MY STORY

After many years of having the frustrating experience of not being able to find the bilingual/ESL/EFL educational or counseling tools I needed, I decided to start creating them myself.   Over the years,  I was inspired when I observed these tools helping young people and helping my colleagues who borrowed them…then I was further inspired by my dad who is happiest when he is starting a new online project to provide others with what they can’t find anywhere else.  These inspirations led me to create this website.    In addition, 20 years in public and private education gave me endless ideas, anecdotes, stories, and techniques that I use to inspire my monthly posts here.

Read on if you’d like to find out more about me and my “street cred” in writing about the latest developments in the ESL and counseling worlds…

FORMER STUDENTS	TEACHING ESL

CLASSROOM

I graduated from the University of Maryland in 1994 with a BS in Elementary Education and then from Johns Hopkins soon after with an MS in Counseling.  I taught middle and elementary school for 8 years with the Howard County Public School System in Maryland.  In 2002, I joined the Peace Corps as a teacher trainer to work at a teachers’ college in Mozambique where I developed and taught their English Teacher Preparation Program.  After becoming fluent in Portuguese, I wanted a chance to expand that to Spanish, so I went to Bolivia where I learned Spanish and taught first and sixth grade at a private American-International school.  I was also their ESL resource teacher and it was during these years abroad that I developed many of my ESL lessons, curriculum, and activities.  A few years later, I accepted a job as a bilingual counselor in a Texas public school system, where I currently work.  Our population is predominately Hispanic, with a large percentage of students brand new to the USA–  it was in this capacity that I saw a great need for a “Culture Explorers” group and for Spanish language counseling materials.  I work with a very high-need population in terms of counseling issues, so I’ve developed many of my counseling sessions practices in Texas as well.  When I’m not writing or educating, I enjoy ranch life with my husband and our menagerie of pets- all bilingual, of course!