TheGiftedPerspective

Currently, I am a Gifted Intervention Specialist for 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades. I taught Gifted and Talented middle school Language Arts and Social Studies for 5 years. Before that, I taught for one year as a 7th grade Communications and Reading teacher, and I did my student teaching for 12th grade in an urban Cleveland high school.

I thrive on creative, engaging lessons - nothing beats those moments when you hear students leaving your classroom saying "Wow! That was pretty cool!" or better yet - the bell ringing and catching everyone by surprise because of how caught up in the lesson they were! My activities often include higher level thinking, simulation opportunities, project opportunities, etc. However, I know that in order to be successful, creative lesson need structure. All of my activities include rubrics, and I often have "Student Overview" sheets with common core objectives, instructions, and examples in an easy-to-read format.

National Youth Leadership Forum: Pathways to STEM // Honorary Member Teacher Appreciation // Mercer Middle School ETS Recognition of Excellence Award for Literature // awarded to those who scored in the top 15% nationwide for Praxis II.

B.S. in journalism, with a minor in English from Ohio State. Master's in Urban Secondary Education from Cleveland State. Gifted Endorsement from the University of Cincinnati.

I am the coach for many extracurricular groups, including Power of the Pen (a state-wide writing competition), Academic Challenge, Model UN and WordMaster's Challenge.