Autobiographical Sketch
of Shelly M. Allen
My name is Shelly McKellar Allen and I LOVE MATH! I have worked in the Richmond County Public School System since 1989. I am currently the Coordinator of Mathematics K-12 for Richmond County Public Schools and a doctoral student at the University of Georgia. Prior to becoming the Coordinator of Mathematics, I taught both high school and middle school mathematics and science.
I received my Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Mathematics Education from the University of Georgia in 1989 and began teaching high school in Richmond County Public Schools. While teaching high school I became very concerned with the number of students in my classes who seemed to have gaps in their mathematics knowledge. I attended numerous professional development opportunities searching for instructional strategies that would help me to be more successful with ALL of my students. This led me to explore the idea of teaching middle school mathematics. While teaching middle school, I became involved with the Central Office Curriculum Department and was nominated to work on a Curriculum Revision Project that began in 1992. Reflecting on that project now, I guess the work never actually ended since one of the major responsibilities of my current job is the mathematics curriculum for our district Kindergarten through grade 12.
In 1994, I earned my Masters of Education Degree in Middle Grades Education from Augusta State University and in 1999 completed the additional course requirements to add Leadership to my teaching certificate.
I am an active member of many professional organizations such as ASCD, NCTM, GCTM, and GCSM. I am currently serving as Secretary of the Georgia Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (GCSM). I have also presented mathematics workshops around the country. As a teacher I received special awards such as Teacher of the Year, Georgia Middle School Association Team of the Year Member, and the Association of Science-Technology Centers Honor Roll Teacher Award.
I love to share my excitement for mathematics with other teachers and students and also with my two wonderful daughters, Brynn, age 6 and Emory, age 4.