ZGrammar and Giggles with Christmas Mad Libs!

Hello! My name is Courtney Aseltine and I live right outside of Charlotte, NC, USA! I am a licensed ELA and ESL classroom teacher and the mother of an 8 and 6 year old. I received my B.S. Degree in  Communication from Boston University, and my Masters of Teaching in TESOL from Salem State University. I spent 8 years teaching ESL in the both middle and high school settings in Massachusetts, before becoming an ESL program specialist. As an ESL program specialist, I helped oversee the ESL department of a large urban district right outside of Boston. I wrote content-based ESL curriculum, lead district-wide professional development, and helped train teachers to provide top-level ESL instruction. I was also selected to present at the Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages Conference three times; twice for my work on integrating content and language instruction.  Aside from being licensed in ESL, I am also licensed in ELA K-12 and have experience teaching both middle school and high school level ELA curriculum.  A year and a half ago I decided to take a step back from public education to spend more time with my own young children. To fill the void left from leaving the classroom, I started my online teaching journey. Since then, I've taught more than 2,000 online classes on multiple platforms, and was recently featured on ABC15 in Arizona as an online learning expert! 

My philosophy is that authentic instruction is engaging instruction. Taking new information and merging it will age-appropriate interests allows students to learn in an exciting way.  I also believe it is important to create lessons that are rigorous and provide students with intellectually-challenging and age-appropriate curriculum. But most importantly, I believe that the classroom should be an inviting, safe space where all children can participate with confidence!