I am a curriculum writer and designer with 20 years classroom experience teaching in diverse, urban, public school settings. I am currently researching, writing, and designing NGSS aligned curriculum in California pubic schools. I specialize in Middle School science, but I have additional experience in teaching all subject areas. I have been writing and designing curriculum for use in my own classroom, and for testing and piloting at the district level. I have been selling curriculum online for 15 years.
My teaching philosophy embraces hands on scientific inquiry and project based learning. Students are taught critical thinking skills as they practice reading, writing, academic discussion, and argumentation throughout the curriculum. Excellent teaching methods, often reserved for students with special needs and English language learners, are woven through each and every lesson, and benefit all students. Some of these methods include utilizing high frequency word walls, interactive notebooks, graphic organizers, chunking and annotating text, guiding student work with rubrics, foldables, kinesthetic learning, etc.
Peace Corps Bolivia Fellowship - Received a full scholarship to San Francisco University to pursue a Masters Degree in Social Justice and Multicultural Education
B.S. Geology and Environmental Science M.A. Social Justice and Multicultural Education MEd. Science Curriculum and Instruction
I am a mom first and foremost and a teacher by calling. I began my teaching career by opening a summer school for the neighborhood children in my parents' garage. I view myself as a lifelong student, organic gardener, health and wellness consultant, reggae enthusiast, skateboarder, capoerista, surfer, snowboarder, environmentalist, world traveler, and a bilingual Latina super-shero!
Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, Higher Education, Adult Education, Homeschool
English Language Arts, Balanced Literacy, Reading, Specialty, Math, Basic Operations, Graphing, Measurement, Science, Anatomy, Astronomy, Basic Principles, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Environment, Social Studies, Ancient History, Civics, Elections - Voting, Government, Native Americans, U.S. History, World Languages, Spanish, ESL-EFL-ELL, Health, Life Skills, Literature, Classroom Management, General Science, Physical Science, Writing