I have been teaching junior high language arts and reading for 15 years. I spent one year teaching high school English prior to that. I started out teaching at-risk students and now teach gifted students. Over the past three years, I have also picked up teaching computers. I have also taught some undergraduate and graduate classes at two local colleges.
I enjoy having my students learn things that apply to their lives right now. Telling junior high kids that they need to learn something for high school or college or when they grow up and have a job and family all seems so far off and unrealistic to them. These kids want to know why something is important right now, so I strive to make their learning meaningful to their lives right now! I keep in the front of my mind that my ultimate goal is for my kids to learn what I teach, so I try to create activities and tools that accomplish this goal. I prefer not to be punitive with my students but rather proactive and anticipate their obstacles to learning and tackle them before they become real obstacles!
Any time I get a note from a parent or a student thanking me for what I do, I consider that my greatest reward and shining moment. I am not looking for glory; I just want what I do to mean something to someone.
I received my bachelor's degree in 1989 and my master's degree in 2001. I have often toyed around with the idea of working on a doctorate simply because I love to learn. It won't really buy me anything special on the salary schedule, but it sure would be fun, hard work!
I love teaching and education. My dream job is to write stories, novels, and articles, and write curriculum for a living. If I don't teach until my retirement, I'll work at something related to education -- it is my passion! I also ask that anyone who downloads any of my products (free or purchased) please provide feedback/ratings. I am genuinely interested in offering materials that my fellow teachers find useful! if items are not meeting expectations, I'd like to know so I can improve :) Also, let me know when you find typos in anything -- my mind works faster than my fingers, and being an English teacher, typos and misspellings irritate me -- I gotta fix 'em:)