About

My Story…

The first time I watched a class come alive through a simple, co-created story, everything I thought I understood about teaching shifted. (Thank-you Helene Colinet!)

 Then, when I used the same strategies to co-create a story in my own classroom, everything shifted again. A quiet student—one who rarely spoke—rasied his hand and offered the most clever suggestion about how to progress our class story. Another student added a twist. suddenly the whole class was building something together: meaningful, comprehensible, and playful. They weren’t performing for a grade or memorizing for a quiz. They were playing together and understanding. They were thinking. They were lauging. They were part of something bigger than themselves.

 That moment sent me down a path towards Playful Pedagogy and supported by three intertwined foundations: Motivating Learners, Comprehensible Input, and Visible Thinking Routines (VTRs).  On that foundation I have placed the three pillars of Playful Pedagogy: play based learning, game based learning (gameification), and laugh out loud learning.  Through these pillars of playful learning I engage my students and help them learn in ways that are natural, fun and effective.

My Passion

Playful Pedagogy was inspired in part by the work of Harvard University’s Project Zero Project: Pedagogy of Play (in partnership with LEGO).  This research helped me give structure to something I had felt intuitively: play is fundamental for learning – not surprising as I have been a boardgame nerd for most of my life. I believe that play invites learners to take agency, explore, be courageous, and make meaning of thier learning. Now I look for opportunities to play in the classroom. 

When weaving the above mentioned foundations together— motivating students, Comprehensible Input, and visible thinking then adding opportunities for play—something powerful happens:

Students learn naturally. They feel safe. They get curious. They have fun. They become captains of their own language experience.

This blog, along with my YouTube Podcast, is my place to share my experiences and my journey as I look for more ways to facilitate play in the classroom. I write about the small moments and the big ideas, the play I use in my own practice, the routines I lean on when energy is low, the structures that help me build community, the research that informs my choices, the moments of laughter inspired by classroom activity and the stories that remind me why this work matters.

This is also a place where I can shine a light on the wonderful work of my colleagues and friends, share the cool tools I find on th internet and give a shout out to those who are also making learning meaningful.

My Goal

My goal is to offer practices that are practical, human-centered, and joyful—without adding to your workload, cognitive load or burning you out.

I want to help you encourage joy and play with learning.

If you’re looking for teaching that feels fun, story-rich, research-backed and play-filled… WELCOME!
You’re in the right place, and I’m glad you’re here.