Laura Masko Gibson Email & Phone Number

Denver, Colorado, United States

Denver, CO

-Advising a homeroom of middle school students-Directing 4 plays a year (Shakespeare, 2 musicals, and 1 social justice piece)-Teaching a 'Conversations on Race' class, focusing on current events, social justice, and equity-Focusing on Theatre and Drama as the ultimate form of human connection and expression in an increasingly disconnected world

Denver, CO

-Directing 5th grade musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-Teaching Elementary School Music-Designing globally themed curriculum, integrated with Social Studies and history-Utilizing Orff Approach-Including multi-modal, hands-on instruction to benefit all learners

Writer, editor, founder of nonfiction blog on local and international issues of power and privilege, and how I struggle with these issues in my day-to-day life.

Greater Denver Area

Genre: Afro-beat, Togo-JazzProfessional jazz ensemble with full West African percussion and dance.Started under the umbrella of Cleo Parker Robinson, directed by expert Togolese musician and songwriter Koffi Toudji, this band is innovative and original.

Denver, CO

Playing Blues, Soul, & Rock and Roll -- all over Denver

Bujagali, Uganda

• Supervised and coordinated day-to-day operations of international non-profit organization
• Oversaw Ugandan team and acted as point-person between Uganda and U.S.
• Lived in rural Ugandan village amongst the community
• Mobilized rural, systematically disadvantaged Ugandan youth; ran tutoring sessions and peermentoring programs; and organized students in community events
• Trained pre-primary and primary school teachers in curriculum development, classroommanagement, and literacy building
• Collected data (personal interviews, surveys, statistical analysis) in order to monitor andevaluate S.O.U.L.’s impact

Greater Denver Area

• Instructed thirty 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in math, science, literacy, writing,and social studies using multi-modal, strategy-driven, project-based, workshop-modellearning
• Designed integrated thematic curriculum units
• Assessed student progress with varieties of formative and summative data
• Differentiated curriculum and adapted the classroom environment to integrate a widevariety of students, including children with autism, A.D.H.D., executive functioningdifficulties, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and muscular.
• Incorporated social-emotional skill building and empathy development using groupwork, “I feel” statements, team-building, and the arts

Greater Denver Area

Afro-Latin world music bandWon "Best World Music" group in Denver, at Westword Music Festival

Steele Elementary School, Denver

• Studied childhood psychology and developmentally appropriate practice at the different stages and differentiated lessons based on best practice for 30 students
• Received and incorporated feedback via formal observations from expert mentor teachers
• Designed and implemented cross-curricular thematic units
• Used ongoing data to create differentiated reading intervention groups based on the seven reading comprehension strategies (from David Pearson), as well as the Literacy "Cafe" (decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and.
• Differentiated Everyday Math curriculum to challenge range of students
• Guided reader's and writer's workshops using Lucy Calkins' workshop model

Greater Boston Area

• Facilitated conflict resolution, group therapy sessions, team-building, and music/theatrical therapy for children with severe psychological, social-emotional, andbehavioral disabilities

Master Of Arts (M.A.), Education And Human Development, 4.0

Activities and Societies: Student TeachingHighly proficient in topics such as human motivation, memory, gifted and talented students.

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Sociology, Summa Cum Laude

Activities and Societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Schwa A Capella Group, Jazz Combo Vocalist