I believe that I was born to be an ELA teacher. Some of my first memories are of me listening to books on tape over and over again while turning the pages, even though I didn’t know how to read. My Auntie Debby came to visit us from Chicago one summer and was shocked to see I was reading at the age of three. “She’s not reading!” my mom explained. “She’s heard that book so many times, she’s memorized it.”

I always turned to books to take me to another world. I love reading and writing. When my husband took me to Powell’s Books, which is the largest new and used book store in the world, he found me after looking for an hour an a half with three huge stacks in front of me. It was his first time coming to a book store with me, and was puzzled by my method.

I was doing the same thing I always do when I visit a book store. First, I gather a huge book of everything I want. Then, I sort them into two piles of ones I can and can’t live without. Then I read the first chapter of each book in the “can’t live without” pile into ones I can afford and one’s I can’t.

The iPad is one of the best things that has happened to me, and one of the worst things that has happened to my bank account. Before I had one, I could only buy books when the book store was open. Now, when I finish reading a book at two o’clock in the morning, I can buy another one from the same author with a click of a button! If I seem tired sometimes, now you know why.

Some of my favorite writers (poets and playwrights included) are Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, John Irving, Mark Twain, Ralph Fletcher, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Gary Soto, Brene Brown, Emmet Fox, Toni Morrison, David Sedaris, Suzanne Collins, J.D. Salinger, Lois Lowry.I have to stop or the list will never end.

I also enjoy blogging and writing short stories. Most are based on my teaching experiences. When I am not reading or writing, I can be found spending time with my family and friends.  I love teaching, technology, and Our Lady of Grace. I am excited about teaching here when everyone has access to iPads and cutting edge technology. We will have a wonderful year of adventures in reading, writing, and technology projects.