My teaching philosophy is simple: I believe everyone can get excited about learning when you don’t beat the fun out of it! Let’s not overwhelm kids with soul-crushing grading expectations, punitive assignments, mind-numbing benchmark testing! Let kids be curious and enjoy the exploration and the learning will happen naturally!

I’ve spent the last 13 years of my 20-year-long teaching career working as a school librarian. Basically I’m paid for being endlessly curious! When a class visits the school media center (aka: “library”) we deep dive into topics, finding quality books, websites, apps, news articles, places to visit, people to interview…. We then analyze our findings, make sense of the data, and ask critical questions. I then help students share their discoveries through the writing of blog posts, the production of podcasts, the writing/editing/delivery of public speaking opportunities, and more. And, of course, what kind of librarian would I be if I didn’t also share my love of reading great literature along the way?

My Outschool class offerings range from novel studies of some of my absolute favorite books to in-depth explorations of a wide range of topics including, but not limited to: artificial intelligence & robotics; aliens; architecture; time travel; dinosaurs; cryptography; archaeology; photography…

Before becoming a school librarian I worked for several years as a classroom teacher. During that time I served at a variety of schools, teaching everything from middle school language arts to high school yearbook and digital media creation (photography/graphic design/podcasting). 

Even further back in time, I began my post-college life as an advertising copywriter, penning web, print, outdoor, radio, and TV ads for a variety of clients including Walt Disney World Resort and the West Indies Cricket League.

When I’m not teaching I enjoy experimenting with photography (portrait and nature), recording and editing podcasts, wrestling with my Rubik’s Cube (I can’t seem to break the sub-two-minute mark!), and laying in the cul-de-sac in the middle of the night gazing at the stars.