As a mother of four amazing children and a lifelong                                                                                                   academic, my heart is captured by the endless potential                                                                                           young people possess. With guided opportunities to lead                                                                                         their own experience, creative innovation naturally follows.

 

                                                                                 My style is very different from most teachers but is incredibly                                                                                     effective. I leave space for the student to retain their own                                                                                           personal style. Their skills and abilities are realized, while                                                                                         their difficulties are subverted using advances in                                                                                                       technology to assist in academic development. The

                                                                                 outcome is a substantial boost in confidence, allowing                                                                                               students to move forward while being excited to learn.

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During the past twenty years, I have taught: large groups of displaced migrant high school students, adult English learners, both elementary and high school students in under-resourced K-12 public schools, K-5 students in a therapeutic music program I created, and have homeschooled my own children. My creation of an alternative education program was fueled by Kavan Roberts, a fifth-grade student I taught in Oregon. He was on ISS (as per usual) and began reading to me, the 1970's poetry by Shel Silverstein published in, "Where the Sidewalk Ends." His intrigue was impressive, so I asked if he writes poetry. "Yes, sometimes!" he responded. As he continued laughing and sharing those thought-provoking poems with me, I thought, "This kid is always in trouble and fails his classes, but he is intrigued for hours by a old book of poetry?" 

 

I then went to the administration and asked to begin a group for the students who posed as "challenging" for their other classes. My request was quickly facilitated. Teachers thanked me for taking those kids out of their classes; my program grew, and I was in heaven! These students with amazing areas of intelligence, lacking some proper restraint and social skills due to the unfair circumstances they had faced in their young lives, made my room the most exciting place on campus. Soon I turned the shelves behind my projector screen in my classroom into a pantry of healthy snacks, which many hungry students would come and access regularly. I set up puzzles and games in the back of the room and started to find that many kids would revert to my room to come in and calm down throughout the day, avoiding likely fights and suspensions.

My door always remained open!

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I quickly realized that this was not the path other teachers took, nor did they want me to continue on this, "downward spiral," as they called it. It is true that this method is far too time-consuming for one teacher to manage in a large classroom of students. I joined forces with my Special Education mentor and created my own program. My abilities and experience with how to use alternative practices to assist my students in understanding their strengths and improving their areas of struggle grew, along with my students' confidence.

 

Our school abruptly shut down on March 13, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My first thought was, "What will happen to all of the children who depend on us not only for basic needs but also to help them overcome years of personal and academic setbacks?" Another teacher and I worked tirelessly together to try to engage and reach our students (even going door to door). The most help I provided ended up being to parents. They would call me so worried that they didn't know how to teach their child. I learned a lot about their families, and in many cases became part of their lives; engaging in video conference calls from their living rooms where the whole family would interact with me; which led to more positive communication. My students learned that they just needed to be taught some alternative practices to understand their differences and utilize their strengths. They then understood, some for the first time, that they absolutely had the competitive intellect needed to walk back into an academic space with confidence that they would perform beautifully.

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I created Altered Classroom, LLC as an online space to extend my reach and help young people discover their paths in this rapidly changing world. Having had the amazing opportunity to be formally trained at UCLA, where I earned an MA in Latin American Studies and a BA in International Community Economic Development and Conflict Resolution, I am equipped with the research abilities required to address our unprecedented future. I would be honored to have you join our community and 'learn to prevail'.

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