The resources listed below reflect a carefully curated collection of professional materials that I have consistently referenced since August 2023. These sources encompass a variety of teaching strategies, methods for strengthening teacher-student relationships, and approaches for fostering humility within the classroom. I have chosen to highlight these particular books because they have had a significant impact on my teaching journey. Over the past school year, teaching English Language Arts has provided me with opportunities to apply many of these strategies, while also developing my adaptability and responsiveness in real time. This growth would not have been possible without my professional toolkit, which includes this list of resources along with previous lesson plans. 

1. Muhammad, G. (2023). Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning. Scholastic Professional.
2. Christensen, L. (2017). Reading, writing, and rising up : teaching about social justice and the power of the written word. Rethinking Schools.
3. Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2011). The understanding by design guide to creating high-quality units. ASCD.
4. Wiggins, G. P., & Mctighe, J. (2012). The understanding by design guide to advanced concepts in creating and reviewing units. ASCD.
5. Love, B. (2019). We Want To Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom. Beacon.
6. Brown, D. F., & Knowles, T. (2007). What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know. Heinemann Educational Books.
7. Settlage, J., Southerland, S. A., Smetana, L. K., & Lottero-Perdue, P. S. (2018). Teaching science to every child : using culture as a starting point. Routledge.
8. Beatty, A. S., & Schwingruber, H. A. (2016). Seeing students learn science : integrating assessment and instruction in the classroom. National Academies Press.
9. Greenleaf, C., Greenleaf, R., Friedrich, L., Murphy, L., & Hogan, N. (2023). Reading for understanding: How reading apprenticeship improves disciplinary learning in secondary and college classrooms. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons
10. Tracey, D. H., & Morrow, L. M. (2017). Lenses on reading : an introduction to theories and models (3rd ed.). The Guilford Press.

Teacher Work

Content Lesson Plans: Language and Literature

Overview: This lesson was developed for an 8th grade English Language Arts (ELA) class, which includes several students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). I chose to highlight this particular lesson because it was one of my favorites to teach. Although the structure was simple, the content proved to be highly impactful. Student engagement was exceptionally high, and it was clear that they enjoyed the poem as much as I did.

This 8th grade ELA lesson focused on identifying theme and supporting it with textual evidence using the poems "Hanging Fire" and "Summer of His 14th Year." Following the “I Do, We Do, You Do” model, students annotated stanzas in groups and completed an exit ticket demonstrating their understanding of theme through main idea identification and text-based evidence.

Content Lesson Plans: Science

Overview:  This lesson was designed for a 6th grade Earth Science class. I selected it for inclusion because it is one of the few science lessons I have had the opportunity to develop. Currently placed in an English Language Arts (ELA) classroom, I have not yet completed a full semester in a science teaching environment. However, with the support of the Science Department at my school, I was able to create a lesson that is both meaningful and developmentally appropriate for our students.

This lesson is one I created to have students explore renewable and nonrenewable resources.  I opened the lessons with students examining a set of pictures and determine if these resources were renewable or nonrenewable. This allowed students to begin thinking about the content that would follow. I conducted a brief lesson over the difference between the two types of resources then students participated in a sorting activity after. The lesson concluded with brief presentations of their findings and justifications. We were supposed to get to the exit ticket but their presentation ran over time.