Category: Other Totally Cool Stuff

Teacher Professional Development

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This week I spent a few days with the professionals at Branching Out Consultants. It is the mission of this organization to educate new and seasoned teachers with quality professional development for Christian school administrators and teachers through highly focused workshops, one-on-one coaching opportunities and administrative consulting. I couldn’t possibly write for you all of my take-aways from the last three days, but I would like to share the following quote, which I discovered during my professional development and believe are powerful words to remember each day I walk into class.

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”

― Haim G. Ginott

Busy, Busy, BUSY!

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I am so very excited to announce that I have been asked to be the new US History, Psychology and Mock Trial teacher at Desert Christian High School in Tucson, AZ! This summer I have been busy building curriculum for these classes, and as a new teacher, that means starting from scratch. While having three new preps to build can be a bit overwhelming, I am finding that it is not “work.” The study of history and social sciences is near and dear to my heart; how blessed am I to have the opportunity to do what I love as a career?

I very much look forward to meeting my 2016/17 students and well as their parents. This year is going to be amazing! I already have field trips, guest speakers and awesome projects planned.

This will be a year of telling stories: the kind that grip you and elicit a wide range of emotions because they are true and personal as citizens of this great nation. timthumb.phpThis will be a year spent in the courtroom, where the great laws of our country are put to the test and the future of American citizens hang in the balance.

Mrs. Nettie Hunt, sitting on steps of Supreme Court, holding newspaper, explaining to her daughter Nikie the meaning of the Supreme Court's decision banning school segregation. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division LC-USZ62-127042

This will be a year of personal and societal discovery, where we’ll embrace the aspects of conscious and unconscious thought, marveling at God’s creation of the human being. The sky is the limit and I only have nine months to cram it all in. Get ready for the ride of a lifetime!

 

 

 

Let’s Begin

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Since graduating from high school almost two decades ago I’ve crisscrossed the country, living the life of a military spouse and mother of three. My family and I have lived near the white, sandy beaches of Florida and in the colorful mountains of Virginia. We’ve lived in New Orleans along the muddy Mississippi River and have survived the floods of Hurricane Katrina. For the last year and a half we have been gallivanting across the peninsula of South Korea, tasting incredible new foods, learning a new language and exploring vast differences in cultures. I have seen and done more than most, and in the process have gained valuable wisdom and experience – both personally and professionally – since leaving my hometown of Tucson, AZ so many years ago.

While here in this beautiful and diverse country I have also completed my student teaching tenure, a requirement all prospective teachers need in order to realize their dream: having a classroom of their own! My international student teaching experience was amazing to say the least, and to this day I carry with me valuable insight, appreciation and understanding that perhaps others do not.

Degree finally obtained, Summa Cum Laude if I may brag a bit, and a final move back to our hometown in the works, I’ve decided to create this website. It marks the beginning of the rest of my life: happily settling down. This site will serve as a platform for my future students and their parents, and will be a hub for me to stay organized and communicate with the public. Within the pages of The History of Humanity you’ll find posts about any and all kinds of history, what’s going on in my class and helpful classroom information.

Let’s begin!