What is your “Why” for teaching? My “why” for teaching has been my passion since I was in fifth grade. This was the age when I started tutoring students who were struggling in various subjects, and I felt proud and happy for my peers and younger students when they achieved that lightbulb moment of clarity after struggling with a concept. Those moments are still my favorite as a high school teacher, more than a thousand students later. Being able to foster student growth in so many ways makes teaching incredibly rewarding.
Area of Expertise: I have taught students in English grades 8-12, ranging in levels from reading remediation to dual credit composition and both courses of the AP Capstone program. I also worked as a literacy and PBL coach in my district with teachers of grades k-12, leading professional development and peer coaching within their classrooms.
PBL Experience: I began my PBL journey as a student in 2000 thanks to the Tech Know Build grant through Purdue University. In 2013 I had my first opportunity as an instructor to dabble in PBL and was asked to be a part of the Bridge Team my school formed to implement PBL instruction the following year. In June of 2014, I became a certified PBL teacher, and in July of 2015 I earned my PBL trainer certification which led to opportunities to participate as a consultant in various PBL workshops. I began facilitating with Magnify Learning in June of 2017, and my facilitations include elementary, intermediate, and secondary teachers as well as administrators in multiple states. I also participate as a reviewer for PBL certification, and I love getting to experience PBL facilitators' projects through their reflections and artifacts.
Favorite aspect of PBL: I love the amount of student choice in PBL. As part of my project roll out, my students and I brainstorm benchmarks together. I’ve already developed benchmarks and put them in the project briefcase, but sometimes students surprise me and come up with tasks that are more meaningful to the final product or are more rigorous than the benchmarks I envisioned. When this is the case, I am happy to revise the project briefcase to suit the needs and vision of my students. I know that we are a productive learning community when my students take so much ownership over their learning and are willing to participate in the creation of it.
Why do you enjoy facilitating? Lasting, positive impact is something I strive to achieve in my interactions with people, and facilitating is one way in which I can see my impact expand exponentially. By facilitating trainings, I am not only impacting the learners in my own classroom, but (hopefully) also the students of the teachers with whom I work. Collaborating with adults is a way in which we can all improve our craft, and facilitating gives us a way to hone our skills with fellow professionals. Thank you for letting me collaborate with you!