Family: 

My husband Brian and I have been married for 30 years this January. We met in a hardware store - he worked there and I frequently thought of things I needed to buy there... We have two awesome kids; Nick and Olivia, who both went to O'Dea.

Interests/Hobbies: 

Photography, Writing, Data Visualization, Astronomy, Math, Art

Favorite Quote: 

Once we give up our fears, we become artists.

Favorite Book or Story: 

Wrinkle in Time, Irving and Muktuk; Two Bad Bears, and/or All the Light We Cannot See.

My favorite movie lately is Hamilton and also Despicable Me. The books are not as good as the movie.

About My Classroom: 

Gifted and Talented pull out small groups meet in the modular and we are always working on something interesting out here!
Every year, our GT classes contribute projects to the Core Fair. From visualizing world populations concentrated into small areas, to comparing the economies of the world and representing our findings using bowls of rice on a world map, we express and explore math in creative ways.
5th grade GT Language Arts students conduct a year-long research project called Young Scholars. Students pick a passion topic, meet with mentors, and go on field trips which culminates in an oral presentation and power point.
In Math, all gifted and advanced Math students ranging from 3rd to 5th grade engage in accelerated pull out groups focusing on grade level and beyond Common Core math objectives. 5th graders participate in the Math Olympiad and become proficient with 6th grade math objectives.
Gifted and advanced Reading/Writing 4th graders post their creative writings on class blogs, work on research projects ending with a class presentation, and learn about the relative value and supply of commodities by trading along the Silk Route. In Math, 4th graders explore deeper understandings of 4th grade Math skills.
3rd grade GT Language Arts students tackle challenging reading and writing through the Center for Gifted Education's Journeys and Destinations, Scholastic's Story Works, Junior Great Books, Readers Theater, and novel studies.
From mapping geographic settings from stories using Google Maps to pursuing our own passion projects, we gain an understanding of how to express ourselves through what we learn!