After a brief career in marketing, I realized that teaching is my passion and switched careers. I earned my Master of Arts in Teaching through the Capital Teaching Residency Program and began teaching at a charter school. However, I soon realized I wanted to work at a place filled with passionate experts on learning challenges. Luckily, I found McLean! I am proud to be certified in Responsive Classroom, and Orton-Gillingham and Wilson trained. I also serve as the Lower School Social Studies Coordinator and help to find highly engaging social studies content to fit our curriculum across grade levels. In addition to teaching, I used to write original educational texts for CommonLit (under the name Shelby Ostergaard) and love to utilize my writing experience when teaching with the Writing Revolution.
A project that both students and parents love is the Boston Tea Party mock trial! Students get to decide if the Sons of Liberty who threw the tea into the Boston Harbor should be punished for committing a crime or celebrated for participating in a protest. Students get really into examining a historical event from different perspectives and parents love watching them portray lawyers and historical witnesses.
I love reading history and fantasy books, hiking, and knitting in my spare time.