Discipline/Teaching Area: Child, Youth and Family Studies
It is a pleasure to have joined College of the Rockies in the fall of 2019. I have been an online instructor of various courses in the Child, Youth and Family Studies department, namely those in the Education Assistant program.
My 20 year teaching career has taken me to three different countries and through a range of curriculum and teaching experiences that span everything from primary to college. I received my BA with Honors at the University of Guelph, Ontario. After a few years of various travel experiences abroad I returned to my native Toronto and worked in the corporate world. Still in need of career satisfaction I did some soul searching and found myself led back to school to acquire a B.Ed. from the University of Windsor, Ontario. Additional qualifications along the way include Special Education, Guidance Counselling, and Assessment and Evaluation through Queens and York University. I found my purpose and passion in Education while acquiring Orton-Gillingham training – a specific multi-sensory training for students who have dyslexia. My professional goals include module development for existing Special Education courses that provide a concentrated focus on the most common learning disability, dyslexia. I am also entertaining a masters in special education with a focus on the exceptionality of dyslexia. In addition to instructing at the College I also work at a local independent school in both middle school and student services.
My teaching motto and teaching style can be wrapped up in a short alliteration, “Firm, Fair, Fun”. I believe STRONGLY that every brain accesses and responds to information uniquely. Openness to such potential difference is essential if we are to pursue excellence in each individual. We must forever be both a student and a teacher in life, one way or another.