Mercedes Hutchens

I began teaching in 1998. Currently I am a K-6 Intervention Specialist, a member of my school's leadership team, and a mentor teacher. I've taught K-6. Most of the years were spent in 1st and 2nd grade. I especially loved teaching phonics so I became a trainer. I spent some summers traveling and training teachers to teach Success for All and FUNdation Reading programs. I'm a creative problem solver. I love tracking data to help meet student needs. I have been a member of my school's leadership team for many years. This has given me the opportunity for a lot of wonderful professional development. As a member of the leadership team, I lead daily grade level collaboration times, help present to our staff, and organize our school schedule. I have also been a BTSA Support Provider for new teachers at our school.

I believe all students can learn. I focus on having challenging yet obtainable goals and a positive classroom environment. As an intervention teacher, I help my students become goal oriented. We set a goal, take a pretest, work towards that goal and then take the post test. I love the confidence meeting a goal can give students. I also love when they tell me it was easy or they had fun. I want them to love learning as much as I do. I love to incorporate technology. Recently, I've fallen in love with creating resources for the Google Classroom.

I have had the honor of being nominated as teacher of the year for the district.

I have a BA in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz. I received my Multiple Subject CLAD Credential from CalStateTEACH. I continue to seek professional development whenever the opportunity arises.

Check out my blog for freebies and ideas: http://www.surfingtosuccess.org I've opened a separate store for my photos called Dollar Stock Photos. Check them out: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Dollar-Stock-Photos