Tiffany Hartford

I am currently the Academic Program Coordinator at my school. I also teach the Literature courses here. Part of my job is to coach our teachers in our school's methodology, so I am excited to be able share some of my work here (and I thank you for visiting my page!). I taught at public schools in my beginning years but am now focusing my teaching on students with Asperger's Syndrome and other Nonverbal Learning Disorders. The school I teach at specializes in this population, but it is a college prep school that equally emphasizes academics, social skills, and pragmatic language (all of which is integrated into the classroom for every subject). The units I have featured here are in no way only for special populations, though, as I have heard some great feedback in its use with neurotypical classes as well.

Passive learning in my class is a big no-no. With that said, I do a lot of discussions, debates, socratic seminars, and cooperative learning. I encourage my students to bring their own experiences, opinions, and beliefs to the table. But I use my classroom to teach tolerance, to teach my students to be open-minded, and to ultimately think for themselves through some serious self-reflection and synthesis of disparate ideas both in and out of the classroom. But I believe in creating structure and routine in the classroom as well. My students are clear about expectations about their behaviors and their work. But I am clear to them about what they can expect from me -- I try my best to give my students the respect they deserve, too -- and I often teach them knowing that they have a lot to teach me, too. I've had the privilege to teach some of the best students in the world, and I find that the teaching style that works best is one where the students understand that I expect them to respect me, but that ultimately I respect them just as equally.

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Bachelor's Degree in English (with an emphasis in Teaching) and Economics from the University of California, Davis. Single Subject Teaching Credential with EL Authorization from California State University, East Bay.

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