In 2011 I was selected to be a NOAA Teacher at Sea. From May 30, 2011 through June 11, 2011 I sailed aboard the NOAA ship, Pisces, with a mission to study deep water corals and their habitats. It was very exciting to be classified as part of the scientific contingent aboard ship. Follow my Teacher at Sea blog and learn more about it.

Newton info. Click on announcements.

Welcome to Special Programs for Academic and Creative
Excellence (S.P.A.C.E.) in Huntsville City Schools, Huntsville, AL. I am one of the resource teachers for gifted and talented students at Weatherly Heights Elementary and McDonnell Elementary Schools. Students in our program work on higher order thinking skills using a variety of methods: Talents Unlimited, chess, and logic puzzles, to name a few. I am committed to helping students reach their potential to the best of my ability through student interest-driven activities. Scully, the dog my students and I raised in 2006 for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), is working as a Facility Dog at Wake Med hospital in Raleigh, NC. Read more about this facility at www.wakemed.org. William was raised by students at Weatherly for a year and graduated February 14, 2009 from advanced training in Orlando, FL. He is working as a service dog for Gary and resides in Florida. Our first dog, Jacer, is now serving Lee in Charlotte, NC. Newton, raised at Weatherly, entered Advanced Training on November 13, 2010 and graduated August 13, 2011. Newton is working in Orlando, FL with Steve Miller, an adaptive PE teacher. Way to go, Newton.

Other projects in my room have included an in-depth study of oceanography with 5th grade, photography, video production, photo editing and display, country studies, and independent research projects, all using technology.

The school year 2006-2007 was one of travel and professional development. I visited Omsk, Russia and the South Island of New Zealand. Go to the Photography page to learn more about these trips. I then traveled to Europe for a phototour of the Alps in July 2008 and visited Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government as a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund teacher later in October. I traveled to Tokyo and Hiroshima to learn more of Japan's history, education system, and culture and brought back lessons and information to share. Watch for photographs of these trips in the future. Click on this link now to read and comment on my blog. When you get to my blog page, click where it says "no comment" above the blog you wish to comment on.