Empowering Educators Through Literacy
I have embodied a passion for teaching, mentoring, learning, and student success, with the greatest hope that educators will replicate it in their classrooms. Over the years, I’ve believed in guiding educators to regard themselves as a critical resource and problem-solver to their students, parents, colleagues, school administrators, and their communities to inspire a shared commitment to quality education. John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, Donald Schön, and Robert Marzano are educational philosophers/experts who I’ve chosen to learn from and rely upon to shape my teaching philosophy and practice.
I have spent the greater part of my working life in the role of educator at elementary, (private schools), middle grades and tertiary levels. Importantly, I have acquired experience and expertise in international education environments, having taught theoretical and practical syllabi for Trinidad & Tobago, Canada, and the UK in my home country, Trinidad.
At the tertiary level, I have worked in the US, where I have guided and developed teacher candidates at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Throughout my time in Ohio as a doctoral student (grad assistant) and Lecturer, I created and sustained partnerships with school districts (American public schools). I brought an array of innovative teaching methods, inclusive of modeling, coaching, demonstrations, hands-on activities, technological deployment, collaborative learning, and reflective opportunities. My foci have been on: elementary education, phonics, literacy development, and tutoring young learners.
From 2022-2024, I had the honour of being a Co-PI for two grants at The University of Toledo:
(1) High Dosage Tutoring in Literacy and Mathematics (state grant/approx. US$500,000)
(2) Revising Adolescent Literacy Courses (state grant/approx. US$30,000).
For the HDT, I designed and led the literacy clinic with an elementary and middle grade public school. I supervised and coached tutors; sourced and created materials for tutoring sessions; and created and led workshops on evidence-based teaching strategies tutors that were used when tutoring struggling readers. For the second grant, I collaborated and co-created workshops on the Science of Reading, evidence-based teaching strategies and reflective opportunities on the workshops and grant experience.