Peggy Morrison, Professional Development Specialist

tel: 562 985-5806
email: mmorris2@csulb.edu

Peggy Morrison joined CLMER as a Professional Development Specialist in September 2002. Her areas of expertise include bilingual education, two-way immersion education, teacher collaboration, English Language Development, thematic interdisciplinary curriculum development, home-school interaction, early literacy, and multicultural and anti-bias children's literature. She is a co-developer of CLMER's Standards-Based Professional Development for Teachers of English Learners: Differentiated ELD Instruction. Peggy is also a presenter at local, regional, and national bilingual education conferences. Her recent workshop topics include: "Flexible Grouping Strategies for Differentiation of ELD Instruction," "Songs for English Class and Songs for Spanish Class," "Key Ideas for the 90:10 Dual Immersion Classroom," "Concept-Based Curriculum Development Using Backwards Design and Home-School Interaction," "Del campo a la mesa: A Thematic Interdisciplinary Unit," and "Structured Teacher Collaboration."

A native of Long Beach, California, Peggy began her teaching career at the Colegio Americano of Guatemala City, Guatemala, in 1980. She then worked for eighteen years as a bilingual classroom teacher in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District of Watsonville, California. She has taught every grade level from preschool through high school, and most recently taught first grade for six years in an exciting Spanish/English Two Way Immersion Program at Alianza Charter School, where she was instrumental in developing structured teacher collaboration and home-school interactive curriculum initiatives. Peggy also taught courses and supervised teachers in the Masters of Education program at University of California, Santa Cruz.

Peggy Morrison holds California teaching credentials in Multiple Subjects-BCLAD, and Secondary Biology and Life Sciences, Chemistry and Physical Sciences, English Language and Literature, and Spanish Language and Literature. In 2002, she was awarded the prestigious National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) National Teacher Certification for English as a New Language, Early and Middle Childhood.

Peggy Morrison's commitments to respect for linguistic and cultural diversity, anti-bias curriculum and practice, critical pedagogy, and high educational expectations for all students reflect the shared core values of the Center for Language Minority Education and Research. She is happy to be a part of the Professional Development Team and appreciative of ongoing opportunities to help improve schools.