Wow - That's So Cool

I have been teaching since 1994 – mostly French, some Italian, plus a little yearbook, reading, English, and pedagogy along the way. I have taught grades K-12 in New York, Georgia, France, and India, and I have taught teachers how to teach in India and Nepal. For the past two years, I have been a para professional in an autism classroom, and I have fallen in love with a whole new kind of teaching. I am working on my certification in Special Education.

My philosophy of education is that teachers must give all of themselves, one hundred percent of the time, to every student, every day. Any less is simply not enough. Teachers must be present in the moment; they must have an abiding love for their students – not as a group, but one by one – and they must display a passion that will capture the imagination of every child every day. We don’t teach our subject matter – we teach human beings. I’m not sure that what I do in my classroom – my teaching style – can be called innovative...meaning “new” or “novel.” Instead, what I do is as old as time and has always worked with children: I teach them with love and give them the attention they need and deserve. In many ways, teachers must make of their lives a living and continual prayer – a supplication on behalf of each child that he or she will succeed to the best of his or her abilities. Easy? Of course not. But oh, the reward is great: a life well lived. Helping those in need – of food, of shelter, of an education – is simply what I see as the price of admission for being alive.

Fulton County Teacher of the Year Finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction Two-Time Nominee AATF recognition for outstanding student achievement on le Grand Concours Disney American Teacher Award Nominee IAAY Outstanding Foreign Language Teacher Nominee

Degrees: Georgetown University, 1994 / B.S. / French Literature Université Jean Moulin, Lyon III, 1992 / University Studies SUNY Stony Brook, 1996 / M.A.T. / Teaching French Lincoln Memorial University, 2007 / Ed.S. / Ed. Leadership and Supervision Certifications: T – Early Childhood Education (P-5) T – French and Italian (P-12) L – Educational Leadership (P-12) Professional Development: Increasing Student Achievement Across the Content Areas, Professional Refinements in Developing Effectiveness (P.R.I.D.E.), Developing Multiple Intelligences, Encouraging Student Responsibility and Discipline, Blueprints for Thinking in the Cooperative Classroom, Teaching Students to be Peacemakers, Create Meaningful Activities to Generate Interesting Curricula (M.A.G.I.C.), Cooperative Learning, Nature and Curriculum of Middle School, C.R.I.S.S. Strategies (Reading Instruction), The Exceptional Child

I love being a teacher. I love being a para. I just love kids!