I am a fifth year teacher with experience teaching 6-8 grade English Language Arts (ELA), Journalism, and Reading. As a Johns Hopkins University School of Education Alumna, I have developed expertise in creating rigorous, relevant curriculum that facilitates critical thinking, authentic production of knowledge, and student ownership of the learning process. For the past two years, I have served as the ELA instructional coach for a middle school. This entails supporting 6-8 grade ELA teachers in unit and lesson planning, analyzing student data to differentiate instruction, and creating engaging assignments for asynchronous learning. I am an advocate for gamification of the learning process, particularly in response to the the new demands of online instruction. I believe in creating lessons that facilitate connection to current events and the real world. It is a priority for me to understand my students' individual personal and academic goals so I can ensure my instruction supports their achievement.