2020-2021

Amphi Academy, 2nd grade

WELCOME

I am very excited to be your child's 2nd grade teacher this year! Together, we will have a wonderful year filled with lots of fun, learning, and wonderful memories for years to come.

I have been blessed to have grown up both in the big city of Chicago and a small town/farming community in Michigan.  Since 1994, I have made Tucson my home, but enjoy visiting family and friends back in Michigan.  Family is very important to me. I have two amazing sons who are 16 and 9 years old and keep me very busy!  My other interests include animals (especially dogs and horses), all kinds of music, healthy living, reading, and the outdoors.

DEFINING MOMENTS IN EDUCATION

It seems like I've been teaching most of my life, in one capacity or another.  Whether it was teaching music lessons as a high schooler or teaching Conversational German in college, I've always had a passion for teaching. It was when I was teaching German at Michigan State when I realized that my true passion was for learning theory. I wanted to understand how people learned and how to get information from short-term memory to long-term memory.  It was fascinating to me how some people could pick up a second language much easier than others.  Hence, I have been continuing my quest to understand the human brain and learning ever since! 

CORE EDUCTIONAL BELIEF

Your child's educational success begins with a collaborative effort between child, parent/s, teacher, and school community.  Education not only includes academics, but social and emotional learning as well.  Furthermore, the classroom environment is part of that foundation for learning. You will find that my teaching and management style incorporates many aspects of  Collaborative Problem Solving, Responsive Classroom, and Love and Logic.  We are also a Bucketfillers class! 

ADDITIONAL COURSEWORK

Audiology

Speech Pathology

Linguistics

Sensory Processing

Technology in the Classroom

PRIOR EXPERIENCE

Walker Elementary School

Prince Elementary school

Keeling Elementary school

Painted Sky Elementary School

Harelson Elementary School