as kindness, empathy, gratitude, mindfulness, purpose, self-compassion, trust, and forgiveness, students will develop valuable skills for well-being.
Unlike traditional classes where students often sit passively and listen to lectures, this course is highly interactive. The course features carefully curated materials and class activities, and enforces a no-laptop policy to foster engagement. Students are required to actively participate and interact with many different peers. This structure not only allows them to share their thoughts and experiences but also helps them form meaningful connections.
In this class, students discuss deep and personal topics, which often leads to the formation of friendships. They get to know a lot of different people, discovering that they are not alone in their experiences and gaining appreciation for diverse perspectives. This environment promotes a sense of community, psychological safety, and supports learning, as well as the development of life skills.

Managing Your Most Valuable Resources: Time and Attention

This seminar explores why we constantly feel short of time and frustrated, providing insights and techniques to manage our resources and regain control. We reflect on our current and future use of technologies that consume a significant amount of our time, such as social media and email. In addition to that, we learn how to procrastinate less and plan our lives in a way that allows us to feel fulfilled and aligned with our goals while balancing multiple responsibilities.

Attention Management for Learning

In the current digital world, our attention is constantly subject to distractions, which in turn supports behaviors around the use of technology that deplete our cognitive capacity and debilitate decision making. This also impacts our emotional resources and ability to connect with ourselves, develop healthy habits, and connect on a human level. This workshop aims to build awareness of what is attention, its different types, how constant distractions and interruptions impact our attention; and how we can replenish our attentional resources. After the workshop, students will be better equipped to understand how to manage their attention each day and be more intentional in their behavior regarding their habits and use of technology.

Current Undergraduate Courses:

Positive Organizational Behavior

Format: Hybrid
This is an elective class aimed at upper-division students. This course covers motivation theories and happiness at work. Through class discussions, peer-learning activities, and practical simulations students reflect on their own work values and evaluate Human Resources best practices. This knowledge provides students with tools to choose a career wisely and consider their chances of both success and happiness.

Kindness, Empathy, and Compassion

Format: Hybrid
This is a short course (six sessions) open to all undergraduate students. Participants are expected to dissect, practice, and develop specific character traits and examine how they can positively impact their personal and professional lives.

Applied Business Mathematics

Format: Hybrid
This course is the first part of the first-year series of mandatory math core courses in the degree of Bachelor in Business Administration. In this class, students learn how to apply certain precalculus, differentiation and integration notions to economic problems. The recent shift in teaching modality, which includes both asynchronous and synchronous sessions, allowed me to successfully develop and implement a flipped classroom paradigm.

Mathematics for Management

Format: Hybrid
This course is the second part of the first-year series of mandatory math core courses in the degree of Bachelor in Business Administration. In this class, students learn topics in linear algebra, multivariable calculus, and financial mathematics and apply them to economic problems. The recent shift in teaching modality, which includes both asynchronous and synchronous sessions, allowed me to successfully develop and implement a flipped classroom paradigm.

Past Undergraduate Courses:

Positive Organizational Behavior

This is an elective course aimed at upper-division students where we study motivation theories and happiness at work. Through class discussions, peer-learning activities, and practical simulations students reflect on their own work values and evaluate Human Resources best practices. This knowledge allows students to choose a career that will make them both successful and happy and will also help them motivate their future employees.

Kindness, Empathy, and Compassion

This is a short course (six sessions) where we dissect, practice, and develop specific character traits and examine how they can positively impact our personal and professional lives.

Past Undergraduate Courses:

Mathematics I

Format: Face-to-face
This course was the first part of the first-year series of mandatory math core courses in the previous curriculum of the degree of Bachelor in Business Administration. In this class, students gained a comprehensive understanding of differential and integral calculus. Taught 100% synchronously and face-to-face in the pre-pandemic era, I incorporated games, interactive practices, simulations, and group activities to my lectures.

Mathematics II

Format: Face-to-face
This course was the second part of the first-year series of mandatory math core courses in the previous curriculum of the degree of Bachelor in Business Administration. In this class, students gained a comprehensive understanding of linear algebra, multivariable calculus, and constrained and unconstrained optimization. Taught 100% synchronously and face-to-face in the pre-pandemic era, I incorporated games, interactive practices, simulations, and group activities to my lectures.

Mathematics 0

Format: Face-to-face and Online
This is an optional remedial Math course for students who need extra support in their core math subjects. This course covers the same topics as Mathematics I or Applied Business Math, but at a slower pace and in smaller groups. Through brief lectures, Q&A rounds, games, and group activities, I have been able to tackle the material that students find most challenging. I’ve successfully adapted this course which was traditionally taught 100% synchronously and face-to-face pre-pandemic, to a 100%-online format where I use breakout rooms extensively, post-pandemic.

Positive Organizational Behavior

Format: Online
This is the same course as the one I am currently teaching (see above), but adapted to a 100%-online environment, where, again, breakout rooms play an important role.

Awards and Achievements

  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2023-2024 (Imagining Your Future with Your Best Self)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2022-2023 (Math for Management and Positive Organizational Behavior)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2021-2022 (Math for Management)
  • Nominee – V Premios EDUCA ABANCA. Mejor Docente de España 2021 (Math for Management)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2019-2020 (Math for Management)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2018-2019 (Mathematics II)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2017-2018 (Mathematics I)

Awards and Achievements

  • Nominee – V Premios EDUCA ABANCA. Mejor Docente de España 2021 (Math for Management)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2020-2021 (Math for Management)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2019-2020 (Math for Management)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2018-2019 (Mathematics II)
  • Award for Teaching Excellence – IE University 2017-2018 (Mathematics I)

testimonials

“Positive Organizational Behavior has been one of the best classes I have had in my 5 years at IE … I know that what I have learned is definitely stuck in my head for the long run since now I have been giving my dad advice on how to make sure he has a positive culture in his company that looks out for the wellbeing of their employees. It has been a pleasure attending this class and I really wished it had more sessions as I enjoyed them so much. The expectations were obviously exceeded, and I never expected to look forward to a 4 a.m. class, but I did, and I am very happy I took this class.”
Martina Hinojosa, Positive Organizational Behavior student 2020-2021
“It has been amazing to have her as a teacher. She transmits her passion to all of us and encourages us to know ourselves and embrace the world in the best way possible!”
Anonymous,Kindness, Empathy, and Compassion student 2019-2020
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testimonials

Positive Organizational Behavior has been one of the best classes I have had in my 5 years at IE … I know that what I have learned is definitely stuck in my head for the long run since now I have been giving my dad advice on how to make sure he has a positive culture in his company that looks out for the wellbeing of their employees. It has been a pleasure attending this class and I really wished it had more sessions as I enjoyed them so much. The expectations were obviously exceeded, and I never expected to look forward to a 4 a.m. class, but I did, and I am very happy I took this class.
Martina HinojosaPositive Organizational Behavior student 2020-2021
It has been amazing to have her as a teacher. She transmits her passion to all of us and encourages us to know ourselves and embrace the world in the best way possible!”
Dana PichelMath for Management student 2019-2020
“You have made a great impact in my life and made me like math (I never thought I could). Your class was one of my favorites and I feel really thankful to have had the opportunity to have you as my professor. I finally like math, and know how to do it or at least have come a long way since math 1! Thank you for being an amazing professor, and for going above and beyond to make sure your students understand.”
Isabella CovaMath for Management student 2018-2019
“It has been amazing to have her as a teacher. She transmits her passion to all of us and encourages us to know ourselves and embrace the world in the best way possible!”
AnonymousKindness, Empathy, and Compassion student 2019-2020
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