Hi! Welcome to my website. I am a teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages in the School District of Philadelphia at South Philadelphia High School. When I am not teaching I love to spend time with my family, travel, read, hike and explore the food that small ethnic restaurants have to offer. My husband and I live in Philadelphia and have two daughters in university, one at Temple and one at the University of Pennsylvania. All my life I have been interested in foreign travel and culture and if I am not traveling, I am reading about another culture, watching a foreign film or visiting a museum. I am truly in love with people I have never met from countries I have never traveled to. Teaching English Language Learners (ELL) has been rewarding and perfect for me.
I went back to the university classroom after my children were in school and received a M.Ed. from St. Joseph's University and an M.S. in Global and International Education (GIE) from Drexel University. The GIE program provided an invaluable insight into the borrowing and sharing of educational trends and policies around the world. It also provided a foundation for me to understand international education systems and helped me to be more conscious about how students learned in their first country thereby enabling me to support them in their transition to the American education system and culture.
This website is the capstone project for the Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) program and combined my love of travel, cultures and people with my professional life. I had a truly memorable experience traveling to Morocco and teaching in a foreign country. My partner teacher in Morocco, an English teacher, and I talked extensively about successes, changes, and failures in the classroom. He was as passionate about student success as I am and I am grateful for his time and professionalism.
Prior to coming to the School District of Philadelphia, I taught at a variety of private and independent schools in the Philadelphia area. I am a 2012 recipient of the Lindback Award for excellence in teaching. I am committed to improving the educational opportunities of ELL students both in the high schools and in the wider community by working with local community organizations and non-government organizations that advocate for immigrant students.
As my year with the TGC program comes to an end, I hope you will find this website helpful and inspire you to begin to take the steps to globalize your classroom. It's definitely a bon voyage!
Fran
I went back to the university classroom after my children were in school and received a M.Ed. from St. Joseph's University and an M.S. in Global and International Education (GIE) from Drexel University. The GIE program provided an invaluable insight into the borrowing and sharing of educational trends and policies around the world. It also provided a foundation for me to understand international education systems and helped me to be more conscious about how students learned in their first country thereby enabling me to support them in their transition to the American education system and culture.
This website is the capstone project for the Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) program and combined my love of travel, cultures and people with my professional life. I had a truly memorable experience traveling to Morocco and teaching in a foreign country. My partner teacher in Morocco, an English teacher, and I talked extensively about successes, changes, and failures in the classroom. He was as passionate about student success as I am and I am grateful for his time and professionalism.
Prior to coming to the School District of Philadelphia, I taught at a variety of private and independent schools in the Philadelphia area. I am a 2012 recipient of the Lindback Award for excellence in teaching. I am committed to improving the educational opportunities of ELL students both in the high schools and in the wider community by working with local community organizations and non-government organizations that advocate for immigrant students.
As my year with the TGC program comes to an end, I hope you will find this website helpful and inspire you to begin to take the steps to globalize your classroom. It's definitely a bon voyage!
Fran