Introduction

This portfolio will give you a glimpse of my professional work. As this is a work in progress, please check back for updates and more information.
Bio in Brief

History at COM   In 2001, I joined the CoM faculty teaching in the English Department. I teach both traditional and online courses at CoM. All of my classes include a course web site offering students  access to handouts, course materials and discussion forums.  I am excited about the prospect of further developing CoM's online program and in building CoM's Writing Center which includes online writing help where students have access to online tutoring from CoM Instructors. I have also served as Chair on CoM's Technology Committee, allowing me to help guide the technology decisions at the college and I served on the Academic Senate for two terms making recommendations for the development of policy for issues such as shared governance, accreditation, program review, curriculum development, grading policies, institutional planning, and budget development. All of these roles at the college have helped to make me a better teacher, allowing me to identify the needs of students and to implement policies at the college that meet those needs. Now, I am experimenting with social media tools to build a strong community of writers in my classroom.

Pre COM  Prior to my teaching assignment at CoM, I taught full time at Chaffey College in Southern California. Even though I left Chaffey in 2001 in order to move to the Bay Area to be closer to family, I still have a strong connection to the college where I received my first full-time, tenure track teaching position. I am proud to say that I was one of the original faculty members that started the online program at Chaffey College and I designed the original "COW" (Chaffey Online Writing Center). I occasionally still teach part-time for Chaffey College as an online instructor.

I've also taught part-time in the Department of English at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and at Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC). In fact, I was first inspired to continue my education after completing my A.A. at SRJC. After my first two years of college, I went on to study English at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) & University of California at Davis (UCD), where I received my B.A. and I was eventually awarded my M.A. from SFSU. In addition to a Master's degree in English Literature, I also hold a Certificate to Teach Post Secondary Reading as well as a Certificate to Teach Composition from SFSU.

For more details regarding my professional training and experience, please see my Curriculum Vitae.

Educational Philosophy

As a proud graduate from a California community college, I am particularly familiar with the desires, concerns, and goals of students at the two-year college level and I am dedicated to teaching at the community college in order to instill in students the same qualities which were infused in me as a result of my first two years of college education--determination, dedication and discipline coupled with a new awareness of my inclusion in an academic community, which I had never before experienced. It was my first college English course that inspired me to become a teacher; consequently, I hope to inspire my students with that same spark that fueled my love for education and reading.

The combination of teaching experience at COM, Chaffey College, SFSU and at SRJC has well prepared me to meet the challenges of teaching to an ethnically, culturally, economically, and physically diverse student population and has certainly prepared me to meet the demands of teaching students who exhibit great diversity in terms of levels of reading and writing skills. I am constantly searching for ways to integrate technology into my classroom in order to provide students with technological skills in addition to the reading and writing skills that they will need in order to succeed in the competitive job market. I'm especially interested in computer mediated instruction, collaborative learning, critical and feminist pedagogies and building a sense of community in the classroom. 
 

Personal Side

I am happy to share that I am a proud mother to an adorable boy, Finnegan. He truly defines my world, which has changed dramatically since he arrived. My husband, Patrick (photographed here in on our trip to Guatemala), is also a teacher at the College of Marin. We enjoy exploring new family adventures like camping, traveling, reading, and waking up in the middle of the night to chase monsters away.  Oh, and my favorite author continues to be Mark Twain, an inspiration for our son's name since one of my favorite books is Huckleberry Finn.