Mrs. R.'s Global Education Guide

My name is Caitlin R., and I have been a high school English teacher in some capacity since graduating from Emory University in the fall of 2006.  My career began at Stone Mountain High School outside Atlanta, GA, the city of my birth, where for two years I taught Reading, Speech & Debate, World Literature, and SAT Prep while earning my licensure through an alternative certification program. Although I loved this job--and to this day it remains among my most cherished workplaces--after living in, being educated in, and working in   Atlanta, I was twenty-four years old and wanted a change. More importantly, I wanted to see the world.  I became TESOL/TEFL certified and lucked into a job teaching English at a college-prep public high school in a small Czech town, where I took any opportunity available me to travel somewhere new. 10 months and about a dozen countries later, I returned to the US to South Carolina, where my husband had decided to pursue a law degree.  After moving back and forth between Columbia, SC and Atlanta, GA a few times, working in a very wide range of environments from a residential military academy for at-risk youth to an environmental-based magnet school for high achieving students in a previously underserved area, and somehow managing to get an M.Ed. in the meantime, my husband and I returned to SC permanently in 2014, where we are both committed to professional success in our respective fields and making the city where we live absolutely great; we both see a unique opportunity to bring global perspectives to our community.

Since 2014, I have worked at Airport High School, which serves a paradoxically urban and rural demographic.   This year I taught English I, English II H, and Journalism.  I especially enjoy teaching English II with its traditional world literature focus aligns with the goals of TGC, and I look forward to synthesizing the knowledge gleaned through the online course, symposium, and field experience into my practice.  In addition to teaching, I am also involved in AHS's student government, school newspaper The Eyrie, and for this first time this year BETA Club.  I have also co-facilitated professional learning cohorts for her colleagues, written district curricula, and served as a certified teacher mentor.  Next year, I plan to establish a Teachers for Global Classrooms PLC at my school. 

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Currently, I am also pursuing a Ph.D. in Teaching & Learning from the University of South Carolina, slowly but surely. I hope to parlay my experiences as a TGC fellow into a research focus.  

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In my spare time, besides traveling anywhere new, especially places with literary significance, I enjoy surf fishing, leisurely bike riding, and playing Scrabble.  For more information about me, check out my teaching website.