Theories that guide my research

• I believe literacy is the essence of all educational endeavors and that literacy transcends traditional ideas of reading and writing. As Freire explains, we learn to read our worlds first, and reading the word comes as a result of reading our worlds. For this reason, I adhere to sociocultural theories of literacy, which means we, as educators, must welcome the whole student into our classes, which includes a student’s many languages and dialects, a student’s family associations and experiences, a student’s worldview shaped by their many experiences outside of school, and all the ways their lives have influenced their understandings of their world. We encourage a student to access their full repertoire of knowledge by welcoming their whole selves into the learning process.

•  I have learned from Dewey and Vygotsky that learning is a social activity that also requires action, movement, and creation. While reading a book may be a solitary, quiet act, what we do with what we have read naturally requires action. Becoming literate in a discipline involves engaging in a variety of texts, certainly, but absorbing information only matters if we equip students to use that information for the benefit of society, for self-understanding and growth, and/or developing a voice for advocacy. Students should be reading as a means to write, to create, and/or to produce - to enter the conversation in an informed and considerate way.

• Literacy cannot be confined to printed texts; to read the world and the word means learning to read in countless new formats and for a myriad of reasons. Students learn from engaging with real-world texts, which include printed texts, of course, but also include nature, music, body language, and countless other vehicles for communication. We are just beginning to tap the potential of digital literacy, and media literacy is an essential element of maintaining a democratic society. Yet neither of those modes can be understood fully without literacy in visual arts and music. Therefore, literacy education must encompass multiple disciplines in various modes and must provide a variety of perspectives.

• As Gee has demonstrated for us, students engage in multiple Discourses according to the different areas of their lives including, but not limited to, video games, music, social media, advertising, sports, dance, and religious activities. Therefore, an effective classroom will consist of multiliteracy engagements where students see themselves and their lives represented but also encounter others' lives and perspectives from which to learn. 

• Literacy is an individual right; all students should be equipped with literacy skills that give them access to full participation in our social worlds and our representative government, as well as providing them with occupational choice. 

English Department Chair, Gaffney High School, 2016 - 2023

Reviewer for Journal of Adolescent & Adult  Literacy (July 2022 - present)

Reviewer of presentation proposals, AESA, 2024

President, Mu Chapter, Delta Kappa Gamma, Cherokee County, SC, 2018-2020

AP Reader,  College Board, English Language & Composition, 2015 - 2023

Teacher Consultant, Spartanburg Writing Project (NWP), 2010 - 2016

GHS Pageant Coordinator, 2005 - 2020

GHS Newspaper Adviser, 1998 - 2019