Why I teach

      I teach because I love learning and I love connecting with people.  As the oldest in the family, I have been teaching as far back as I can remember.  When I am able to convey an idea and someone grasp the knowledge I try to impart and learns to apply it, my soul feels like it is on fire.  It is like catching the perfect wave or scoring the winning point when I learn and then break down what I learn into manageable pieces that others can understand. A retired friend of mine once said, "I teach because there are so many bad teachers out there."  I agree with her in many ways.  I want to be that  teacher that student remembers, that someone who helped them think and build as many essential skills that they needed to move forward to the next stage in life in an engaging and challenging way.  Sometimes my methods are really different than other teachers because I really love most subjects and tend to have an interdisciplinary way of combining subjects of interests that can apply to the work place and college.  

       I had my first class when I was teaching Sunday School at sixteen.  Now and then, I still get a note from some of my students.  "Still the best teacher ever,"  one sent me  when she was teaching abroad in Japan.  I guess in many ways, teaching is an invisible job, but we all have our own fan club, even if it's a fan club of one or two.  The fulfillment of reaching a life, of making a difference, of spurring someone on to greatness, whatever that looks like for each one, is beyond monetary values, and that is why I teach.  One of my greatest honor, was when one student said, "Ms.  You are one of us."  Another wrote, "Ms. Thank you for treating us like your own flesh and blood."  In my class, my students know I care.  Students are my only interests.  In turn, I hope they will care about reading, writing, communicating and critical thinking.  

 

Work Experience 

     My journey of teaching involves multiple career transitions. I started teaching in 2000.  With an blink of an eye, it has already been two  and half decades.  Teaching is actually my third career.  Nursing was my first pursuit.  After I got married, I went back to school to switch to teaching English.  After graduating, I got an emergency credential and I taught 9th and 10th grade.   Then family took precedence and I  took a break to have children and ran an insurance business for ten years.  At that time, I also served as a homeschool teacher, teaching K-5 all subjects. It was daunting at first to switch from teaching literature and composition to teaching phonics and how to read and write.  It was at that time that I fell in love again with project based learning as a homeschool teacher.   Finally, I went back into public school teaching in 2010 to teach grades 9-12.  I  also tutored for SAT, for reading comprehension and writing, especially college essays.  I like that teaching is not my first career because I can say I really enjoy it after I have explored other pursuits.  This means that I focus alot on life, career and college skills.  My questions is always how to connect learning to real life applications.  I love that English encompasses a very interdisciplinary approach as all subjects require reading and writing.  

     Most teachers leave the job because of grading and classroom management, but I have found that students are respectful of my soft style of classroom management and I've learned to organize and pace my grading.  First, I can say that students  feel safe in my classroom.  They enjoy the nurturing and challenging learning environment.  They like my candor and my interpersonal ways of teaching and most of all, they feel supported.  So, classroom management, although, still challenging, is a mountain I am used to climbing.  I have learned to be more organized with grading and giving feedback.  I plan with the end in mind, and step by step, we get there. The students know I am on their team. 

Hobbies

 

     My favorite authors are Francine Rivers, Max Lucado and John Grisham.  I have read all of their books and wait for the release of each new one like a kid salivating for candy.  My other  favorites are John Steinbeck, Jane Austen, Bronte sisters, Lois Lowry, S.E. Hinton, Elie Wiesel, C.S. Lewis and more.  If I like an author, I will read all of their books, obsessively.  In the fifth decade of life, I'm falling in love with reading non-fiction.  I love self-help books and spiritual books.  The book I finished is titled, "Happier."  I also devour articles of interest.  I especially love articles on: teaching reading, writing and project based learning.  I like sharpening my saw so I can give my students the best of me.  I also read consistently about  motivation, inspiration and mental health and family life.  I feel that it's critical to keep those issues at optimum state, so the more I learn and apply, the better.  It's not like your parents teach you those things, so I'm always trying to grow in those areas. If is a good week if I finish reading a book a week. It is a good month if I read a book a month.  I count myself extremely blessed to get to teach my hobbies:  reading and writing.  

 

     I also love walking.  Actually, loving exercise, came slowly.  My motivation is to keep up with my youngest son. I want to grow old and still be healthy enough to go hiking with him.  My new baseline is 11,000 steps a day.  I want to walk 1000 miles this new year.  

 

My vision

     My deepest passion for teaching is to see that my students fall in love with reading and writing. In my class, students will read and write daily. I believe that reading and writing is the foundation for all other subjects. Thus, we practice endlessly. I believe practice brings improvement. My teaching motto is:

 

"Tell me and I forget.
Show me and I remember.
Let me do and I understand."     

-Confucius

 

     I look forward to an awesome year!