Adventures in World History

I have taught ancient, medieval, world, and American history at the middle school level at the Hampton Middle School in Allison Park, Pennsylvania and previously at the Seneca Valley Middle School in Harmony, Pennsylvania. I also hold an English 7-12 Pennsylvania teaching certification. During my time as a middle level educator, I have had the privilege to serve as an instructional leader, responsible for authoring an academically rigorous curriculum for three separate courses, including an online course for the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV. I have developed successful strategies for integrating language arts into the social studies curriculum that have been implemented building-wide, and have participated in a district-wide planning committee focusing on the issue.

I have a passion for enhancing the learning experience through the use of educational technology and have created and taught workshops, seminars, and training series to instruct faculty members in the use of graphic editing software, Web design, and electronic portfolios. Examples of the technology I regularly develop and utilize in the learning process include, virtual reality modeling, Google Classroom, hybrid-classroom, and educational alternate reality games.

In 2003, I wrote a book entitled E-Teaching: Creating Web Sites and Student Web Portfolios Using Microsoft PowerPoint (Linworth Publishing, Inc., 2003), and have contributed articles to numerous educational magazines and journals. In 2006, I wrote another book entitled, Rethinking Adolescence: Using Story to Navigate Life's Uncharted Years (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006). In 2010, I was recognized as one of the “50 Most Innovative Teachers in the Nation” by PBS for my development of educational alternate reality games.

I have a masters degree in history from Slippery Rock University and undergraduate degrees in Secondary Education Social Science and History from Grove City College.

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