Keeping It Relevant

My experience spans three decades in public and private high schools in Los Angeles and Atlanta. I've taught AP English Language and Composition for 20 years, taught AP English Literature and Composition for five years, been a reader for the AP Lang exam for a decade, and co-taught AP summer institutes.

I encourage students to engage with their lives outside the classroom as they think and write. I pair books with contemporary shorter works--such as articles, videos, and memoirs--and invite students to make original connections. Every risk I've taken in the classroom has been rewarded many times over with the enthusiasm of the students.

The greatest reward is that special look in the students' eyes when they've made ideas their own.

BA Journalism, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; MA English, University of California-Irvine.

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