Both my Michigan licensure and my CELTA required supervised, assessed teaching, so I've planned and run real classrooms, not only studied how to. On top of that, I bring current training in the standards schools are using right now and the openness to grow with a program rather than settle into one.

Choice is the delivery, not the standard. Every unit begins from a specific concept and skill I want students to build, and I scale how much choice they get to where they are, tight and guided when a skill is new, open once they're ready to push it. Students document their process and are assessed against clear, standards-aligned criteria, so freedom never means lowered expectations.

I assess the thinking, not only the finished object. The backbone is a process portfolio, or visual journal, where students record their decisions across a unit alongside the work itself. I grade formatively in one-on-one conversations while they work, and summatively against single-point rubrics tied to IB criteria or the US National Core Arts Standards, rubrics that name the target without capping what a student can reach for.

A studio runs on routines and safety before anything else: explicit systems for materials, tools, cleanup, and movement, taught from day one. Beyond that, engagement is my best management tool, students working on something they have a real stake in are far less likely to check out. I hold firm, consistent expectations, and I treat the room's safety as non-negotiable.

This is where my Cambridge CELTA matters. It trained me to teach learners who don't share my language to confirm that instructions and concepts have landed before students invest time, to demonstrate rather than only explain, and to build multiple entry points into a task. Visual art is already forgiving for multilingual classrooms, and I'm specifically trained to make it more so.

Yes. I built my methodology around the IB's inquiry-driven model and the US National Core Arts Standards' four artistic processes, and I plan with backward design, which both systems speak.

Yes, I maintain an independent fine art practice alongside teaching. It matters to me: I can speak about making from the inside because I'm still doing it, and students take craft more seriously from someone who's in the work, not just describing it.