Maybe the most important concept I introduce to the people in my classes is 'each of us is the product of what we have taught ourselves to learn'. Everything I do or assign to my students is intended to equip them to become autonomous learners. Most learners make significant progress toward this goal while they are working with me. I am very pleased to pass along a few teaching tools that have evolved through trial and error over the last 26 years. The most important of these is "The Shapes Grammar." This iconic system functions in ways that are similar to sentence diagramming and syntax structure "trees." When taught to use this system, the first semester ESL students become able to identify clause and phrase constituents and name parts of speech in sentences. I hope to have a chance to show you how it works.

Outside of my teaching responsibilities, I often serve on accreditation visiting teams, and I am involved in creating change in California community colleges. At Cosumnes River, I'm on the leadership teams for SLO matters, college planning, strategic planning, accreditation, and the CAI. I am also a representative on the State Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Basic Skills, and I serve on the state Academic Senate Accreditation Committee. Look for me at CATESOL and again at the ASCCC SLO Symposium and the ASCCC Accreditation Conference in February 2017