We encourage students to take risks, discover, and try new things. It often sounds like “go ahead and see what happens,” “inquiry learning leads to dicsovery,” “We have to teach students to take risks for deep learning to occur,” and so on. So, this is my practice what you preach leap of faith-a blog.

I am a wife, mother of two duaghters, and a 20 year education professional. My first 9 years in education were as a 6th grade Science teacher, the next 4 as a K-2 Title I Reading Interventionist, and the past 7 have been as a creator and facilitator of the new teacher induction program, called S.H.I.N.E. (Supporting, Helping, and Inspiring New Educators) and Federal Programs Administrator for Moberly School District. I also facilitate and present workshops throughout the state. My degrees include  Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education, a Masters of Arts in Teaching, and Educational Specialist degree in Administration (Principalship & Superintendency).

My  current work has led to me to digging into Dr. John Hattie’s Visible Learning work and I greatly respect the work of Dr. Harry and Dr. Rosemary Wong in The First Days of School and The Classroom Management Book. Work in Assessment for Learning, Professional Learning Communities, Cooperative Learning also round out much of my reading along with memberships and professional literature from Learning Forward and ASCD.  One of my goals as a professional is to help bridge the gap between research and practice.

I have great respect and admiration for the school district in which I work, and the administrators  with whom and for whom I work. This blog  does not represent the views of the school district or any personnel . It is a culmination of my experience in education over 20 years, research I’ve read and conducted and conversations with fabulous educators both locally and internationally. I will always try to cite sources to the best of my knowledge.

I may reached by email at SHINEspartan91@gmail.com or found on Twitter at Link_pd