A quick introduction! I’m Sam (Ms. Mosher to my students) and I’m a Literacy Specialist and teacher leader. I’ve worked with students and teachers from K-12 as an interventionist, classroom teacher, and coach since 2006. I am currently the Literacy Coach at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn, which is a CTE school specializing in health careers. I have been at the school for the past three years. In that time I’ve helped develop a structured intervention program and led our school’s literacy team to help spread practices for literacy across the curriculum. I’m a big believer that while intervention and good first teaching is important for student success, we also need to simultaneously build a love of reading through introducing students to high-interest books that serve as both mirrors and windows, and through building a culture of reading in the school community.
I am also a teacher educator, and have taught Literacy and Special Education methods courses at Teachers College, LIU Brooklyn, and Hunter College since 2011. I currently teach the capstone course for Hunter’s Literacy Specialist MA program, where I support students in developing and implementing action research projects, culminating in designing a PD plan and delivering a PD to their colleagues.
I live in Brooklyn with my partner and step-kid, along with a small opinionated dog named Valentina and a spicy kitty named Lentil. Outside of teaching, I love reading (mostly science fiction and fantasy), biking, cooking, and, like a true Libra, cultivating a wardrobe that is simultaneously fabulous and comfortable so I do not have to choose.
I’m so excited to learn and share in this space about adolescent literacy, teacher development and education, and developing joyful readers.
All opinions and ideas on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer(s).