My Classroom
My classroom is a place where students and families feel welcome and valued. When you first walk into my classroom, you will notice the student work displayed on the walls. The desks are set up with collaboration in mind, and there are safe, relaxing areas in the room for learning and quiet space.
Depending on the lesson, you may see students playing math games together, talking with partners, conferencing with me, or working independently. I use a range of strategies to build students knowledge and abilities.
Celebrating Our Class
Creation Station Posters
Post-it Notes
Math art
Post-it Notes
Sketch Noting
Math Work
Math Notebook
Creation Station Posters
Sketch Noting
Family Partnership
Family and community partnerships are at the heart of my teaching philosophy.
Since I began teaching, I have called or met every family from my classroom to introduce myself and learn more about them and their child. To maintain this positive repertoire, I have given families my cell phone number and contacted them with positive news and challenging days.
While working at Allendale, I send emails every weekend to families explaining our lessons from the week and previewing what is coming up. I encourage families to interact with their children about the classes and ask me questions as needed.
Families are the true experts on their child, and I believe that by establishing positive relationships with families, they can achieve more in the classroom and at home.
Publications
In response to a lack of engaging texts for my class, I started a company, Leaping Learners LLC, and wrote / designed over twenty nonfiction books for my students. They loved the texts and used them to learn about the natural world.
