Video Game Club: Don't Starve Together for Beginners

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to get to know a bit about me!

I started teaching when I was a kid (by lining up my teddy bears on the bed and reading to them!), and my passion for teaching and books has led me here--Outschool!

I have a B.A. in English and Secondary Education and a minor in Bible from Biola University as well as a M.A. in Teaching. I've had the privilege of teaching all ages--from toddler book clubs and Sunday school classes to remedial college English courses at Biola University. I've had the opportunity to teach everything from math and history to AP Lit and senior college prep English courses. I held a secondary (6-12) ELA credential California for 8 years and started my career at a private k-12 school. 

Knowing that I wanted to encourage students the way my teachers encouraged me, I chose to go back to my high school and teach. An inner-city Title I school, like most of the schools I have worked at, I also worked to find a viable post-high school option for students who didn't plan on going to college. It was that desire to build up my community that led me to starting the first ever American Sign Language Academy at my high school. With funding from the Department of Ed and a major interest in the local community, the academy began to flourish. Although I absolutely loved writing University of California approved curriculum for courses and creating interdisciplinary projects for cohorts of students, something was missing. Books.

I went on to teach English and ASL at the next three schools I worked at. I currently teach English at the middle school level and write English curriculum for my school. I hold a current Nevada (7-12) teaching license and have been trained in many curriculums, programs, and strategies such as Project Based Learning by the Buck Institute, AVID, and The Writing Revolution.  My passion for educational technology that meets the needs of of my neuro-divergent students even led me to present at an Ed Tech conference for Actively Learn. 

My true passion is engaging students in learning. I believe much of what public education has to offer does NOT meet the needs of many students. I believe there is power in seeing yourself represented in literature, and too many school-assigned readings do not reflect the student populations reading them. As such, I've started and advised LGBTQ+ clubs on campuses (high school and middle school) and worked to provide curriculum with more inclusive literature.

My goal as an educator is to help students fall in love with literature and learning by presenting them with quality literature that they can see themselves in. I also live for the moments when reluctant students try something new and experience success. I also have a passion for showing students how powerful growth mindset can be and how successful they can be by embracing it.  

I've chosen to teach at Outschool because there are just too many books I love and want to share with students--and not enough time! The classes I offer here are classes I am genuinely excited about! I love tailoring classes to my students' interest/needs and making learning fun!