PHILOSOPHY 
I believe teaching to be the most influential career in human existence. All that we are, all we can become, and all that we strive to be is learned through the process of education, whether in the classroom or every day throws of life. We learn by attentively watching and communicating with others and through rich, engaging interactions with the world around us.  Every child can learn. Every adult can learn. The capacity for learning is only limited by the expectations placed by the teacher.    

I believe every teacher should have high expectations of success and rigor for all students, regardless of race, gender, culture, ethnicity, disability status, socioeconomic background, or family history. As a teacher for over 25 years, I have and continue to strive in setting high expectations for all students, working alongside them to build confidence, self-determination, and motivation. All students, no matter their age, can soar when they are allowed the room to do so and when they believe they can!      

As an educator both in the kindergarten through 12th-grade classroom and the university classroom, I believe it is imperative to provide a diverse, inclusive, focused, yet nurturing, student-centered learning experience. Instruction must be rigorous and high quality. Collaboration between the teacher and the students and among the students themselves must be consistent, as well as focused on the positives and strengths that each individual brings to the classroom. The classroom environment should be inviting, calming, safe, and enable students of all ages to try, to fail, to try again, and through failure and setbacks, to find success. I believe learning must be connected to life experiences and current events, making it relevant and applicable to each student. Teaching is to the world what breathing is the human body-life giving, bringing growth and change to every person, neighborhood, and community! 

RESEARCH INTEREST 
It is my heart's desire, and longtime interest for over a decade, to research and design a K-12 laboratory school with the mission of:  

• Developing and implementing high-quality, innovative, rigorous, and interactive learning experiences for all students  
• Researching and modeling evidence-based, best practices in instruction, classroom management, social-emotional learning, inclusion, STEM, and the Arts
• Advancing and equipping teachers and preservice teaching candidates with opportunities to inquire, research, and observe best practices in teaching methodology, pedagogy, principles, and structures
• Providing pre-service teaching candidates and interns practical classroom experience under the tutelage of experienced, knowledgeable, veteran teachers and staff

• SPED 198-298 M/S: Directed Teaching: Special Education - Internship
• SPED 124-224: Assessment of Special Education Students
• SPED 123: The Exceptional Child
• SPED 131-231: Evidence-Based Practices in Autism Spectrum Disorder

MEMBERSHIPS

• National Association of Special Education Teachers  
• Council for Exceptional Children  
• Phi Delta Kappa: Growing and connecting leaders in education