About Me

These are the musings of an educator who is continually refining her idea of what it means to be a “good teacher.”  With a background in teaching high school history, I work with first year students at a university that primarily serves the rural population of Oregon.

The Great Wall at Jinshanling

Current University Courses Taught:

CORE 101 - Part of EOU’s first year experience program, Core 101 is a 3 credit seminar intended for selected first year students who are part of the Integrated Studies Program (ISP) and is linked with a WR 115 class in which the students are concurrently enrolled. Core 101 is designed to introduce students to the culture and traditions of higher education, the resources of EOU, and to assist them in the development of intellectual, personal, and social skills that will allow them to be successful at EOU and beyond.

CORE 102 - Part of EOU’s first year experience program, Core 102 is 3 credit seminar focused on personal assessment and exploration of career and college major choices. The course is intended to introduce students to occupational research, goal setting, and the relationship between college majors and careers.

Public School District and Building Professional Development Presentations:

• Introduction of District Reading Essential Curriculum
• Brain Based Classrooms
• Gaming Culture & the Classroom
• Integrated Curriculum
• HEAT/LoTi Lesson Make-overs
• Learning Support Center Program Training
• Skype in the Classroom
• Asking Higher Level Questions
• Coaching Teachers in Higher Order Thinking/Questioning Skills
• Internet Safety: How to be Safe & Savvy in the Classroom
• Introduction to Discovery Education
• Unit Planning Workshops
• Building & Integrating Class Websites Effectively in the High School Classroom

Continuing Education Courses Taught:

• Embedded Technology – Semester course on Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom.  The course focused on Internet safety, social bookmarking, Google Docs, Twitter, Discovery Education, Creative Commons & Open Education.
• Historical Connections: Using the Web for Professional Collaboration – A 2-day workshop in collaboration with the American History Cowboy Coalition on using the web for professional collaboration (PLN Development with Twitter & Diigo).
• Teaching Modern China – A 30-hour course in conjunction with the Teaching East Asia program at Colorado University – Boulder and the American History Cowboy Coalition.  The objectives of this class were to increase content knowledge on modern China and to help develop and integrate curriculum on this topic into the classroom.

Conference Presentations:

• Calendar Integration – Eastern Oregon Google Summit 2012, La Grande, OR
• Intro to Forms – Eastern Oregon Google Summit 2012, La Grande, OR
• Write-of-Way or Write-of-Passage? Empowering Writers at the Secondary/Postsecondary Intersection (Panel) – Oregon Rhetoric and Composition Conference 2012, Monmouth, OR

High School Classes Taught: APUSH, U.S. History, World History, African Studies, Asian Studies, European Studies, Ancient Civilizations, Learning Support Center (study skills & tutor style support), & ACT Prep

Tutored Subjects: Reading, Writing, Basic Math, Algebra, Geometry, Study Skills, Various Homework Assistance & Test Prep (ACT, SAT, GRE)

National Board Certified Teacher – Adolescent/Young Adult Social Studies: History

My Twitter Feed

My LinkedIn Profile