In English

18 years in public school teaching, primarily 10th grade English, 10th grade Honors English, 12th grade AP English, IB English, and Creative Writing courses. I have also taught 9th grade, 9th grade Honors, and 11th grade English courses. In addition to the standard and honors courses, I have taught as an inclusion team teacher and I have taught summer school remediation courses. I have taught in both traditional year-long 7-period (50 minute) schedules as well as 4x4 (88 minute) block scheduling and year-long (88 minute) A/B block scheduling. I am trained by the International Baccalaureate Organization and the College Board. My CW students have taken first place in the VHSL state writing competition on two separate occasions. Our literary magazine has won every major state and national award.

I incorporate a lot of humor in my teaching and I try to make my classroom a place where students feel welcome, valued, and safe. At the same time, my expectations are high and I hold my students to high standards of achievement. My units and lessons are based on best teaching practices and my classroom management is based on relationship-driven teaching. Each student is unique, so I try to be flexible to individual needs without sacrificing the demand for quality work.

I have been nominated for "Teacher of the Year" several times. I feel grateful for the nominations, as my school uses colleague-voting to choose nominees and finalists. I must be doing something OK if my peers believe I'm worthy of a mention. My favorite honors, however, are the many times students tell me they enjoy my class and parents tell me they want their child in my class. The kids say that they have to work hard, but that they actually have fun too...that means a lot to me.

B.A. English 1994 [California State University San Marcos], Teacher Certification 1997 [University of Maryland], M.Ed. in Diverse Student Populations 2004 [University of Mary Washington], endorsement in Gifted & Talented, certified by International Baccalaureate Organization and The College Board (AP).

I am the parent of a 25-year-old and a 23-year-old. I believe that being a parent makes me a more well-rounded teacher, as I am always considering things from all views -- the students', mine, and the parents'.