Topic Taught: English Grade Taught: 7th School: McCall (Public) Middle School, Winchester, Massachusetts, USA # of Students: 115

Years Teaching: 20

Education: B.A. Boston University, M.A.T. Harvard Graduate School of Education

Units Taught: Short Stories, Mythology and Storytelling, a unit on Imaginary Worlds, Poetry, The Great Depression, Tall Tales

Most exciting units taught and why: "I love them all, but right now I am most enamored of the Storytelling because I just finished and it went very well! In it kids create 3 of their own Nature Myth, Hero Tale, or Fairy Tale (after reading lots of myths and tales), and then tell it after seeing a storyteller perform and experiencing two or three workshops with her. The Storyteller and I work together very well, and it's wonderful to see the kids rise to the occasion and gain confidence in their storytelling abilities. Each child performed for the class (and a video camera), and 32 kids volunteered--without getting "extra credit"--to tell their stories for parents and other interested people at an evening celebration of their work. But I love my other units, too."

Units featured in Web site: Short Stories, Imaginary Worlds, Tall Tales, Mythology and Storytelling

Teaching Philosophy:

Once a student told me that I didn't give homework. Shocked, I asked what on earth she meant. She said, "Well, I'm doing it and I look at the clock and find I've spent hours. But it doesn't feel like work."

I'd love ALL my students to feel like that!

I think kids learn best when they have invested a lot of themselves in their work. The question is how to get them engaged. Here are 10 things I believe students need in order to be engaged enough to really learn:

1. They need their teacher to be passionate about what she/he is teaching and respectful of them.
2. They need to feel safe, respected, and known in the classroom.
3. They need to learn by doing.
4. They need freedom to choose what they read and what they write about, and to make mistakes, recover from them, and try again.
5. They need time to explore, discuss, change, and refine their work.
6. They need a carefully structured series of varied activities that slowly build up the skills, ideas, insights, and confidence needed to be successful.
7. They need clear criteria and goals, ideally ones that they have helped to develop. They need to be constantly assessing themselves and each other, in relation to these goals and criteria.
8. They need the opportunity to demonstrate and celebrate what they have learned.
9. They need time to reflect on what they have done, are doing, and want to do.
10. They need to experience learning as exhilarating and fun.

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