About Me!
Teacher.
I am currently in my fifth year of teaching. I have been moved around quite a bit in my district. but each different building has taught me something new and added on to my teaching experience in a multitude of ways.
I first taught at Cousino High School for two years. There, I was able to work with other seasoned Spanish teachers and learn from their experience. I also had the opportunity to chaperone a trip to Spain with five other teachers and thirty students. Some of the pictures above are from that experience.
After Cousino, I was moved to Beer Middle School where I was the primary Spanish teacher. This particular school year brought me to Classroom Instruction that Works (CITW) training, Dialogic Based Instruction training, and CHAMPS (conversation, help, activity, movement, participation, success) training. I have been able to successfully implement these strategies since learning them, and it has helped my classroom run more effectively overall.
After Beer, I was moved to Community High School, which is currently where I teach. Community is the alternative high school for my district. Our students are the ones who have made it impossible for themselves to graduate in the traditional setting, so they are sent to us for credit recovery. We offer many different credit recovery options, as well as modified delivery of the curriculum and extended time for work.
I first taught at Cousino High School for two years. There, I was able to work with other seasoned Spanish teachers and learn from their experience. I also had the opportunity to chaperone a trip to Spain with five other teachers and thirty students. Some of the pictures above are from that experience.
After Cousino, I was moved to Beer Middle School where I was the primary Spanish teacher. This particular school year brought me to Classroom Instruction that Works (CITW) training, Dialogic Based Instruction training, and CHAMPS (conversation, help, activity, movement, participation, success) training. I have been able to successfully implement these strategies since learning them, and it has helped my classroom run more effectively overall.
After Beer, I was moved to Community High School, which is currently where I teach. Community is the alternative high school for my district. Our students are the ones who have made it impossible for themselves to graduate in the traditional setting, so they are sent to us for credit recovery. We offer many different credit recovery options, as well as modified delivery of the curriculum and extended time for work.
Coach.
When I was in high school, I played girls lacrosse and I loved it! I always thought that I would make a much better coach than player, though, and I knew that coaching was something that I would be interested in when I became a teacher.
Unfortunately, my district does not have a girls lacrosse team. During my second year of teaching, a middle school volleyball position opened up. I applied and was hired for the position, starting my coaching career. My first season was spent coaching an eighth grade girls volleyball team, and we ended up with a winning season!
The next year I was moved to Beer, and while that was not the middle school I had coached at, I was eager to continue coaching. Just before the beginning of the school year, I was told that the seventh grade volleyball position at Beer was open, and that I should definitely apply. I did, and began my first year of coaching at the same school I worked at! That year I had a very dedicated and talented team. We finished the season with a winning record as well, and were number one at our tournament! I worked at Beer for one more season after that, and while it was not a winning season, my team still learned a lot. A fellow colleague and I arranged for a field trip to Oakland University for both the seventh and eighth grade teams to be able to watch a college level volleyball team play.
At the end of last year, one of the high school volleyball coaching jobs opened up, and as I looked into it, I realized that I could potentially be the freshmen coach to the same group of girls I had during my first seventh grade coaching year. I applied and was hired! I have spent this past season coaching the freshmen girls at Warren Mott High School, and we have had a blast! Not only have my players learned more about the game and how to be a team, but I have also learned a lot about the game and what it takes to be a high school volleyball coach.
Unfortunately, my district does not have a girls lacrosse team. During my second year of teaching, a middle school volleyball position opened up. I applied and was hired for the position, starting my coaching career. My first season was spent coaching an eighth grade girls volleyball team, and we ended up with a winning season!
The next year I was moved to Beer, and while that was not the middle school I had coached at, I was eager to continue coaching. Just before the beginning of the school year, I was told that the seventh grade volleyball position at Beer was open, and that I should definitely apply. I did, and began my first year of coaching at the same school I worked at! That year I had a very dedicated and talented team. We finished the season with a winning record as well, and were number one at our tournament! I worked at Beer for one more season after that, and while it was not a winning season, my team still learned a lot. A fellow colleague and I arranged for a field trip to Oakland University for both the seventh and eighth grade teams to be able to watch a college level volleyball team play.
At the end of last year, one of the high school volleyball coaching jobs opened up, and as I looked into it, I realized that I could potentially be the freshmen coach to the same group of girls I had during my first seventh grade coaching year. I applied and was hired! I have spent this past season coaching the freshmen girls at Warren Mott High School, and we have had a blast! Not only have my players learned more about the game and how to be a team, but I have also learned a lot about the game and what it takes to be a high school volleyball coach.
Traveler.
I love to travel! As much as I love Michigan and everything it has to offer, I am a firm believer in needing to see the rest of the world as well. My love for travel goes back as far as my childhood, when my parents would take my brother and I all over the state of Michigan, and to various historic sites throughout the country. We have seen pretty much everything there is to see in Michigan, as well as most of what used to be Colonial America.
My first international travel experience came the summer after I graduated from high school. I was able to spend three weeks in Germany with my best friend while we were visiting her German foreign exchange student. I fell in love with Europe while I was there; from the sights to the people to the differences between there and here... I was hooked!! I knew I wanted to go back, I just was not sure how to do it.
During the summer of 2010, I spent three months in Madrid, Spain. I was there through a study abroad program at MSU which allowed to do a teaching internship at a school in Madrid. I also lived with a host family and was responsible for getting around the city all by myself most of the time. This was one of the best experiences of my life! Not only did I become more fluent in Spanish (which has always been a goal of mine), but I also learned what it means to live and breathe in another country, surrounded by their cultural norms.
Since that trip, I have been able to go back to Spain once to chaperone students on a trip to Madrid and Barcelona. While this experience differed greatly from the experience I had in 2010, it was just as valuable. I learned more about those two cities during this time than I had known before, and it only cemented in my mind my dream of moving to Spain one day.
I have also traveled to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands. My dream is to make it to as many Spanish speaking countries as I can, so I can learn more about the language and become more fluent. My trips have helped, but they have also given me terrible wanderlust!
My first international travel experience came the summer after I graduated from high school. I was able to spend three weeks in Germany with my best friend while we were visiting her German foreign exchange student. I fell in love with Europe while I was there; from the sights to the people to the differences between there and here... I was hooked!! I knew I wanted to go back, I just was not sure how to do it.
During the summer of 2010, I spent three months in Madrid, Spain. I was there through a study abroad program at MSU which allowed to do a teaching internship at a school in Madrid. I also lived with a host family and was responsible for getting around the city all by myself most of the time. This was one of the best experiences of my life! Not only did I become more fluent in Spanish (which has always been a goal of mine), but I also learned what it means to live and breathe in another country, surrounded by their cultural norms.
Since that trip, I have been able to go back to Spain once to chaperone students on a trip to Madrid and Barcelona. While this experience differed greatly from the experience I had in 2010, it was just as valuable. I learned more about those two cities during this time than I had known before, and it only cemented in my mind my dream of moving to Spain one day.
I have also traveled to the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands. My dream is to make it to as many Spanish speaking countries as I can, so I can learn more about the language and become more fluent. My trips have helped, but they have also given me terrible wanderlust!