Ann McDonough received her bachelor of arts degree at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, in 1994. She began her career as a third-grade teacher in Brookline, MA. While truly enjoying New England, she moved back to the New York Tri-state area to be closer to friends and family. Once in New Jersey, she began teaching grades one through six and earned her master’s degree in administration and supervision from Rutgers University. Ann teaches fifth grade, is a literary coach for her district, and is a consulting teacher for the Center for Responsive Schools. While Administration was a goal at one time, her passion always drove her back to teaching. That drive for teaching brought her to Responsive Classroom as a way to not only embrace her own teaching and enhance the performance of her classroom environment but to relay that knowledge to her peers in an effort to empower others. She believes strongly in creating an inclusive classroom and sees to it that each individual is valued. In her spare time, Ann loves to spend time with her husband and daughter, read, work out at the local CrossFit gym, and cuddle up to her dog, Oakley.