I was born, raised, and schooled on Chicago's south side (and, of course, was an avid White Sox fan). After earning a bachelor's degree from Chicago Teachers College, I began my professional career as a Chicago Public Schools teacher in the elementary grades. My first year of teaching made me realize I didn't really know everything about teaching - especially what to do with 11-year-olds who were reading at the first grade level. So back to graduate school for help. That eventually led to a master's in the teaching of reading which led to teaching at the college level.

While I have had different responsibilities at the college level, most of my work has been teaching developmental reading courses at Chicago State University and DePaul University. Both universities share a commitment to under-prepared students and older students returning to school. The majority of the students in my classes were between the ages of 18 and 25, but there were always three or four much older students (one was 76) returning to college to fulfill a life-long goal of earning a college degree. As a matter of fact, it is the memory of the determination of that 76-year-old student along with the graduation of my second child from college which has encouraged me to pursue my dream of taking the next step in my own education.

Currently, I am the Instructional Technology Coordinator for the College of Education at Chicago State University. When our Dean asked me to assume this role, one of her comments was that while the "college could not afford a 'real' technology expert, you know curriculum, can teach adults, and get along very well with colleagues, so you can learn the rest." I have been teaching individuals and groups of faculty to incorporate technology into education for the past four years, as well as teaching an educational computing course to our students. Recently, a colleague and I have been offering technology workshops to senior citizens in the community. I love working with adults and I love teaching!