Over fourteen years, Elizabeth has built a career as an Educational Specialist. Elizabeth has worked in direct focus with individualized student support within classrooms, revised curriculums, and coached teachers. Elizabeth has advanced degrees in English, but also well-versed in mathematics and have worked as an instructor and a coach. 

Elizabeth is most passionate about my commitment to students. Elizabeth’s distinctive approach includes mixed methods, cultures of inquiry, and various forms of representation for authentic student learning. This framework gives students a perspective on themselves: who they are and who they would like to become. Education cannot happen in isolation and not without actualization and self-understanding. What students bring to the classroom is just as important as what they do there. Choice, freedom, personal growth, and development are the philosophy of my teaching. The student must be an active agent in their learning. Students must connect to the social world with the potential and value for understanding in more than one setting. Connections are cross-curricular and transferable. Real student learning should intend to shape sentiments, identities, and loyalties. 

Elizabeth’s greatest strength is her ability to be both creative and reflective. Students should be respected and honored, and expectations of accomplishments and achievements should foundationally be from constructed students’ belief in their abilities. Educators should inspire discovery while informing and cultivating students’ socialization and internalization of their moral imperatives. 

With this in mind, Elizabeth have chosen to pursue dissertation work on self-efficacy, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, and Tinto’s ideas around student resilience. Titled, Whether You Think You Can or Can’t- You-re Right, my research considers today’s educational and social problems through student context and their motivation and ability. Elizabeth hopes her study will be used to develop better specific behaviors and broader intervention plans concerning individualized learning experiences. Building self-efficacy should be the foundation in education programming. This knowledge can facilitate a positive student experience, reduce regression cycles, and propagate student empowerment. 

Planned goals include community partnerships with alternative schools and focusing on unifying groups through social and emotional learning objectives. This process would incorporate learning exchanges around specific curriculums incorporating goal setting, self-evaluation, and motivational beliefs. Today’s students need to be steered towards optimism more than ever. 

Elizabeth is a Boston native, sports fan, and beach lover. My favorite places include the National History Museum, Harvard square bookstores, and Faneuil Hall. Elizabeth now resides in Santa Barbara, California, and spend as much time enjoying the outdoors, favoring vacations to Catalina island above all else. Elizabeth never leaves home without a book.