History Teacher
Mrs. Simmons loves when students make connections between the content they learn and the world around them so they can be more compassionate, informed and active members of the community.
Impacting Students
Lessons that are driven by student curiosity and student voice stick with students long after they have left the four walls of the classroom. When student engagement is high, they carry those skills, discoveries and questions with them, becoming lifelong learners.
Lifelong Learner
Recently, the Grade 7 team participated in a workshop on Project Based Learning. Some important takeaways from that experience were the emphasis on how to increase student engagement through expanding the audience to which they present their learning. This drives students intrinsically to produce truly beautiful, purposeful and excellent work.
Favorite Teaching Moment
I recently took my history class to the Gates Invention Lab to work on the final steps of a project on the Constitution. Students chose an amendment to research and then convey visually. As the class got underway, each seventh grader was working intensely, focused on their personal goal, but not too busy to help a friend. Their collaboration and focus was invigorating!
Favorite Time in History
Early 20th century America, because of the vast amount of rapid change. Students can connect that with the amount of rapid change we have undergone in the past decade.
Life Goal
Run the Tour du Mont Blanc
Joined Graland in...
2018
Also Known As ...
Field Hockey Coach, Lacrosse Coach, SEED Member (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity), Chair of the History Department
Hometown
Charlottesville, Virginia
Education
BA in history from Bates College
Impacting Students
Lessons that are driven by student curiosity and student voice stick with students long after they have left the four walls of the classroom. When student engagement is high, they carry those skills, discoveries and questions with them, becoming lifelong learners.
Lifelong Learner
Recently, the Grade 7 team participated in a workshop on Project Based Learning. Some important takeaways from that experience were the emphasis on how to increase student engagement through expanding the audience to which they present their learning. This drives students intrinsically to produce truly beautiful, purposeful and excellent work.
Favorite Teaching Moment
I recently took my history class to the Gates Invention Lab to work on the final steps of a project on the Constitution. Students chose an amendment to research and then convey visually. As the class got underway, each seventh grader was working intensely, focused on their personal goal, but not too busy to help a friend. Their collaboration and focus was invigorating!
Favorite Time in History
Early 20th century America, because of the vast amount of rapid change. Students can connect that with the amount of rapid change we have undergone in the past decade.
Life Goal
Run the Tour du Mont Blanc
Joined Graland in...
2018
Also Known As ...
Field Hockey Coach, Lacrosse Coach, SEED Member (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity), Chair of the History Department
Hometown
Charlottesville, Virginia
Education
BA in history from Bates College
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1924, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
