Relentless Innovation

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!

Yet to be added

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.