I completed the CASE Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. Through this program I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Applied Developmental Psychology and my M.Ed. in Instruction and Learning.
I have always known that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher! As a child I would always find ways to play school, whether with my dolls or my siblings! I went to a very small, rural elementary school with only one class per grade level. I had some amazing teachers that I still remember fondly today. Some of my favorites were Mrs. Halin, Mrs. Motko, Mr. Pocchiari, and Mr. Hochbein. Remembering that being a teacher is my lifelong dream helps me to push through the toughest of days in the classroom.
I am currently a Kindergarten teacher in a rural school in North Carolina. After graduating from Pitt, I moved to Houston, Texas where I taught first grade and first grade Dual Language in Alief ISD for three years. After a job transition for my husband in 2018, I moved to rural North Carolina. Although there are huge differences between teaching in an urban school versus a rural school, I have found that many of the issues and concerns facing students today are the same everywhere.
I am still in the field of education because I love my students. The most important thing I can do as a teacher is to build a personal relationship with each child. As the inspirational Rita Pierson said, “kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.” Rural or urban, many students in my classroom over the years have had issues with poverty, food insecurity, parent incarceration, domestic violence, divorce, and other intense issues. In order to provide the support they need to face these challenges, I need to develop a strong relationship with the child and their family. As a kindergarten teacher, it has become so important to emphasize social-emotional learning in the classroom. Students today have so many things that they carry in their invisible emotional backpack, and they do not always come to school with the tools they need to unpack this backpack. A positive teacher relationship is the beginning of the toolkit that I can help them build.
I am still teaching young children because I enjoy their enthusiasm for learning and their excitement over the smallest of things. I get to use silly voices, sing songs, and encourage a love of reading that I hope will last them a lifetime. I am very passionate about developing my students as readers and allowing them to have choice in what they read. I am also passionate about social-emotional development and choice in the classroom. I want the children in my classroom to become great people, not just great students.
Although I am very frustrated by the state of education today and have personally witnessed the disparity between states, districts, and schools in access to materials, supplies, and appropriate curriculum, I hope that one day all children in all schools will have equitable access to the best materials, supplies, and resources, no matter what their families are able to provide for them.
As a kindergarten teacher, I also hope that one day all children will have access to a Pre-K experience which would make such a difference in each child’s social-emotional and academic development. Pre-K would help students to have a solid foundation for elementary school and prevent learning gaps from developing. I hope that there will be less emphasis on test scores and data and more focus on developmentally appropriate curriculum and how children are developing as people.
As a former Dual Language and current teacher of students that speak English as a second language, I hope that more educators and the general public will grow to understand the challenges facing students that are learning English and support them in their language development. It is disheartening to know that there are many stereotypes that still exist about these students. I hope more educators will continue to educate themselves and speak out about these issues.
As a professional, I hope that one day all teachers will receive the respect they deserve, in pay, resources, support, benefits, and job duty expectations. I hope that lawmakers and the general public will grow to recognize the hard work that teachers do each and every day because they love their students, not for the summers off. Teachers do so many things above and beyond the call of duty without asking for recognition because they genuinely care about their work and the impact they have on their students. Despite the challenges and difficulties educators face, I hope more young people will aspire to be educators because we need you!