I have taught third grade for the last seven years and I absolutely love every second of it! Teaching in a testing grade has afforded me the opportunity to challenge myself as an educator to keep up with the rigorous curriculum we now require our children to follow. While I may not agree with standardized testing, I know that it is my job to get my students where they need to be to not only succeed academically, but to go home everyday and be able to tell their parents all they learned with excitement, instead of the standard "nothing" answer when their parents ask them what they learned that day.
I learned rather quickly that a lot of my students did not possess an extensive amount of prior knowledge on many of the topics that I was teaching. In order to provide my students with a better understanding, I design a lot of materials and lessons to not only actively engage, but to provide my students with meaningful, rich experiences that they can take with them and relate to their everyday lives. Bringing education to life will really stick with them rather than just reading and analyzing a passage or solving a math problem.
I teach at one of the top charters school in the country and although I have not yet received any awards, it is an honor to go to work everyday and know that I am making an invaluable difference in the lives of children. An education goes beyond the academics we teach in school, it is also about teaching good character and creating life long learners.
I went to Iona College for both my Undergraduate degree as well as my Masters degree. Although my Masters is in Education, I received my Bachelors in Psychology because I always thought that I would go into that field, and being a teacher proves that I was right! Not only are we educators, but we are psychologists as well (and so much more!)
When I'm not teaching, I am spending time with my family, and I am either cooking or spending time outdoors (when it is not freezing here in New York).