Fun Facts

I decided I was going to be a teacher when I was in 1st grade an stuck with it. I grew up mostly in Alaska and spent a great deal of my childhood on a ski slope. I got my first, and only Girl Scout badge in dog-sled racing. I am completely addicted to school and don't think I will ever be done attending classes. My hobbies include; reading, hiking, camping, cooking, playing video games, and gardening.

About Me

I completed my undergraduate degree in English at UC Berkeley, with a focus in (post)-colonial English literature. I wrote my thesis on historical Japanese tropes in Haruki Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. As I was finishing my thesis, I began tutoring in preparation for becoming an English teacher. I found that students I worked with who had special needs were very dear to me and endlessly intriguing.

I decided to pursue a master's degree at San Francisco State University in moderate-severe education/california/san-francisco">special education. There, I finished my master's degree, as well as completing my certification for teaching English language learners, and students with autism. I have been teaching in my own classroom for 4 years, and have been working in education for over 11 years. My master's thesis was a research study which examined the use of self-determined learning strategies (using picture checklists) to decrease off-task behavior for a student with severe intellectual disabilities. I think it is interesting that checklists like this are also used to help increase the effectiveness of surgeons and hospital staff. Teaching students to teach themselves is very important to me.

Right now, I am a full-time teacher at a middle school in Hayward. I enjoy working with my students and teaching English in the after-school intervention program. I also teach a cooking and gardening class, which is a lot of fun. I like engaging students through their interests, using games to help students learn, and preparing activities that incorporate all of a student's senses to help them remember concepts. I believe that learning should be fun and interesting. In addition, I believe it is important to involve students in setting their own goals through an examination of data which shows their strengths and weaknesses. In my intervention program, I enjoy helping students interpret their test scores, track their improvements, and set realistic goals to excel in their more challenging subject areas. I loo