I’m really happy where I am, working in third grade. I previously taught first grade for five years, so this is my first year in third grade. I’m still trying to learn the curriculum. Luckily, Virginia Beach gives us a lot of resources to help me wrap my mind around all of it. I’m just so happy to work in this district because it really is a great district. I went through elementary school, middle school and high school in Virginia Beach. I graduated from Green Run High School. I haven’t made it back there yet. They keep us busy here. It’s a lot of fun.
I’ve had the ESL cluster the whole time I’ve been here. That’s always interesting. It’s a nice challenge for me. I took Spanish all through high school and thank goodness because that’s really helped, especially with our population here. I’m still kind of nervous talking to parents but the kids really get a kick out of it when I try. They teach me so much, too.
I actually have some of the kids now that I had in first grade and the growth from first grade to the beginning of third grade is incredible to see. That’s why I loved being in first grade so much – from the beginning of the year to the end of the year is just worlds apart. It’s the same thing with the end of first grade to the beginning of third grade – worlds apart. I‘m a little nervous to be in an SOL grade but I’m looking forward to the challenge so much.
What led you to teaching?
I didn’t always know I wanted to be a teacher. I was kind of one of those people who didn’t really know what to do. My family always put an emphasis on education. Homework was the first thing we had to do before we could play outside. I was the first one in my whole family to graduate from college. That was a really big accomplishment just for myself, and making my parents proud was always something that I wanted to do. I worked at a bank for a couple of years and then it wasn’t challenging enough for me. I thought, what could be more challenging and different every single day? And that led me to teaching. I’m really happy that I did take that path because every day is a challenge. Every day is something new. I get up hours early so I can get here early because, honestly, I do want to prepare myself, but I really can’t wait to come to work every day. My students make my heart so full.
#WeAreVBSchools
