I honestly didn’t ever think I’d be a teacher. This is my second year teaching. I was in the military and when my kids started kindergarten – or when they got to the point where I could volunteer with them, I thought, ‘Oh, I actually like doing this and working with kids.’ I fell in love with working with the kids. You get those aha moments that really make it worth doing it.
I love kindergarten. You get to see the growth. You get to see the kids that come in not writing, not reading, and then by the end of the year, they’re writing sentences and reading books. That’s the biggest reward. You really can see that measurable growth in kindergarten. I started a kindergarten coding club last year. This year I’m doing the STEM robotics with the older students. I try to use different things in the classroom with my kids. We use a lot of Seesaw. In February, we used our Clever badges for the first time, got into PebbleGo, and they researched their own African American historical figure. Then we screen captured it, pushed it into Seesaw and they did a voiceover with a fact about a historical figure. They loved it. They think it’s the coolest thing in the world. And then I had some who figured out how to app smash by themselves. I’ll see it and say, ‘Oh, when did you figure that out?’ They’re amazing.
What did you do in the military?
I was a hospital corpsman – aviation med tech. I just kind of helped take care of the pilots. I was out for about five years before I started volunteering. I have four kids and I had to wait until my youngest started kindergarten. It was not too long after that before I started going to an online school. My husband was still active duty and we were still moving every couple years so that was the best fit for our mobile lifestyle. So, I get these kids that transition and they change schools. I’ve been there with my kids so I know how they feel.
My youngest is in high school right now. We’re almost done. She’s a senior they’re starting college so we’re going to be here for a while. This is the longest we’ve been anywhere. We’ve been here five years.
Is there anything else you’d want people to know?
Don’t underestimate 5-year-olds. They can do a lot more than you think they can.
#WeAreVBSchools
