WELCOME!

Welcome to my professional page! Here you will learn all about how I became a teacher, as well as a summary of my career thus far. In addition, I have included links to important documents, such as my teaching certificate, my resume, letters of recommendation, and lesson plans I have created. When possible, I have also included links to the schools I taught at.

My Professional Documents

resume | credentials | license | transcript

Why Did I Become a Teacher?

So why did I become a teacher, anyway? I love kids! On top of that, I love working with kids. A long time ago, I had a teacher in high school who I thought was very good. He made English a lot of fun, and explained concepts in a way that I could easily understand. At that time, I was also pretty involved with various aspects of the English Department (Yearbook and Drama). I realized right then and there that teachers made a difference ; they touched lives.

When it became time for me to think about a career, I remembered back to that time. I realized that, since then, I had excelled in English. I knew grammar like the back of my hand, and I loved to read. In the same way, though, I loved to speak in public, and I wanted to help people. As I thought about what to do, the more I realized that I wanted to teach. Maybe, just maybe, I could be like the teacher I had in high school: teach kids in a fun and exciting way, and make learning English easier less painful than most of the adult world seems to remember it being. At the same time, I would be speaking in public, helping people, and making use of all my talents.

It was time to put my plan into practice. I became an English Education major and began to get involved in activities that would get me ready to teach.

Preparing to Teach

I was already at St. Olaf College, a private liberal arts college located in Northfield, Minnesota. The school is about 45 miles south of Minneapolis/ St. Paul, and has a reputation for turning out excellent teachers (check out the St. Olaf Education Department for more information). The English Department is also well-known. I was off and taking class on how to teach, but I needed to do more.

I decided to become a summer camp counselor, as I would be able to work with kids. I joined up with Green Lake Lutheran Ministries, and was assigned a position at Green Lake Bible Camp in Spicer, MN. It was an incredible experience that allowed me to work with various grade levels. The youngest students I worked with were in grade 5, and the oldest in grade 12. It was so much fun I decided to go back for a second summer! I soon decided that out of all the grades I worked with, I liked the middle/high school age level best.

Back in college I signed up for classes that would give me even more chances to work with kids and further my professional training. I did an internship at Southwest High School in Minneapolis, MN. The idea behind the internship was to work with inner-city kids and gain a cross-cultural perspective of education. For the most part I taught English as a Second Language to Hispanic students.

At last it was time for student teaching! I was assigned to Farmington Middle School in Farmington, MN. There I taught English/Language Arts at the seventh and eighth grade level. As luck would have it, my mentor teacher was a St. Olaf graduate herself! Besides teaching, I became involved in a program called, "Kids Teaching Kids" which was a drug education program where peers taught each other. In a way, it was like teaching other kids how to teach their friends. The program was developed by St. Cloud State University.

After I did my student teaching I applied for my teaching certificate with the MN Department of Children, Families, and Learning. I was issued a certificate that is valid for grades 7-12 in English/ Language Arts. My license (folder number) is 373820.

Since I live in Illinois, I then took my MN teaching certificate to the DuPage County Regional Office of Education where I applied for my Illinois teacher's license. I was issued a certificate that is valid for grades 6-12 in English/ Language Arts. My certificate number is: 09-2036557.

Starting to Teach (Past Experience)

I officially began my teaching career as a long-term substitute teacher with the Bering Strait School District. After looking for teaching jobs all over the midwest without success (there are just too many teachers here for too few positions) I broadened my search to include the entire United States. Eventually I was contacted by the Bering Strait School District and told about a long-term substitute position. I was needed in two different Eskimo villages: Shishmaref and Unalakleet. I decided to go. (To get statistical information about these villages, click here.)

After nearly ten weeks of subbing in rural Alaska, I was again back at home searching for a teaching job. After about a month of looking I came across an open position at a nearby Christian school and church ; I was called in for an interview. While I had been looking for English teaching positions, the position at Trinity Lutheran Church and School was for a part-time history teacher. The teacher I was to replace had to leave for medical reasons. She had only been teaching two classes a day, which I took over when I was offered the job. I finished out the rest of the year there.

As luck would have it, the teacher I had subbed for in Alaska resigned her position. Since she and I became good friends, she emailed me and told me to apply for her position, which I did. Back to the Bering Strait School District and the Eskimo village of Unalakleet, Alaska!

Unalakleet is a small village located 800 miles east of Anchorage, along the coast of Norton Sound, below the Seward Peninsula and south of Nome. Unalakleet is home to two types of Eskimos: the Yup'ik and the Iñupiaq. There are no roads that go into or out of the village: the only access is by plane or boat. The population of Unalakleet is 800, mostly natives. Houses are fueled by oil, and every house has running water. The largest employer in the village is the school, and the Bering Strait School District office. The district has over 10 different schools, each located in a unique Eskimo village, most of which are along the coast of the Seward Peninsula. The district's area is larger than the entire state of Minnesota, though most of that area is open land and water. All schools are K-12, and housed in one building, with one principal for all grades.

In total, I spent two years working at the Unalakleet Schools. I taught high school English/Language Arts. In that capacity, I taught the following classes: Writing Lab I & II, Speech, English and Literature I & II, World Literature, and general English. I was also the coach for Academic Decathlon, and a class sponsor. Each class had about fifteen students, most of whom were Alaska natives. The school used a general English Curriculum, and in my second year of teaching, implemented the Alaska State Content Standards so that students would be better prepared to take the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam, which denied any student who did not pass a diploma.

Getting my start in rural Alaska was a wonderful blessing. The culture of rural Alaska is so different than what most Americans are used to. The way of life, values, and art are different. Having the opportunity to spend two years learning about all the differences expanded my mind and increased my awareness for different people and cultures. It was all fascinating!

Professionally, it was trial by fire. I was immersed in an environment where I had to prepare for five different classes. Lessons plans were due every Monday. The district adopted an abbreviated model of the Madeline-Hunter lesson plan format which teachers were required to use. (To see samples of lesson plans I made in Alaska, please click here.) On top of that, I was a class sponsor and the Academic Decathlon coach. Throw in learning classroom management, new culture, being on my own for the first time in my life, and getting students ready for a new state-wide test that determined whether or not a diploma was issued, and you've got a new teacher with lots to do! But, I love kids, so it was all worth it, and the experience I gained is worth its weight in gold.

Continuing to Teach (International Experience)

I loved working in Alaska, but I felt ready to move on. After learning so much about the Eskimo culture, I was eager to learn about cultures of the world. I also felt God tugging at me to go back to a Christian school environment.

As I began to look at overseas schools, I stumbled on an organization called the Network of International Christian Schools. The organization has schools world-wide. I applied, and soon thereafter, was contacted about a position at the Kunming International Academy, located in the southern province of Yunnan, China, in the city of Kunming. I had an interview and was offered the job! Off to China!

Kunming, China is known as "the Spring city." The weather there is nearly always temperate, about 60 degrees. The city is located some 5,000 feet about sea level, which is why it stays cool, despite its close proximity to the tropics. The population is 3.5 million people, most of whom live in small, cramped apartments. Very few people in the city speak English, which meant I had to start learning Chinese. During my stay there I did learn some Chinese, and continue to study Mandarin (independently) today. While at the Kunming International Academy, an international school of more than 100 students from twenty different nations, I taught: 7/8th grade English, 9th grade English, 10-12 World Literature, and Yearbook. The students were all kids of parents who were missionaries or businessmen. Since China does not allow Christianity to be taught to any of their own people, all of my students were "Third Culture Kids," students who were born in one culture but raised in another, not having a solid identity in either. Chinese nationals were not allowed to attend our school. The government did know we were a Christian school, which was okay by them, as long as we only taught expatriates. It was exciting to work with students from such diverse backgrounds and experiences!

However, the parent organization, the Network of International Christian Schools, needed to fill an immediate vacancy at its school in Suriname, South America. Apparently it's easier to find teachers who want to teach in China, than it is to find teachers who want to teach in (let alone have heard of) Suriname. As a result, I was transferred mid-year. I loved China, and was sad to leave. So, I packed up my things and sent them back to the United States, where I would prepare to go to the country of Suriname, located in South America.

(to learn more about my experiences in China, please visit my Inside Kunming China web page)

I then went to South America. I taught at the NICS school in Paramaribo, Suriname. Suriname is a small country north of Brazil between Guyana and French Guiana on the continent of South America. Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1663 when it was part of the Treaty of Ghent settlement with the British (then known as Dutch Guiana). As a part of the treaty the Dutch, in fact, traded Manhattan for Suriname! In the 1950’s the country received commonwealth status, gaining its independence in 1975. It was short lived. After a military coup on February 25, 1980, there was military rule until November 25, 1987. Currently, the democratically elected government has been taking steps to boost the economy of the country.

I taught at the American Cooperative School, an international school that serves the expatriate, local, and missionary community. The student body, which totals around 80, is comprised mostly of Americans, though there are students from India, China, Japan, Mexico, Suriname, Canada, Indonesia, Ghana, Trinidad, and other countries. ACS is truly an international school.

During the 2002 school year, I served as the 7th grade homeroom teacher, as well as the school's English/Language Arts instructor. I taught: 7/8 English & Literature, 7th grade math, and 6th grade English & Literature. During the last period of the day I tutored high school students who needed additional assistance with their University of Nebraska-Lincoln High School Correspondence Program studies.

During the 2002-2003 school year, I continued in my capacity as the school's English/ Language Arts teacher. I moved with my class and served as the 8th grade homeroom teacher. I taught: English & Literature 7, English & Literature 8, Literature 9, and Literature 10. I had a very successful year, and got to watch my 8th graders be promoted to high school. However, it was time to come back to the United States ; I missed my family, my friends, and American culture. I moved back and started graduate school.

(to learn more about my experiences in Suriname, please visit my Inside Paramaribo, Suriname web page)

Continuting Education - Graduate School

After Suriname, I began graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While there I took classes in the Educational Organization & Leadership department. These classes prepared me to become a principal, and led to an Illinois Type 75 Certificate (General Administrative). Besides being a principal, the Type 75 Certificate allows me to be an assistant principal, department head, activity director, athletic director, dean of students, or other leadership position at the building level. Additionally, completion of my program gave me a master's degree. In my case, the letters I add after my name are M.Ed. I am VERY proud to have graduated from UIUC, a Research-1 institution that continually ranks among the top 25, sometimes the top 10, of education schools in the United States. My time at UIUC transformed my teaching, making me a much more research-based practitioner, and giving me the tools I need to be an even better classroom teacher. Some of the classes I took include: the principalship, public control and administration of education, history of American education, instructional supervisions, school improvement, public school finance, discipline and classroom management, school law, the political and cultural context of education, schools and society, and the psychology of learning. I also completed a principal internship, where I was given the chance to write policy, formally and informally observe teachers, lead faculty meetings, attend board meetings, implement programs, and aid in student discipline. My site-based school project was to create a CD on Best Practices in Education, which contained several in-depth PowerPoint modules on research-based methods that can be applied to several areas of teaching. In fact, my CD was so informative, School District 100 (South Berwyn) ordered 40 of my CDs to use as a teaching tool for their new teachers.

My Current Job

I now teach 7th grade Language Arts for School Distirct 107: Pleasantdale. I'm at the middle school, and I'm VERY excited to be here!