Shop of Cool Teaching Stuff

Though my university focus was English language and literature teaching for secondary schools, my travels have vastly expanded my experiences beyond the secondary, and I find myself settled in primary education with just a dash of secondary to keep things interesting. I am currently serving as a PYP curriculum coordinator and primary maths coordinator, as well as the upper primary choir co-director and the high school competitive speech & debate coach. I've taught in primary, middle and high school, in PYP, MYP and DP, as a single-subject teacher and as a homeroom teacher.

My teaching style is easily captured in two words: inquiry and agency. My role is to facilitate learners discovering their own pathway and providing them with the scaffolding that they need to pursue that pathway successfully. This means that I lay out the structure upon which they can create, challenge themselves and develop into 21st century citizens of the world, the change-makers and problem-solvers that we need in the 21st century and beyond.

Though I am a relatively new leader (I've spent about 6 years in leadership roles, 3 of which have allowed me to be properly trained, mentored and developed), I have had some notable successes thus far. My coordinator colleague and I were invited to the IB World Conference in Dublin, 2023, to co-present a break-out session on honoring agency within primary curriculum planning. I was also given the opportunity to serve as my current school's Collaborative Learning Protocol (CLP) coordinator from 2021-2023. This coordination effort ended in the successful re-accreditation of our school with both IB and NEASC, across all of our IB programmes (PYP, MYP and DP). This experience, finally, led to me becoming a trained NEASC site visitor.

I currently hold two undergraduate degrees, in English language and literature and Education, from Oregon State University. I am currently pursuing my Masters in Educational Leadership. I have participated in many rigorous professional learning courses and workshops in between: Principal's Training Center (two courses in leadership completed with more to follow), cognitive coaching (first level), Reader's and Writer's Workshop implementation, Philosophy for Children, and multiple IB-certified workshops and conferences, from 2016 to 2023.

I am a person who mingles her personal and professional interests, and so my personal passions show up in whatever school I am a part of. My love of cats is shared with all of my colleagues and many of the learners - we have three adopted fur babies in our household. My love of food and cooking is shared frequently through both primary school cooking workshops and shared video tutorials, as well as the occasional dish or baked good shared in the staff room. My love of vocal music is manifested in my volunteering for the role of co-director of the upper primary children's choir. Finally, my love of public speaking and debate is shared through my role as coach of our middle and high school competitive speech and debate programme.