I began teaching in high school, when I got my first job as an aide in a neighborhood day care center. My second day on the job it was just me (16 years old) and 24 four year olds. I loved that job! I began a long career of learning, observing, evaluating, constructing, redoing, changing, inventing, growing, making, and living, back there at the preschool. During the 33 years I spent working in schools, 24 of them were spent as a general education classroom teacher. I spent 4 years working as a support teacher (resource specialist and intervention teacher) and 5 years as a special day class teacher. I enjoy diversity and change, so I rarely taught the same grade two years in a row, and more than half of my career was spent in multi-graded classrooms. This gives me a pretty broad perspective!
Everything I have done since starting out as a preschool teacher has been focused on thematic instruction that is child centered and designed to make learning real. I believe that children have really learned something when their view of the world has changed as a result of their educational activities. I believe actively involving children in their learning through simulation games and reproducing "real life" experiences, while immersing them in science, social studies, and art content is a great way to truly change their knowledge and understanding, no matter what their age or developmental level.
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Bachelor's Degree in English Master's Degree in Special Education
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PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Homeschool, Staff, Not Grade Specific
English Language Arts, Balanced Literacy, Creative Writing, Reading, Vocabulary, Specialty, Math, Arithmetic, Basic Operations, Geometry, Measurement, Science, Astronomy, Basic Principles, Biology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Social Studies, Ancient History, U.S. History, Arts & Music, Art History, Visual Arts, Graphic Arts, Other (Art), Drama, ESL-EFL-ELL, Other (Specialty), Geography, For All Subjects, Classroom Management, Physical Science, Cooking, Writing, Holidays/Seasonal, Thanksgiving, Christmas-Chanukah-Kwanzaa, Autumn, Easter, Place Value, Products For TpT Sellers, Earth Day, Informational Text