Elementary school is the best and I spent 14 happy years there! I taught fourth grade for eight years, spent a year in third, and then I served as an Instructional Coach/Leader for my campus. As an instructional specialist for reading and writing, I create tools my own teachers find useful when working with real kids and real learning. Now, as an educational consultant and an instructional coach's coach, I use the best practices I used with my own students to support coaches, teachers, and kids in elementary schools!
I love to work with all content areas and develop my own units rather than use textbooks or programs. Real reading, real writing, real experiences, real conversations :)
I was Teacher of the Year for my campus for the 2010 - 2011 school year and the 2012-2013 school year. I've presented at IRA conferences as well as a National Writing Project National Meeting.
Partway through my reading masters!
We recently welcomed our beautiful baby girl to the world! I have a dog and a cat, and a wonderful husband! My family of three younger brothers constantly shapes the work I do - it has been beautiful to see them grow and know what influences them to do what's right.
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, Adult Education, Staff, Not Grade Specific
English Language Arts, Balanced Literacy, Creative Writing, Writing-Expository, Reading, Grammar, Spelling, Vocabulary, Specialty, Math, Arithmetic, Basic Operations, Fractions, Geometry, Graphing, Measurement, Numbers, Science, Basic Principles, Earth Sciences, Environment, Social Studies - History, Civics, Government, U.S. History, World Language, Spanish, Arts & Music, Drama, Career and Technical Education, Curriculum & Instruction, ELA Test Prep, Other (Social Studies - History), Other (ELA), For All Subject Areas, Literature, Classroom Management, Professional Development, School Counseling, Study Skills, Instructional Technology, General Science, Physical Science, Writing, Reading Strategies, Writing-Essays, Holidays/Seasonal, Back to School, Thanksgiving, Christmas/ Chanukah/ Kwanzaa, Poetry, Autumn, Halloween, Winter, The New Year, Valentine's Day, Black History Month, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Spring, Place Value, For All Subjects, Summer, Informational Text, For Administrators, Coaching, Test Preparation, End of Year, Phonics, Close Reading, Classroom Community