Where I Was Born: Chicago, IL.

Where I Grew Up: Forest Park, IL

Where I lived Before DCS2: Boston, MA (9.5 years!)

Schools I Attended:

• St. Bernardine Grade School, K-8
• St. Ignatius College Prep High School, ’06
• Bologna University, Brown-in-Bologna Abroad Program, Italy, ’08
• Tufts University, BA in Child Development, ’10
• Tufts University, M.A.T. in Early Childhood Education, ’12

Former Jobs:

• Nanny/Babysitter, ’00-now
• Human Resources Summer Intern for Chicago Transit Authority, ’05-’06
• Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) Program for the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School, in Medford, MA. ’10-12
• Eliot-Pearson Children’s School Summer Camp Counselor, ’11
• Cambridge Friends School Project Week Instructor for Dance & Sewing, ’12, ’14
• Cambridge Friends School First Grade Teacher, ’12-’15
• Cantor at St. Joseph’s Church, ’12-’15
• Professional Classroom Blogger, ’12-present (former site: cfs1stgrade.org)
• Lead Teacher for India’s Expanding Minds Program Summer STEM Camp, ’16

Special Mentions:

• Connections Article at Cambridge Friends School, p12-14 “Mapping and Accessibility: First-graders Taking Citizenship into Their Own Hands” by Kate Beal, ’13
• 2013-14 CFS Seminar Series, Children Are Citizens ~ Promoting The Rights of Participation of Our Youngest Students, presented with Ben Mardell and Lynne May Lim, ’13-14
• Op-ed Article, “Teaching Comes Naturally To Former Forest Parker“, by Jackie Schulz
• Supported Student Led “First Grade Stewardship For Nepal (+Video)” Fundraiser for Red Cross Relief Post-Earthquake, Raised over $4,000, ’15
• Cambridge Friends School Pre-K-2 Admissions Committee Member, ’14-15
• Red Cross Pediatric First Aid & CPR Certification, ’15.

I sort of backed into the epiphany that was my calling as a teacher. My original pursuit was law and diplomacy via international relations. It was only after having to fulfill a humanities requirement that I discovered the world of child development; and it was after my first course with Professor Chip Gidney that I was hooked on learning about how children think and develop.  This endeavor was considerably strengthened during subsequent undergraduate child development courses, graduate studies in the field, and then refined through my teacher training program.

In 2012, I graduated from the Tufts Masters of Arts and Teaching Program and completed my 2-year commitment to the Graduate Teaching Assistanceship (GTA) Program for the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School, in Medford, MA.

Much of my background and training dovetails nicely with the principles of the mission, here: the anti-racist curriculum and the general spirit of service to others. I feel truly blessed that I have the chance to continue working in a school with such high ideals and warm, genuine people. This is a place where community and moral fiber matter. Those are ideals that are engrained into who I am and how I run my classroom. They are also what will inspire children to direct the flow of our learning, through following their emergent interests as a group.

Responsive Classroom Curriculum

Setting up the socio-emotional curriculum for the year is paramount to the success of each and every child. It provides the structures for maintaining the optimal learning environment as children explore through play/social interactions. The first six weeks are when we’re building this important infrastructure. Additionally, the environment is equally important as the “third teacher” in the room, beyond the adults and the children themselves. So, I set up the classroom to fit the needs of the children physically, educationally, organizationally, and esthetically by using basic principals outlined in Classroom Spaces That Really Work . The idea with all of these resources is that we carve the space and time build our classroom, together.

Resources:

• The First Six Weeks of School by Paula Denton & Roxann Kriete
• Classroom Spaces That Really Work by by Marlyn K. Clayton.
• The Morning Meeting Book by Roxann Kriete
• 99 Activities and Greetings by Melissa Correa-Conolly

Future Endeavors

I received training in the reading and language program of RAVE-O  in May of 2015 to enhance my ability to teach reading and writing to young children. It is my intention to use what I learned in that intensive program to better teach literacy skills to kindergarten learners, specifically. Additionally, at Cambridge Friends, I initiated and was trained in Critical Friends Group (CFG) by the School Reform Initiative, which I will start up again this year with willing faculty, at Discovery Charter School 2. At their best, CFG’s are highly-articulated professional learning communities in which educators learn the skills of reflecting, collaborating, de-privatizing practice, and exposing and exploring fundamental assumptions related to teaching and learning. As a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), I’m continually seeking to expand and deepen my knowledge of best practice through attending conferences and keeping abreast of the current research and articles dealing with early childhood education.  I’m also excited to contribute to the school community in kindergarten by utilizing my anti-bias training, special rights inclusion practices, and skills in early childhood training. Lastly, I’m looking forward to attending the professional development opportunity to see the Opal School in Oregon, as well as attend the CKA’s 34th Annual PK-1 Conference!

Personal Details

Though I am flexible and extremely patient, I’m your classic Type-A. I enjoy throwing myself into my passions, such as teaching, organizing, and interior decorating. In my free time, and at Tufts, I enjoyed performing in plays, choirs, musicals, dance groups, songwriting, and singing in an a cappella group or at church. Here in California, I find that I still love to sing, cook, play guitar, go to Cubs games, be outdoors enjoying the sun, babysit, hike, swim, dance, and exercise!