Welcome to my website.  I have taught English for the past eleven years at many different grade levels.  I started my teaching career at a private college, teaching freshman writing courses for five years.  I then accepted a position in an inner city school system in Michigan, where I remain today.  I have taught  literature, social studies, world history, language arts, reading skills, creative writing and leadership courses in grades seven through twelve..  Currently, I am teaching  Advanced Placement English Language and Composition and Early American Literature.  I also teach  an afterschool creative writing club for grades 9-12.  I am the English Department Curriculum Coordinator at my high school, so I am continually looking for new ideas and methods to enrich the teaching of English at the high school level.  Anyone who has any suggestions for novels that have worked well in grades 9-12, strategies for improving reading in secondary level students or just interesting lessons that have worked well with high school students, please e-mail me and let me share them with my fellow English teachers.

     I enjoy writing in my personal time, as well as reading fiction.  My favorite book is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves books.  I also highly recommend the book Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, and all the other books in her Outlander series, especially for people who enjoy reading historical romance novels.

      During the past three years, I have been learning as much as possible about using a computer.  I was a computer novice until I took a class in which I was required to use a computer.  Now, I have found that I enjoy spending time surfing the internet!  I have met teachers from around the world with whom I share ideas and discuss teaching.  I have found many interesting websites which are useful to me as both a teacher and as a researcher. Here are two sites I have found to be especially useful:

   *  To learn from other teachers, I like to visit this site:  Teachers.Net There are numerous chatboards there upon which you may post a question or where you can read and learn about many subject areas.  There are also chatrooms at this site where you can meet teachers from anyplace in the world or attend online meetings in which topics relevant to teaching are discussed. Since first discovering this site three years ago, I have become a frequent contributor to the educational discussions, and I have gone to gatherings in other states where I have met many of the people from this online community.

  *   To research world events, I turn to a great source: Crayon. On this site, you can access newspapers from around the world.

     On May 1, 2003, I had my son, Kyle.  He is the light of my life.

     Here is a picture of my dog, Jesse, a dalmation/terrier mix.  He was six months old when we got him at the Humane Society, he weighed thirty-five pounds and the vet told us he was full grown.    The vet was wrong!  He is now three years old and weighs ninety pounds.  That's ok, though.  As you can see from the picture, this is a happy dog with a lot of personality and we spoil him as much as possible.  I had thought I wanted a "small" dog, but having a large dog has turned out to be just great.  He is large, and so is his heart.  He is a very gentle dog, with a sweet temperment and he gives great hugs!

      To learn how best to care for Jesse, I go to a couple of helpful dog care sites. One is called Dotters Dalmatian Care.   Although it is a site geared for owners of Dalmations, I have found that it has many wonderful links for any type of dog care.   Another neat dog site is Woofs.

     I had never had a dog until my husband and I got Jesse.  I am so glad we decided to get a dog.  After we got Jesse, we decided he needed a friend, so my husband went back to the Humane Society last winter and got Parker, a black lab mix.  Then, last summer, my husband found Louie, a little shaggy dog, during a horrible rainstorm.  He had no identification, he was soaked to the skin, and he looked as if he had been wandering for awhile.  We put an ad in the paper, but no one ever claimed him, so we now have three wonderful dogs who truly enrich our lives. (I have not scanned any pictures of Parker or Louie, yet, but I will soon.  They are both very cute!)   If you are considering getting a dog, I hope you will visit your local Humane Society.  It is a great opportunity to save a life, and it is also a great way to bring more happiness into your own life.