About Debra:

My name is Debra, and I am on a quest for my next great adventure in teaching. I have loved teaching for nine years. In May 2002, I completed my undergraduate degree at Dominican University of california, where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and a Minor in English Literature. I have always wanted to be a teacher, and to that end, I earned a dual credential through Dominican’s teaching program in both special education and English. To deepen my understanding of how to engage and excite students, I sought a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, which was conferred in 2005. My current educational goal is to earn a doctorate, which I began working on in August of last year through Grand Canyon University. As you can probably guess, I love learning just as much as I love teaching.

For the first eight years my career, I worked at the Sausalito/Marin City School District. I taught, AVID, English, history, and I was the special education teacher for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. During this past school year I have worked at Emery Unified School district teaching special education and 9th-11th grade English. It's been great. The most rewarding experience at Emery, however, has been outside of the classroom. A truly amazing thing has started to occur. Students have been seeking me out after school and during lunch to help them with their writing. Many of them aren't even my students! It seems that by talking them through it, and offering instructions along with encouragement, I have been able to help them navigate the writing process. One student started out a few months ago by telling me he really didn’t like writing. Last Friday he turned to me and said out of the blue, “Maybe I could write a book someday.” I realized with a start that I had somehow helped him find his voice. I am excited about helping other students find theirs.