About Me
My Family
I am married to my wonderful husband, Mark. We started dating as my work in apartment management came to an end and my teaching career began. Together we have two children who are navigating the variable waters of college. Early in their college experience, I used to get calls about how to do laundry, put air in their cars' tires and make grill cheese, but now the material they study is harder, the reading more dense and the questions tend to center on how to study, how to remember information, and how to think critically about various assigned topics. I never taught my own children as a classroom teacher, but I find this time in their lives as a time to use my teacher skills!
Interdisciplinary Learner
I love learning, and I particularly enjoy making connections with multiple disciplines. Understanding how a story in literature connects to history, art, music and more is fascinating! These connections showcase who we are as humans, constantly creating, adapting and connecting to the world around us.
Education & Expertise
I am proud to have been a full-time classroom teacher for 30 years. When I first began my career, I was assigned to teach 8th grade American history seven periods a day. I was also requested to teach history through as much literature as possible and utilize the textbook as a reference tool. This began the start of a not-so-traditional teaching career. Worksheets were frowned upon and major projects became exhausting, but somewhere in those long days and even longer evenings, I survived and eventually flourished. I have taught ELA 7th -12th as well as AP Lang and Lit. I have taught American history, world history, civics and even geography. For those who simply want the formal education details, here ya go:
- Bachelor's in English - University of Texas @ Arlington (Go Mavericks!)
- Master's in Education - Western Governor's University (Thank goodness for online learning!)
- Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction - University of Arkansas (I survived and thrived!)
Over the years I have worked for various educational publishers creating activities for teachers, always with that connection to other disciplines. I have also worked in creating testing materials.
Currently, I work for various school districts and their teachers as a literacy specialist. I love being able to keep one foot in the classroom working with students while the other foot works on professional development, intervention and data interpretation.
Teaching & Creativity
Teachers are an eclectic bunch. Many of us enter the profession because we love teaching kids. Imparting wisdom and knowledge to the next generation can be heady stuff. Some of us enter the profession because we love our discipline so much we want to inspire a younger generation to love it too. Many teachers are somewhere in between, but having three months off in summer is definitely not the enticing draw - we know it's not true anyway. I contend that being able to control aspects of our teaching day and be creative in how we teach is somewhere at the top of 'why we became a teacher' list.
This blog site and the resources created are not meant to replace what you already do in the classroom, but I do hope they serve to inspire you. Your time is precious! I'm here to offer a place where you can allow yourself to be creative, to offer up a different way of viewing lesson planning and learning.
Ask yourself:
- When do you find the time as a teacher to sit back and really think about how to jazz up a lesson on a consistent basis?
- Do you want to try something new in the classroom to deepen learning or engage your students, but not sure what to try first?
- What activities, strategies and resources work and why do they work?
I invite you to explore the topics I write about - be curious, be creative and be courageous! Your students will thank you for it.
Sincerely,
Angie