I have been teaching social studies to middle school students for the past 25 years. My teaching career began in California before moving to Alabama, where I began teaching US History at Monrovia Middle school and later transitioning to World History. In addition to history, for the past 2 years, I have also been teaching a literature class.
From the very beginning, I realized that students learn best from being active participants in a classroom. Through cooperative learning activities, games and simulations, my students stay engaged with each other and the material presented. I try to make History come “alive” through various techniques I have harnessed and implemented in class.
In 1996 I was named Madison County (Alabama) Secondary Teacher of the Year. I have published two books through Interact Simulations (Empires and Ancient History Activators). In the summer of 2013 I spent a week in Guatemala training teachers throughout Guatemala City on the principles of cooperative and active classroom learning. I have been a presenter at numerous conferences and in-services on the subjects of simulations, cooperative groups, and active learning.
I received my B.A. degree in History from California State University, Long Beach. In addition, I have done advanced coursework at the University of Alabama as well as numerous workshops.
I am married with 3 children, ages 24, 14 and 12. In addition to teaching full time, I am our school's scholar’s bowl coach, I occasionally help coach my son’s baseball team and I teach 4th grade Sunday School at our church.
4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
English Language Arts, Vocabulary, Specialty, Science, Archaeology, Basic Principles, Biology, Earth Sciences, Social Studies, Ancient History, Civics, Elections - Voting, Government, Native Americans, U.S. History, European History, World History, Middle Ages, Arts & Music, Art History, Canadian History, British History, Geography, Other (Social Studies), Religion, Critical Thinking, For All Subjects, Literature, Economics , General Science, Physical Science, Criminal Justice - Law, Short Stories, Writing, Asian Studies, Reading Strategies