I feel especially honored to have been a 2011 member of the Holocaust Summer Institute where I joined my peers to study the history and instructional implications of this important historical period.
I’m currently a Lecturer at the University of North Texas where I teach undergraduates ELA Methods and Content Literacy. As we are coming to the end of the fall semester, I am delighted with the work of my students in response to the Holocaust Inquiry Study that was made possible with a Holocaust Memorial Library grant. With the grant my students (pre-service middle school teachers) explored the Holocaust through literature and a museum visit, and then they were able to bring their questions to a Holocaust survivor made available through the Dallas Holocaust Museum. Though the class is a content literacy course, I was able to situate the instructional strategies and practices into the context of this learning experience, and using the What Matters book, my students worked to complete their own class units connecting their content area to the important issues of our time.
About me — I’m active in several organizations including the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, the Texas Association for the Improvement of Reading, and the National Council of Teachers of English. I look to all of these organizations for my professional growth and as agents for my profession. Though I work in Denton, Texas, I live in Carrolton, Texas, just north of Dallas. I’m a transplant from Augusta, Georgia where I grew up. I’m married to a Software Engineer, Niel, and we have two amazing daughters. My oldest, Hope, will graduate from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans in May, and my youngest, Hannah, will start college at the University of North Texas in August. She plans to major in Art Communications. I also have two dogs, Scout and Meg, and a cat named Dallas.