K L Pickett

I have had many "lives" over the years. My first life was that of a preschool teacher. In my next life, I returned to college and graduated with a degree in agricultural biology. For many years I was a county biologist in California. Returning to college, I became a kindergarten/first grade teacher. After a few years, it was back to college again, whereupon I received my Master's Degree in Curriculum Instruction. From California I moved to Arizona where I became a middle-grade reading and writing instructor. When the fourth grade teacher resigned, I moved down to fourth grade which I've been teaching ever since. My fourth grade class traditionally has some of the highest scores in the school (K-8th).

Sight, sound, movement, songs, creating - I use it all. Especially creating things. One entire corner of my room is filled with "stuff" to build with: small boxes, toilet paper rolls, bits of cardboard, yarn, googly eyes, ribbon, etc. Anything and everything that can be used to construct objects. These handmade objects are talked about, written about, compared, measured, labeled, explained, and used within all curriculum areas. Students love to learn when the learning involves something that he or she has created.

I was a President's Council Scholar at Cal Poly University, Pomona, California and graduated Magna Cum Laude. I was chosen as one of the top three best elementary school teachers in Cochise County, Arizona in 2018.

See Experience above.

Dozens of my short stories and articles have appeared in children's magazines including Highlights for Children, Boys' Life (the magazine for Boy Scouts), Humpty Dumpty, and Ladybug. My short story "The Big Oops" is featured in the book GUIDE'S GREATEST HERO STORIES published by Review and Herald Publishing Company (available on Amazon.com). My science fiction eBook SEVENTH GRADE (ALIEN!) HERO, my magical realism middle-grade eBook MAYBE IT'S MAGIC!, and my middle-grade paranormal eBook THE UNWANTED GIFT are published by MuseItUp Publishing and are available wherever children's eBooks are sold.