About Me

Welcome!

I have been teaching for 18 years (10 at JHS 194) and absolutely love sharing my love of learning with students! Reading is one of my favorite ways to spend my time, although currently I have been reading many picture books with my sons as well as work materials. I have 2 sons (2 years old and 4 years old) and a dog named Smokey.

Along with working at JHS 194, I also am the Educational Coordinator for the Flushing YMCA Beacon Afterschool Program. If your child attends this program, I will be working with the staff to ensure that homework gets completed and that any academic concerns get attention in that setting as well.

Outside of school, I enjoy gardening, hiking, and playing with my boys.

Beginning of the year:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to William H. Carr JHS 194! Sixth grade is a year filled with new and exciting experiences. It can also be a challenging year for students, as this is probably their first year traveling to different teachers throughout the day. While we have high expectations for our students, we also understand that entering a new school can be very overwhelming, but we will do everything we can to help make the transition a smooth one for you and your child.

All units of study will be designed in accordance with the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards and will assist your child in becoming a confident reader. Students will be examining themes such as: discovering one’s voice, never giving up, finding courage, and hidden truths across various long and short reads. We will be modeling reading and writing strategies through our HMH curriculum to help improve skills and motivate students to independently read and write more often. An ELA portfolio of each student’s work will be maintained throughout the school year and will be taken home at year’s end.

3rd marking period

Dear Parent/Guardian:

As part of our English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum, we will soon begin a unit titled Finding Courage. In this unit, students will read and consider works about people who develop the courage to face their own fears. We will examine several ways that fear affects us, as well as how people overcome a variety of fears. The texts we will read center on the Essential Question “How do you find courage in the face of fear?” This open-ended question is intended to spark thoughtful discussion. You may wish to explore this question with your student at home as well.

Unit 3 includes the following texts.

from The Breadwinner: In this novel excerpt, the survival of a family in Afghanistan depends upon the courage of Parvana, an 11-year-old girl. Students will analyze character and plot, as well as character and setting in historical fiction.
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me: In this poem, renowned poet Maya Angelou lists a number of childhood fears, describing how the speaker finds the courage to face those fears. Students will learn about elements of lyric poetry, including repetition and refrain, and will develop skills for identifying and explaining a poem’s speaker.
Fears and Phobias: In this informational text, the author examines the causes of fears and phobias and explains the differences, noting ways to overcome common phobias. Students will analyze the structure of the text and identify text features. Students will also learn how to cite evidence.
Wired for Fear: This video from the website Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear presents an animated explanation of how our brains process reactions to fear. Students will learn how to analyze the visual and sound elements that creators use to convey information.
Embarrassed? Blame Your Brain: This informational text examines the complex reasons that teenagers naturally develop a strong and sometimes overwhelming fear of embarrassment. Students will learn how informational texts organize facts and examples and how to determine meanings of words and phrases in texts.
The Ravine: The characters in award-winning author Graham Salisbury’s short story face choices that test their friendships, honesty, and courage. Students will learn how to analyze character and make inferences about a story and its characters.
from Into the Air: This excerpt from a graphic biography describes Orville and Wilbur Wright’s early efforts to achieve flight as they attempt to build a working and successful glider. Students will learn how to analyze structures common to graphic texts, as well as how to determine a work’s central idea.
from The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane: In this excerpt from his biography about the Wright Brothers, award-winning author Russell Freedman examines how the Wrights were able to overcome their own fears of failure as they worked to build their glider. Students will learn how to analyze the structure of informational texts and will determine the text’s key ideas.

After reading the texts in the unit, students may explore the following options:

Short Reads are online independent reading selections in a variety of genres. These include a poem, a short story, a piece of narrative nonfiction, and an informational text.
Long Reads are recommended books related to the unit theme and Essential Question. In this unit, recommendations include the novels Dragonwings, The Parker Inheritance, and The Breadwinner.
The Unit Writing Task, Write an Informative Essay, asks students to synthesize their reading and support their ideas using relevant evidence.
The Unit Speaking & Listening Task, Give a Presentation, asks students to adapt and present their informative essays.