Marilyn's Homework Help

My great grandmother worked in a one room schoolhouse in Minnesota, teaching every subject to students tall and small, during all seasons, so I like to say that I inherited my love of teaching from her. Today, the demands on students—standardized testing, competition to get into the best colleges, changes in technology—are very different, but one thing remains the same: students learn best when they have teachers and mentors who know them well and genuinely care about them. I’ve used this philosophy as a high school ELA teacher for the past 14 years. I meet a student where they are academically, developmentally, and emotionally in order to bring them forward on their own path to success.

I believe strongly in the “student as worker, teacher as facilitator” philosophy. My lessons and materials are designed to create a student centered classroom. Basic rule: lessons need to be engaging! Students need meaty, relevant material. At the same time, I think students of any age benefit from structure and routines. Because of the underlying structure in each of my lessons, and the similar format and flow, students recognize and understand how they can grab onto the material and excel. It also makes my lessons great to use as your own, because you can use multiple lessons and they won't all feel like a whole new format to learn each time. My lessons are very adaptable to your time, their skills and the materials you have available.

Model Teacher and Peer Collaborative Teacher Coach with the DOE Teacher Leadership Initiative, 2014-present 9/11 Teacher Award recipient for outstanding lessons, 2016

Bachelor of arts from The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA Masters degree in education from Antioch University, Seattle, WA

I teach at a portfolio school where project based learning, knowing students well and writing across disciplines is our focus.