"I've been teaching reading and writing in classrooms and one-on-one tutoring sessions for more than 30 years, at all levels, from Kindergarten to graduate school. Right now, I'm teaching at an independent school in New York. I'm also teaching English as a Second Language to adult refugees.

I earned my Master of Arts in Theater Studies from Yale, where I won the John Gassner Prize for writing.

After graduate school I wrote for the Village Voice, American Theatre, Bomb, and other publications.

I've taught English at Bushwick High School in Brooklyn, writing at Bennington College, literature at Fordham University and The New School, and English in GED programs in Brooklyn and the Bronx. In 2007, I started my own reading and writing program in the Bushwick neighborhood for immigrant students of all ages.

My book was published by HarperCollins in 2020. It won the Dolores Huerta Prize from the International Latino Book Awards, and the Hornblower Prize from the New York City Book Awards.

I meet my students where they are, at all levels and ages, for a specific assignment at school or a longer-range course. I help them build on their strengths and identify the areas where they can improve.

I teach reading by modeling the thought processes of readers. The students make connections between the text and their lives, global or historical events, and other texts. We practice making inferences, predictions, visualizations, and observations.

I lead students through the process of essay writing, from brainstorming and note-taking to research and structure, and sentence-by-sentence syntax and eloquence. They learn sensory description, figurative language, and strategies for narration and persuasion in any context, from school to professional situations. I love to write, and my joy inspires my students to experience that same love." less...