A Little About Me

I was born and raised in Louisville—a small town (and the county seat) in Clay County, Illinois. After graduating from North Clay High School there, I enrolled in Illinois State University, where I participated in several choral groups, band, and orchestra, and received a BS in Music Education. Then I taught music (general music, choir, band) for several years in Texas and Illinois but found, much to my surprise, that I didn't like it. Eventually, I returned to school (first, Olney Central College, then Southern Illinois University in Carbondale) and, due to a happy accident, discovered the field of TESL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). I fell in love with this field, received an MA in it, and have been involved in it for more than 35 years as a teacher, materials developer, textbook editor, and administrator.

I haven't lived in Illinois for a long, long time, since, like many in the U.S., I moved from place to place as new job opportunities became available. I lived in the U.S. states of Texas, Oklahoma, California, and Oregon before moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 1990 (see this map of the U.S. states). In Phoenix, I first worked briefly teaching Developmental English at South Mountain Community College, then spent several years teaching secondary-level ESL in the now-defunct Judson School (an international boarding facility). After Judson, I moved to the American English and Culture Program (a pre-university IEP) at Arizona State University in Tempe, where I served first as Associate Director, then as a lecturer and the AECP Curriculum Coordinator. I left the AECP to join the ESL amd Developmental English faculty of Estrella Mountain Community College in Avondale, a northwestern "satellite city" adjacent to Phoenix, where I live. I resigned from EMC in 2007 due to health challenges.

My interests are many and varied. I'm particularly interested in computer-mediated teaching and learning and in online materials development (see here, here, here, and here). I am proud to be involved in a wonderful online community of practice called Webheads in Action, and in AZ-TESOL (the Arizona affiliate of TESOL, Inc.). I also enjoy reading, music, expanding my knowledge of cultures other than my own, and cooking.