About Me

In a word, I offer you experience. With over 25 years of work in engaging and encouraging students, I am a seasoned practitioner who knows how to communicate and obtain the best results. My experiences include:My own educational background is based on the love of learning; a quality that I try to build in others. I hold two graduate degrees; A Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota and a recent Master of Public Administration from Columbia University. I worked in a diverse school setting in urban central Minneapolis, before following my own dream of working on climate change solutions. My experience teaching includes teaching AP Chemistry and AP Environmental Science with 2 students in each course obtaining a score of 5 on the test. In my work, I benefitted from several opportunities including writing a middle school physical science textbook; working with faculty to incorporate new educational technology; teaching abroad as a Peace Corps Volunteer and through fellowships; and obtaining certification to teach introductory engineering and design. I designed curriculum and instruction tailored to meet the needs of a wide range of students from age 9 to adults. Particularly, I focus on SMART goals.o Strategic: Working to find common ground and being well planned to meet the immediate goals as well as building toward a future.o Measureable: Knowing that we have met the goals includes a process of evaluation, review and reporting.o Authentic: Connecting the concepts to the real work of practitioners in the field helps students to see the purpose of their learning.o Relevant: Working one on one to use examples and a context for learning requires getting to know the student and building on their experience.o Timely: Due to our busy schedules and the demands of coursework, goals are ranked according to their immediacy. My early career in teaching started by working for a large volunteer tutorial service at the University of Wisconsin. My experience in teaching study skills through that program helped me to work with students for whom the course content was not the only challenge. My own research interests in education center on work in Cognition. Essentially, how do we know what we know? More importantly, how do we come to an understanding of the material that allows us to make use of it? The combination of my teaching background and my learning helps me to identify obstacles, like misconceptions that make learning difficult.

Education & Certifications

Q&A with Grace

Tutoring Subjects