Christie Simpson

Brainstormer, Concerned citizen, Connector, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, Parent, Performer, Project manager

I'm an English teacher born in Adelaide, South Australia, now living in Perth, Western Australia. I came into teaching following an extensive non-teaching career in the banking and finance industry. My love for working with young people and my love of language led me to change the degree in Economics I was undertaking while working to an Arts and Secondary teaching degree. I have been married (to my high school sweetheart) for nearly 18 years and we have two sons (aged 16 and 20). I work at an amazing school with a wonderful, collaborative and supportive team and I feel blessed to work with a diverse group of students every day.

Engaging disengaged students. Ensuring students leave school with a fundamental understanding of the power of language and the way it can be used to persuade, inform, entertain and inspire.

"It's a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible." Alan Rickman

Australian fiction, Dystopian fiction, English, Explicit Direct Instruction, Gothic, Horror, Literacy intervention for disengaged students, Project-based learning

I found TED when listening to a TED Radio Hour podcast about Creativity. I heard parts of Sir Ken Robinson's wonderful TED talk about whether schools were killing creativity and I was hooked. I went from the podcast to TED to TED Ed to now being a member of the third cohort of Ted-ed Innovative Educators.

Crocheting blankets.