Mary Cappellini
Mary Cappellini
Mary Cappellini has been teaching kids, their parents, or their teachers for 25 years. She has taught kindergarten through fifth grade both as a classroom teacher and as a bilingual reading resource teacher in inner city schools in Santa Ana, California for 12 years. She also taught at the American school in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"As a mentor teacher I was constantly presenting workshops to fellow teachers and began consulting for other school districts during my off time as a year round teacher. One of my richest experiences, however, was when I was teaching ESL in the evenings to the parents of my kindergarten children I taught during the day. I also often had their aunts or uncles or even their grandparents in the class. Teaching adults ESL as well as teaching English to elementary children in bilingual settings was very rewarding," she says.
Mary continued to teach ESL at community colleges while she taught at the elementary schools or taught courses to university students pursuing their teaching credential or graduate work.
Mary currently teaches teachers. She works in classrooms across the country and gives workshops for large groups of teachers and administrators. "As an educational consultant, I enjoy my job best when I’m working in teachers’ classrooms doing demonstration lessons or working in small groups or in one on one conferences with their wonderful children."
Her primary interest while doing staff development is to have teachers look closely at their English Language Learners as children who are not only learning to read, but are also learning to speak the language as they do so. "I am hoping that my book, and the staff development I do, helps teachers think more deeply about how their children are developing as speakers as well as readers and writers. We cannot separate language from reading. They are linked, and therefore our instruction and our assessment of reading and language development must be linked," Mary explains.
A native of California, Mary was born in Los Angeles and grew up in a family of nine in Orange County, just a few minutes from the beach and Disneyland. Although she lived most of her life in California, she also lived in Spain and in Argentina, where she met her husband. "We travel as often as we can, visiting families on two continents. Most of our vacations, even when we go to Buenos Aires, usually ends up at the ocean (unless we’re skiing in the winter). I have always gravitated close to the water, thanks in part to my parents’ love of the ocean, which they instilled in me at an early age. "
"My interest and love of the ocean can be seen in some of my children's books, including Whale Watching, The Big Catch and Fish Print, and my book, The Story of Doña Chila, which received an America’s Award, takes place on the Honduran coastline in the Caribbean."
Mary and her husband have three daughters and live on an island in Newport Beach. When they are not watching their girls play in a soccer match or participate in a sailing regatta on the weekends, they love to go out on their boat as a family and watch for dolphins or whales.
Other Articles about Mary Cappellini
Podcast: Part II of our interview with Mary CappelliniPodcast: Mary Cappellini on working with ELL students
