Emily Woods discovered her passion for teaching by accident. She was studying theater and dreamed of putting on the play wicked when a professor introduced her to the power of poetry and how memory works for an elementary audience. That one class led to experimentation... She's been fascinated and passionate about cross culture comparisons in education ever since. Asking; Why do we teach this way? What makes this system work? What does science say about that today? She is proud to be a member of ISfTE (The International Society for Teacher Education), traveling the world, her 3 sons, and husband of 15 yrs. Her youngest began as a non-verbal child and was the catalyst for her getting licensed as a SPED Teacher over becoming a high school theater teacher. MMA scooped her up once she was licensed, and she helped as a SPED assistant for part of her first year. This year, she is excited to teach and work within such a supportive environment. "So far, I've learned that a lot of my personal beliefs about education have not only been validated, but were held by Maria Montessori herself." She looks forward to helping her students fill in the gaps and explore new things that matter to them.