In my sixteen years as an educator, I have worked in various roles including classroom teacher, instructional coach, and teacher-consultant for program and curriculum leadership. I have also taught a communications course at our local college and was a lead curriculum-writer for a private school and helped them to gain accreditation through our Ministry of Education. I have been very fortunate to engage in a great deal of professional learning around effective classroom instruction, assessment and evaluation, student voice, and creating communities of learners in the classroom.
I believe the days of "teacher-as-expert" are no longer appropriate for the 21st century world in which we live. Instead, I consider myself a facilitator of learning, orchestrating rich learning opportunities and tasks, and providing personalized feedback and support to help each student become more skilled. I value letting students take the lead in their own learning - once they feel supported in doing so; as such, I distribute leadership to my students quite frequently, allowing them to be the lead-researchers and thinkers, sharing their ideas and insights with their classmates, while I help them navigate their ideas through conscientious questioning and redirecting. I believe in teaching students using a diverse collection of authentic voices!
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Marketing and Advertising Diploma; Bachelor of Arts Honours, English Literature and Creative Writing; Minor in Philosophy; Bachelor of Education; Junior-Intermediate and Intermediate-Senior Qualifications; Specialist Qualifications in Librarianship
Over twenty years ago, reading the back cover of a John Irving novel, I read a literary review that celebrated Irving's "relentlessly innovative" writing style. That phrase spoke to me - I liked the way it sounded, I liked the way the letters looked in the words they had formed on the page - and I knew that I had found a part of myself in that moment. From there on, I have tried to live a life of relentless innovation, inside the classroom and out.
4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, Higher Education, Adult Education, Homeschool, Staff
English Language Arts, Balanced Literacy, Creative Writing, Writing-Expository, Reading, Grammar, Specialty, Social Studies - History, U.S. History, World History, Arts & Music, Drama, Career and Technical Education, English, Film, Theater Arts, Canadian History, Australian History, Other (ELA), Critical Thinking, For All Subject Areas, Literature, Business, Native American Studies, Short Stories, Writing, Oral Communication, Reading Strategies, Writing-Essays, Poetry, For All Subjects, Informational Text, Close Reading