Welcome to my website!
My name is Sarah and I have been teaching since 2006.
My hope for this website is to share, ideas, strategies, techniques, and more with everyone to help get students excited to learn and wanting to come to school.
**Please bear with me as this site is still under construction**
My hope for this website is to share, ideas, strategies, techniques, and more with everyone to help get students excited to learn and wanting to come to school.
**Please bear with me as this site is still under construction**
About Me
A little about me as a person...
I am a teacher by day but a nerd/geek by night. I enjoy going to Disneyland, reading, and relaxing at home with my pets, especially my cats. Some of my other hobbies and interests include photography and writing. I absolutely LOVE Disney! I swear that I'm secretly a Disney Princess just waiting for a prince to come and discover that I've been hiding as a civilian all this time. My geekiness continues into my love of comics and superheroes. I love watching the movies, tv shows, and reading the comics and graphic novels. I enjoy creative writing and have participated in NaNoWriMo for the past 7 years. As far as reading is concerned, my favorite genre is young adult books. I find them more enjoyable and easier to read for me. I like to use this as an example for my students to not always base their selection of books on a reading level or points. They need to read for enjoyment. |
Now for me as a teacher...
I have been teaching since 2006. I have taught 5th grade, 5th/6th combo classes, and a 4th/5th combo class. During this time though, my classroom and teaching have undergone a radical change. I was always the teacher who raised her voice to get a point across or for discipline. My classroom was set up with desks that were in rows with assigned seating. On the rare occasion my students were in groups, it was assigned grouping and work time was still silent. My management ranged from names on the board to clip charts. It was all very teacher centered. During the summer of 2012, I learned about online professional development and teacher blogs. Don't ask why it took me so long to find them, I seriously have no idea. I began reading all these different, amazing, ways to structure a classroom. The more I read the more intrigued I became. Starting in my 5th grade class of 2012-2013, I began to implement new strategies. I focused lot more on student participation, feedback, and projects and a lot less me standing up their lecturing. I shifted the learning back to them. My desk stayed in groups with kids rotating groups every couple of weeks to mix them up again. From that point on my classroom was flipped on its head. Now my classroom has flexible seating where the students get to make a wise choice of their seating everyday. We have tables instead of desks to allow more collaboration and less clutter of everything students would shove in desks. The learning has been shifted back to the students in the form of projects, inquiry based activities, and 20% time. No longer do I have a clip chart or names on the board, we use Class Dojo to promote positive reinforcement. It has been an exciting change and one that I look forward to refining every year. |
Me with my amazing team members, who put up with my random/crazy ideas throughout the school day.
(They help contribute too though!) |
Craziest Moment
It's been an amazing journey so far and it shows no signs of slowing down! I have to admit that the crazy moment was when I was contacted by the local news to come do a live broadcast from my classroom. Since 2011, I have been a very active member of the DonorsChoose community and have received a lot of really amazing technology, books, and supplies through projects I have posted. The news called me during the Fuel Your School campaign sponsored by Chevron and asked if they could come in use my classroom as an example to help promote the campaign.
|
|
Most Amazing Moments (Professionally)
Teacher of the Year 2016
There have been so many amazing moments, but professionally, just speaking as me as a teacher, the most amazing moments (so far) were when my principal nominated me for teacher of the year in 2016 and when I won KernCUE Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2016 and found out I'd be moving on to the CUE Outstanding Teacher of the Year nomination. Both of these moments caught me completely speechless. You work so hard just for the kids and to keep them engaged and then to have all of that hard-work recognized was truly amazing. On top of all of that, there were a few parents that wrote me letters of recommendations that brought me to tears. To be reminded of the impact we have on our students is truly amazing and breathtaking. |
KernCUE Outstanding Teacher of the Year 2017
In March of 2017, I was recognized as KernCUE's Outstanding Teacher of the Year. KernCUE is a local affiliate of CUE (Computer Using Educators) who support and encourage technology use in the classroom through innovative lesson designs, blended learning, and project based learning. I was so flattered and amazed that I was award this amazing honor. Hans gave me such an awesome introduction. Check it out HERE |