"Whether working with AP students or private school students whose high-caliber courses are simply labeled “Honors”, I am very adept at making sure students easily understand the rubrics used with the Document-Based Question (DBQ), Free Response Questions (FRQs), Short-Answer Questions (SAQs), and other similarly designed assignments where the students must analyze documents and apply them to a challenging prompt.

I use an array of analogies that help students understand the material and enhance student understanding by not only asking “what” but also “why”. Key historical thinking skills: (cause/effect; compare/contrast; change and continuity over time) make up the core of each session.

I have taught AP US History for over 20 years, have been an AP US History Reader (grader) for the College Board/ETS since 2010, and have been an AP US History Instructor for the UCLA AP Readiness program for seven years. Prior to that, I taught IBS Asian & European History, and IBH History of the Americas for 13 years.

Having grown up in New England, with continued travel on the East Coast over the years, I bring a first-hand knowledge of those regions. Although the colonial and New Nation time periods have always been of keen interest, most recently I have been quite obsessed with using the antebellum era. My 13-years teaching the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum in the Asian Pacific region, and master’s research into the colonial experiences of Micronesia and the rest of Asia and the Pacific, not only enhanced my understanding of World History, but also gave me a much clearer understanding of US foreign policy in the 20th century. Since 2003, I have lived on the West Coast and have come to better appreciate the experiences of Latin Americans, Native Americans, and Asian American in the US, the frontier mindset of American settlers, and the amazing flourishing that took place here in the 20th century, especially after the significant migration of Americans to the southwest after WWII." less...