I graduated with my BA in 1989 and spent many years teaching in a variety of different contexts.

• • I’m a Montessori trained teacher, 3 to 6-year-olds and I’ve taught in a private school as well as with the Milwaukee Public Schools as a Montessori Special Education Teacher

  • I have taught high school English

  • I taught a year of 4th grade

  • I worked with gifted and talented junior high students

  • I developed and ran a parent-tot music and movement program for 4 years that reached over 400 families

  • I have taught undergraduate students at Oregon State University, Purdue University, and here at Emporia State

  • I’ve taught graduate students here at Emporia State

  • I also worked in faculty development at Purdue, helping professors and instructors learn how to improve their teaching

• Here at ESU, I teach the following courses

  • PY 211 Developmental Psychology for Education Majors

  • PY 334 Educational Psychology 

  • PY 303 Special Topics Course - Psychology of Music

  • PY 750 Advanced Educational Psychology

My research involves teachers, too!  I study motivation in the classroom, specifically looking at self-determination theory - which I’m going to talk about.

I’m especially interested in preservice teachers because once we get out in the classroom, so often we do what we need to in order to survive.  If we can help preservice teachers learn all of the practices that are going to really help them and their students thrive, we have a better chance of helping build success for everyone.  

I have presented research and delivered workshops for faculty in Belgium, Colombia, The Netherlands, Denmark, and all across the US and Canada.