Science for Earthlings

I teach 6th grade science and have a degree in childhood psychology. I have been lucky enough to received several awards and fellowships for my work. My truest passions are for creating a globalized classroom and for emphasizing sustainable development within my curriculum. Teaching in the MS Science Classroom is so gratifying every day! I love watching both the knowledge and the confidence of my students grow every day. I always strive to create a classroom environment that is fun and exciting as soon as the students walk in (Mrs. Frizzle is my hero!). I love to have lots of experiments going, live insects and animals in the lab, as well as a great deal of student work and wall art hanging around the classroom. My thinking is that if my students love being in this space, then they will be more excited about the subject!

Enable students to think like scientists, while providing them with a solid and thorough foundation in the subject matter. Emphasis on project-based learning, collaboration, constructive thinking, problem-based learning, and environmentally focused lesson design. This creates students who are passionate about the subject material (even if they begin the year as "surly scientists" - I see it time and time again). It creates students that are excited to be in class every day, who eagerly share their thoughts and ideas, and who perform exceedingly well on tests. They are not just regurgitating dry facts - they are taking the information that I give them and they are manipulating it in order to find solutions to the problems that they are given.

Every time I see a student realize that they have exceeded their own expectations is a shining moment to me. I'm lucky that it I get to see it happen often :) I have been lucky enough to win grants for teacher travel as well, including a trip to study Education for Sustainable Development in Tokyo with Japan Fulbright!

Bachelor of Science in Psychology (emphasis on Child Psychology and Learning) from the University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA). Master of Education (combined Independent School and Brain Science program) from Johns Hopkins University (Columbia, MD). In progress.

Firm believer in "learning by doing", inquiry teaching, project-based learning, student-centered techniques, flipped classroom modeling, and encouraging deeper understanding of the course material through questioning and thinking creatively. Currently employed at a progressive-learning private school, and I love it!