Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? Were you identified as gifted when you were young?
I grew up in Berkeley, CA. I remember some accelerated work outside the classroom and loved working hard on projects and reports. I was disappointed in the paucity of art classes and spaces in my schools. I think I was training to be an arts educator from very early on!
How did you get interested in your subject area? What is your favorite content to teach?
I loved art, and my parents took us to many museums and historic sites growing up. My favorite subject areas to teach are the ones that reveal the most information about how visual media work in our society: color: how the eye, light and pigment work together; and typography: how letterforms are made and work for reading and communication.
Tell us briefly about your favorite teacher.
My high school history teacher packed rich layers of meaning into his lectures, connecting history to society. Our model government unit taught me so much. It was Olympia Snowe, from Maine—and I still follow her work in government.
Tell us about a satisfying teaching experience.
I was an artist in residence in a school in Berkeley many years ago. I remember teaching a little boy to sew and watching him assemble a beautiful self portrait for a student quilt. The teacher took me aside and said he had many challenges in the classroom and his home life. This early example of the power of differentiated instruction has informed my pedagogy since.
What is it like working with gifted kids? Describe the energy in your classroom.
Working with gifted kids is like watching antelope run alongside a train. They leap and bound alongside (and in front of) the content being taught, and it is exhilarating! My classroom is full of talking: discussion of art, questions, and stories. Our small class sizes at CTD allow gifted students to debate and articulate points of view.