Beyond the Pattern

+ 15 years teaching in Chicago Public Schools M.Ed - Curriculum Design and Instruction American Literature Course Team Leader Certified in AP Literature and Composition, AP Language and Composition, AP Capstone Seminar, AP Capstone Research, and ELL/ESL

Welcome to Beyond the Pattern, where I reject the exhausted cycle of 60-minute lectures and endless grading. My resources are built on the principles of self-paced, mastery-based learning. I do not teach to the middle; I design for the individual student. In a traditional classroom, you repeat the same material five times a day. My model flips that. You provide the content via blended learning (slides and recorded lessons), and your students take ownership of their speed, moving through the curriculum only after they have proven mastery on a quiz. This system frees you from lecturing so you can spend your valuable class time where it matters most: coaching individual students and facilitating small-group, high-level analysis. This shift fosters genuine learning autonomy in your students. Every unit I create is structured with clear Must Do, Should Do, and Aspire to Do classifications, giving students a roadmap to navigate challenging rhetorical texts like the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. This structure trains students to manage their time, make choices about their workload, and seek remediation when they fail a Mastery Check. The result is a classroom where students stop asking "What do I do next?" and start directing their own learning, leading to deeper engagement, higher retention, and a far more focused and productive use of your energy.

I build resources based on a deep foundation in specialized educational theory, advanced curriculum design, and literary expertise. This academic background ensures every unit I create is highly rigorous, accessible for language learners, and aligned with effective teaching practice. Credentials B.A. English Literature & Secondary Education; English as a Second Language (ESL) M.Ed. Curriculum, Instruction & Design M.Ed. English as a Second Language (ESL)

As someone who is Neurodivergent (ADHD), I rely on highly organized systems. This informs the core design of my store: my methodical approach (yes, I'm a bit of a control freak!) is channeled into creating structured Modern Classroom Project units. This structure is intentional. I use mastery checks and self-pacing to shift the accountability for learning away from me and back to the student. Beyond the classroom, I am a varsity softball coach and an avid reader, constantly seeking new ways to connect literature with practical, real-world discipline. I make the resources I wish I had—so you can stop spending your weekends planning and start coaching.