About Me

New to Middle School, but not to Teaching

After almost three decades working as a professional archaeologist and university professor, I am changing careers to focus on secondary science education as a profession and an area of study. In April 2021, I completed the University of Redlands Master of Arts and Single-Subject Teacher Credential Program, with an emphasis on Natural Science.

As an educator, I rely on constructivist lesson plans that blend preparation with flexibility to allow student choice and the development of deep knowledge.

I strive to foster strong student engagement and open communication in a comfortable learning environment where students feel safe, seen, and heard.

In March 2020 (yes, right before the COVID-19 quarantine), I developed and taught a 9-day, multi-sited, experiential learning unit for 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students focused on archaeology, scientific thinking and methods, and scientific data presentation. Students developed hypotheses, planned excavations, conducted excavations on real archaeological sites, analyzed their data, and created an interactive museum-like experience for the school community to explore. The unit relied on real-world experience, apprenticeship learning, group work, and student-constructed projects.

My Education Roots

Previously, I was an anthropological archaeologist with field experience in Central America, California, the US Southwest, and Europe. I studied at UC Berkeley (undergrad) and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (graduate). I have taught archaeology and art history classes at CSU San Bernardino, UC Riverside, University of Redlands, and University of Texas, Arlington. I have also directed archaeological field schools in southern California and in Belize, Central America. My archaeology research interests include California history and prehistory, Mesoamerican prehistory, power relations in past societies, cultural landscapes, art and aesthetics, architecture, historical preservation, and non-coercive forms of social control. If you are interested in archaeology or art history, please let me know and I'll try to make that happen!

Credentials

Preliminary Single-Subject Teaching Credential (Science) - Recommended by the University of Redlands April 2021. Anticipated May 2021.

MA - In December 2020, I successfully completed my Master's project with a GPA of 4.0 at the University of Redlands. In April 2021, I completed my student teaching assignment with four periods (134 students) of 9th grade Biology at Corona High School in Corona, California. I have passed the CBEST, CSET General Science, and CSET Life Science tests.

PhD - I hold a PhD in anthropology with an archaeology focus from the University of Pennsylvania. My dissertation, Roads to the Center: The Design, Use, and Meaning of the Roads of Xunantunich, Belize, is available as a PDF from Academia.edu.

BA - I completed my undergraduate work at the University of California, Berkeley. My major was anthropology with a minor in art history. I also took courses in biology, psychology, sociology, and a variety of other disciplines. I graduated with honors and won the annual Kroeber Award for the most outstanding honor's thesis by an anthropology undergraduate.

What Students are Saying

At the end of my student teaching assignment with Corona High School, I asked the students in the regular Biology sections to review my performance as a teacher using an anonymous Google form. Here are some of their comments:

You were a really great teacher, and your positive attitude about everything really helped my motivation in biology :))

Honestly there is not much I want you know other than thank you for wanting to become a teacher because if not I would have never knew you would be such and amazing, and helpful teacher. Just know you will always stay in my mind and know I will remember how helpful you always were.

You slowed the pace down so we could better the understanding of what we were learning.

Thanks for helping everyone out and trying to make us everything you can do to make us pass. You will be missed.

Keep up your positive energy and kindness and being helpful which makes you a very good teacher.

You were approachable and it made me a little more confident.

You explained stuff if we needed it to be explained again and you also gave us time to finish.

You explained everything In a way that we could understand it.

You made sure we understood what we are learning and reviewed with us if we didn't understand.

You are very friendly so it's easier to ask questions instead of being scared of you.

You made the class more enjoyable which made me actually want to start learning.

You made me feel safe to ask questions.

[Here is a TABLE with all of the unedited student comments]