Introducing myself

I’ve been asked to introduce myself, so here goes. I’m Wendy Quiñones , living in the seaside town of Gloucester, Massachusetts.  Although out of the classrom for a couple of years now, I’ve taught ABE, mostly at the GED level, for over 20 years.  Now my work is entirely online, in professional development and teaching students in the state’s distance learning program. To my delight, Massachusetts chose not to go with the GED 3024 – we are using the HiSET. We haven’t had many students take it yet, but just from the practice tests it seems more accessible than the new GED.

My main work, though, is professional development. I’m a LINCS National Trainer, and facilitated the (technologically challenged) rollout of the TEAL Differentiated Instruction (Writing) course. DI is my main area of expertise in professional development, and it’s one where assessment can pose a particularly vexing problem.  It is, however, essential to effective differentiation one of the “non-negotiables,” according to the field’s guru, Carol Ann Tomlinson. The trick is to demonstrate to teachers the multiplicity of techniques that can provide the kind of frequent and varied assessment that can inform instruction.

So that’s me. I’m glad to be here, and especially to join my old friends David Rosen and Steve Quann in the LINCS community.