Kings Academy- Boarding School (Madaba, Jordan), The American School of Kuwait (Hawally, Kuwait), Country Day School-Guanacaste (Brasilito, Costa Rica), Neptune High School (Neptune, NJ) Marlboro Middle School (Marlboro, NJ), Shore Regional High School (West Long Branch, NJ)
Mastery-based approaches utilizing John Hattie's Visible Learning philosophies. Ultimately, my job as a teacher is for every child to have one year of growth.
NESA 2013 Spring Conference Presenter NESA 2014 Spring Conference Presenter Learningbird.com Connected Educator and Contributor 2012-2013 Teacher of Year- Country Day School Guanacaste
The most important phrase I have ever heard about teaching came from my very first education class. My professor walked into the room, looked at each one of us and said, "Don't ever become a teacher unless you cannot see yourself doing anything else". I have adopted that phrase as the core of my teaching philosophy, and I have done everything within my power to influence the lives of my students in a positive way. My journey in the teaching field has been challenging but ultimately more rewarding than I could ever imagine. My first teaching experience was in a school where the previous teacher had been removed for abusing narcotic drugs. My students at first were very hostile towards me, but I was able to transform the classroom into an effective learning environment. Moreover, by the end of the year I had developed effective methods of classroom management by creating dynamic lessons that included blogging, web-quests and debates. My second teaching experience was at one of the highest achieving Middle Schools in New Jersey, where expectations for success were incredibly high. I made the classroom experience unique by infusing my theater background into the classroom, dressing as a Roman soldier or Medieval Knight and teaching as a character from that time period. The times when my students were truly thankful for my effort, and when they saw that I really did care about them and their learning are some of the best moments of my life. My first experience with international teaching came in 2011 when I was offered a position at Country Day School- Guanacaste. It was a tremendous challenge to balance teaching five different grade levels, coach basketball, advise the Model U.N club, supervise our school's re-accreditation as the internal coordinator for CDSG and oversee musical performances for various school events, but my experiences helped me evolve into a more complete teacher. I also pioneered a new teaching strategy at CDSG school called "Flipping the Classroom", which allows me to optimize class time to make sure every one of my students is learning to the best of their ability. Over the last five years I now have a online library of 200 videos that has led to relationships with professors, educational start-up companies and students from around the world. My second experience with international teaching began in 2013 at The American School of Kuwait. My first two years of teaching were incredible formative to my teaching philosophy. I utilized a flipped classroom and paperless classroom method for students to engage in authentic assessments of history (for example, podcasts on The Great Depression and Music Videos on the Vietnam War). I also had the opportunity to provide professional development at the Spring NESA Conference in Bangkok and Istanbul in 2013 and 2014. During my third year at ASK I was asked to teach A.P Seminar and A.P Research, two new courses that anchored the A.P Diploma program. I utilized assessment modeling, differentiation, inquiry-based learning and self-assessment strategies to help students develop college level essays and research papers. I consider teaching a calling, a privilege and a gift. My students deserve all of my ability, knowledge and effort every single day. There is nothing I want to do more than be a teacher and influence the lives of my students in a positive way both inside and outside of the classroom, because that is what they truly deserve.
Yet to be added
6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, Higher Education, Homeschool
English Language Arts, Specialty, Social Studies, Ancient History, Government, Native Americans, U.S. History, European History, World History, Middle Ages, Other (Specialty), Geography, Other (Social Studies), Economics , Study Skills, Asian Studies, For All Subjects, Test Preparation, African History