Brenau University

Title:

Associate Professor of Education, Coordinator of Teacher Education, Augusta campus

 

Undergraduate Education:

College of New Rochelle, New York – B.A. in Psychology

 

Graduate Education:

Tufts University – M.Ed.

Wheelock College – C.A.G.S.

Nova Southeastern University – Ed.D.

 

Subject Areas Taught at Brenau:

Introduction to Teacher Education

Developmental Psychology

School and Society

Classroom Assessment

Classroom Management

Teaching Students with Special Needs

Effective Planning

Applied Instruction

Student Teaching

 

Teaching Philosophy:

As a former early childhood general and special educator, I bring a life’s worth of experience to educator preparation. When my teaching was recognized in 2010 with the Masters in Teaching award, I was asked to reflect on my philosophy of education. I am not one who says she was born to teach. I became a teacher from a love of children and a desire to contribute to their well-being.

I believe that education is a passion that is felt deeply within, but I also believe that teachers are grown. Educators can become skilled only through curiosity, interest and above all, effort. The education of very young children, teenagers, or adults all require the same thing – an intentional desire to advance learning and a commitment to do all it takes to teach in a way that is meaningful to each learner.

 

Academic and Research Interests:

As a former early childhood special educator, I have always been especially interested in developing ways to meet the needs of all learners through effective collaboration between general and special educators.

As a teacher educator, I have become additionally eager to learn strategies that can better connect theory and practice in educator preparation. I believe this can be attained by forging strong partnerships between university faculty and P-12 classroom teachers. As an appointed member of the Association for Teacher Educators (ATE) Commission on Classroom Teachers as Associated Teacher Educators and a Clinical Practice Fellow, I am pleased to have an opportunity to further investigate this issue.

 

Academic Affiliation and Leadership Positions Held

I am an active member of the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE). serving as a manuscript reviewer for the organization’s journal, Action in Teacher Education, and a past member of the ATE Leadership Academy.

In addition to my work within ATE, I also enjoy reviewing children’s literature for the Southern Early Childhood Association’s online publication, What’s New in Children’s Books.

As a trained consultant for the edTPA National Academy, I am a strong advocate for the educative benefits of the edTPA performance assessment for teacher candidates.