Author Details
Maria Zafonte, MA, MS
Biography
I completed my undergraduate work in the Humanities at Hofstra University in New York, and I hold an MA in English and an MS in School Counseling from Long Island University/ C.W. Post Campus.
I have always worked in education, beginning as a Graduate Assistant in my college's writing center. Since then I have been an SAT tutor, a School Counselor at an all-girls Catholic school in NY, and I have taught various English and Social Science courses at all levels, elementary through post-secondary, including private four year colleges, community colleges and technical schools. No matter the grade level or the content area, I see myself as a facilitator who helps in making connections between the course content and the student, striving to make learning interesting and relevant to all.
When not teaching or grading at GCU, I can be found doing my other full time job of being mom to three sweetly rambunctious boys ages 8, 7 and 5. In the few spare moments where I escape either of those worlds, I can be found with my nose in a book, working on a piece of writing or hiking Shaw Butte.
My favorite moment in a classroom is when connections are made between the students and the material. Making ideas become applicable and interdisciplinary is part of that. Listening to students, meeting them where they are at and engaging them in the journey are my methods for aiding in student success.
I have always worked in education, beginning as a Graduate Assistant in my college's writing center. Since then I have been an SAT tutor, a School Counselor at an all-girls Catholic school in NY, and I have taught various English and Social Science courses at all levels, elementary through post-secondary, including private four year colleges, community colleges and technical schools. No matter the grade level or the content area, I see myself as a facilitator who helps in making connections between the course content and the student, striving to make learning interesting and relevant to all.
When not teaching or grading at GCU, I can be found doing my other full time job of being mom to three sweetly rambunctious boys ages 8, 7 and 5. In the few spare moments where I escape either of those worlds, I can be found with my nose in a book, working on a piece of writing or hiking Shaw Butte.
My favorite moment in a classroom is when connections are made between the students and the material. Making ideas become applicable and interdisciplinary is part of that. Listening to students, meeting them where they are at and engaging them in the journey are my methods for aiding in student success.