About Me

I have been teaching Spanish for the past forty years at all levels from elementary to college with the longest tenure at the University School of Milwaukee Independent School for the past 33 years. I have had the great privilege of co-leading our PK-12 World Language Department in a conversion from a traditional grammar-based program to an oral proficiency-based program with the help of Greg Duncan. I received my ACTFL oral proficiency certificate in October of this past year and just returned from spending a week at the Singapore American School observing the most phenomenal elementary school language program that I have ever seen. I am an AP teacher and reader. For 18 years I have lead a summer service trip to Panama to work with malnourished children.

Singapore American School Visit Catapults Us On Our Path
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Singapore American School Visit Catapults Us On Our Path

University School of Milwaukee World Language Teachers Share Their Notes From Visit to the Singapore American School This past May 2017, my colleagues, Alison Dupee, LS French teacher; Neelie Barthenheier, a MS French teacher and LS and MS World Language Chair; and I returned on fire with inspiration to grow as 21st-century world language educators. […]

Transitioning from a Traditional PK-12 World Language Program to an Oral Proficiency-based Program
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Transitioning from a Traditional PK-12 World Language Program to an Oral Proficiency-based Program

Are you considering transitioning your world language program from a traditional one to an oral-proficiency based one? In this blog post, I will share the basic steps that we, the University School of Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have taken to make such a shift in the last few years in our PK-12 World Language department. […]