Hello Parents and Students,

Thank you for this opportunity to share information about myself.  I am excited about teaching communication classes in the following areas:

1.  "Basic Grammar Builds the House! (i.e., period, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, quotation marks, double or single quotation marks, parentheses, brackets, and slash)"
1.  "Don’t Let Troublesome Words Trip You Up! (i.e., alternate/alternative; enormousness/enormity; toward/towards; out loud/aloud, and noisome/noisy)"
2.  "Adding Pizzazz to Your Writing With Figurative Language!" 
3.  "Basic APA Writing for Research Writing!"
4.  "Strategies for Surviving Your First Year in Middle School."
5.  "Black Poets Everyone Should Know."

I am a career educator and administrator with a B.S. degree in English/Journalism, a Masters degree in Educational Administration and Supervision, and a Ph.D. in Educational Research and Policy Analysis.  

I worked as a middle/high school English teacher for twenty years in public schools in the Carolinas and Delaware.  I also taught (online) Master- level educational courses for Concordia University.  

For more than 20 years, I also served as an assistant principal and principal in public schools.  
My love of writing inspired me to write and publish ten books and dramatic plays, with two of my dramas performed professionally in New Mexico and North Carolina.

I believe in giving positive feedback to encourage young learners.  Written words can be misinterpreted and require extra focus and thought before sharing.

To make my classes fun, I incorporate relevant examples, delightful pictures, and fun stories to enhance the learning experience.

An example of this is in my semi-autobiographical book for children, Life is Like a Tootsie-Roll Lollipop.  These stories hold fond memories of my sister and me growing up with family and friends in the South.

In one story, I share a real-life experience about why I strongly believe in sharing good things. Here’s a summary:

Little sisters are well known for getting in the way of older siblings trying to date.  I certainly made a point of doing this when my sister's boyfriend came to visit her one Sunday with a big bucket of freshly-picked strawberries.

He looked at me and said the strawberries were mine if I would stop hanging around the two of them.  Well, those bright red berries made my mouth water, so I gladly accepted the sweet bribe.   
I sat on my back porch and ate strawberries until my little stomach bulged and could hold no more.  To say I was sick as a dog would be an understatement because I've never seen a dog as sick as I was over the next few hours!
This experience taught me to say no to invitations to gorge myself with treats.  Good things are for sharing!