Education
Terry has a bachelors degree in history, with a minor in German, and a core in journalism. She later earned a masters degree in library science from Emporia State University, where she learned about a wealth of appealing resources in a variety of formats that can make geography meaningful for young learners.Professional Background
Terry's background in the field of geography came from 20 years of teaching and meticulous lesson planning. In addition, Terry honed her knowledge by serving her school district as a curriculum writer and for textbook adoption-even though she seldom used textbooks in her own classroom.Instead, Terry tried to make the classroom a stimulating experience by using a range of compelling and authoritative resources and technologies. She used well-structured course materials that helped students clearly understand what they were learning, why they were learning it, and how geography topics and concepts were connected to each other.
Terry also tried to devise inventive approaches to make the complex understandable, interesting, and relevant, and promote learning as a positive, important, and rewarding lifelong experience. One of her professors said that Terry has a vivid imagination and always seemed to come up with an innovative approach to presenting topics that otherwise might be quite boring, at least to adolescents in secondary schools. "I never tired of trying to find or create high-interest, active learning opportunities that I thought students would enjoy."
In graduate school, Terry learned how important it is for students to acquire and apply inquiry skills to actively find, interpret, and evaluate information, and use it to construct evidence-based products that demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. Terry and her students used technology to organize, integrate, and present geography information in a variety of creative ways.
For Terry, the big challenge of teaching has been how to design lessons, select resources, and devise inventive approaches that entice learners to participate mentally and inspire them with the same love for learning geography that she has. "I told my students that geography was the most important subject they could study to learn about the world and why people do what they do. I created a curriculum where I taught geography as a story, and made it relevant to their lives. Students loved it and so did I. Teaching was my passion and purpose, and I enjoyed helping young people find theirs."
