I grew up in Manhattan and Riverdale (the Bronx), NY. I spent four years commuting to Barnard College, and then several more years commuting to Columbia Teachers College. I learned a great deal during those years, but I especially learned more than I had ever wished about the NYC subway and bus systems.After five years of teaching sixth-grade, my mothering instinct went into high gear. About a year later, much to my surprise, I was the proud momma of twin boys. (These were the days before ultrasound.) Within the next four years, I added another son and finally a daughter.By then we had moved to Miami, FL, a warm sunny place to raise kids. As the children grew and needed me less, I began to think about outside work. Teaching was definitely out. I simply could not bear the thought of spending days with more children. I soon came to the disturbing realization that I was too skilled for any entry job, and not experienced enough for anything else!The solution to my dilemma lay in returning to school for a second Master's degree, this time in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at Florida International University (FIU). By the middle of my second year of study, I was teaching English to adult language learners at the community college and loving every minute in those classrooms. In 1991, I became an adjunct, teaching an evening course in FIU's TESOL program. I was thrilled! This was right about the time that K-12 teachers were being handed down mandates about how to teach English language learners (ELLs) in public schools. The formerly small TESOL Master's program began to grow by leaps and bounds. As luck would have it (and luck is often defined as being in the right place at the right time), the director of the TESOL program requested a leave of absence in late August, just as the Fall 1991 semester was about the begin. She called everyone she knew looking for an available and suitable replacement and came up empty- handed. And then she called me! She 'billed' me to the Dean as the best student she ever had and promised that I wouldn't disappoint.So here I was, three years after earning my degree, now acting director of the program! One year became two. When the director returned, she stayed for only a year, after which I returned to become the program director for real. I reluctantly left after seven more wonderful years when my husband retired and needed me as his first mate on our sailboat as we explored the Caribbean. My husband and I are land-based now. In my retirement, I have written four books about strategies to teach content to English language learners in secondary school. I keep in touch with teaching by giving workshops and presentations for schools and school districts around the country. I really love teaching!