I believe in challenging my students. However, in order for a student to benefit best from a challenge, it must be in a safe environment. A student must feel that they can express their ideas and feelings freely (albeit in an appropriate manner) and not feel that they will come under attack or destructive scrutiny for doing so. I approach the young men and women with whom I have worked with respect, compassion, and a firm belief in the development of their personal responsibility and self-respect.
I have developed a variety of curricula for my students, all but one of which have been implemented with success and pursued training in the AVID and International Baccalaureate programs.
I am a licensed teacher with 24 years of experience, during which I have worked with a wide range of student populations: urban, at-risk, gifted, special education, ESL/ELL, suburban, international....the list is long indeed. I have built very successful extracurricular programs ranging from rock climbing to reading, and I am very successful in building healthy, positive working relationships with my students and my colleagues and administrators with whom I have worked as well as members of the community at large. I have committed myself to being a lifelong learner as evidenced by my participation in an Adams 14 Technology Leadership group, and am always willing to learn and grow from those around me as I prepare my students for life in the 21st century. In addition, I have a proven track record of success with getting students to learn and grow. This past year, my students grew an average of nearly twice the national average in science and in both their reading and language usage (writing) portions of their Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests and can support this claim with documentation.
back to top