A little about me:

When I found teaching as my love- which happened in my early 30s it was like I was seeing it for the first time. This was teaching where children were leading their learning. I had already started a completely different career and had young children when we had moved to Frankfurt, Germany. I was already soaking up the German parenting style and goal of raising independent children at the time, and then the school there completely changed how I viewed education. The inquiry model and concepts being at the center was something I had never experienced before and I found myself thinking, ”Wow! I wish I could be a part of that.”

Fast forward 8 years and I'm a teacher. An inquiry, concept-based, international, inclusive, teacher striving to learn more and be better every day I step into the classroom. Some days I am terrible and some days I rock it out - but every day I hope to help students connect with at least one concept. I’ve worked within the IB framework, Common Core, UK National Curriculum, and Mastery Learning, some of which lent themselves easily to my style, and some that required a bit more subversive practice. I hold a Master in Education in curriculum with an emphasis on teaching culturally and linguistically diverse and exceptional learners, a Certificate in International Education, training focused on working with dyslexia and ADHD, am an IBEN teacher, and a certified coach in Concept-based and Inquiry Learning with Prolearnt and the Erikson-Lanning Institute. Additionally, I have lived in 6 countries so far and had a previous career in the world of International Relations and hold a B.A. and M.A. in International Studies and World politics respectively.

I am a spouse to the smartest and kindest man I know, mother to three very different boys, and pet mom to 2 dogs and 4 cats.

Hopefully, you find the research outlined here to empower you to stay true to best practices with authentic learning being the central driver. The site will continue to update with ideas from other successful teachers and researchers that are finding ways to slowly unseat the traditional models that keep students in small boxes. My hope is to be the teacher I wished I had.