As the oldest of nine grandchildren and three sisters, I have always enjoyed working with kids. I started my career babysitting, working in daycares, and as a teacher's aide throughout high school and college. I earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in Speech and Hearing Science, and spent a year as a one-on-one paraprofessional. As a paraprofessional, I was amazed at the positive impact the teacher in my classroom had on the students, and I decided to change course and go into teaching. I earned a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2012. I student taught at an elementary school in Chicago called Hawthorne Scholastic Academy and fell in love with teaching. Hawthorne hired me as a teacher in the Fall of 2013, and I taught second grade there for six years.

 

I really enjoyed teaching literacy, math, social studies, and science to second graders, but missed teaching foundational skills and working with the imagination of younger children.  Child development, especially language development, has always fascinated me. When I found the opportunity to teach at Willow Grove, I was overjoyed! I was so excited to move to kindergarten, where I can still teach the subjects I love, but also be a part of the amazing development five year olds and six year olds make in Kindergarten. My teaching philosophy is constructivist. I believe it is very important for students to construct their own understandings through higher order thinking skills, kinesthetic experiences, stories, and academic practice. I believe every child should be able to reach his or her full potential. In addition, I believe education is not only academic, but also social emotional.