This is my beautiful family! I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. There is a 15 year age difference between my son and daughter. I am so lucky to have them both. They keep me smiling and make their momma proud.
I love Pepsi Max, colorful office supplies, new goodies for my classroom, color coordinating/organizing, FASHION, Traveling, eating out....often, going to Disney with my family, going to the beach, cruising, watching sappy girly movies (all time favorites...Pride and Predjudice with Kiera Knightley, Young Victoria, & PS. I Love You) with buttered popcorn and Sour Patch Kids. I am a royal watcher and love all things Will and Kate (and now Prince George) and Diana ...especially. If I wasn't teaching I would be an interior designer! I love all things relating to interior design. I have made myself as self proclaimed designer! I have done work in several friend's homes and my own of course. I LOVE to sew and embroider! I even have a shop on ETSY. Check out the link on the sidebar.
PROFESSIONALLY:
I started teaching in 1995 in Central Florida at the school where I interned. I taught with a fantastic group of teachers who were wonderful mentors to me. I was able to teach for two years in a multi-age classroom of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. It was a learning experience and the wealth of knowledge I gained is priceless. The school was a model school with it's full inclusion ESE and Title 1 programs. We had mostly free and reduced lunch students. Our school had almost 1,000 students. Each child was treated as an individual and even had individual narrative reports cards each quarter. (Do you know that our administration even read every single report card before they went home! IMPRESSIVE) Weekly student goal setting, quarterly Portfolio nights and quarterly parent conferences were standard operating procedure. We wrote our own learning maps, curriculum and pulled from real literature and other resources (this is before internet) to teach meaningful, relevant and real content based on the state standards. NO products from companies here. I am so grateful for this training ground, my experience has provided me with such a strong background in writing curriculum for my students.
After teaching multi-age groupings, I moved down to primary grade to teach Pre-Kindergarten. At the time, the state of Florida had written a grant for intervention of at-risk students and created the Pre-K program. It was taught by certified classroom teachers in my county and we had a full time assistant as well. I loved it! I taught Pre-K for 9 years with the most fabulous assistant! She was amazing! Together we visited all of our 20 student's homes twice a year. We also went on many fieldtrips and created a loving hands-on classroom environment. I taught there for 8 years. Our Pre-k unit was moved to another school in our county and we stayed together for another 3 years.
After teaching Pre-k, I moved to a brand new school to follow my principal and to be the Kindergarten Gradechair person. I taught kindergarten at this school for 7 years. I LOVE KINDERGARTEN! I feel that a person knows what their niche is and should be able to teach what they love.
I am currently a teacher at another school in our county and work with an amazing administration! You know that a school is only as strong as it's administration. (Since they decide who teaches there and how the school operates.) So, I was blessed with the opportunity to move schools and continue to teach kindergarten, which is where I have been for the last 2 years.
Our county is filled with free and reduced lunch students, Special Needs (ESE) and ESOL students. We have a large homeless population as well. The school years always have challenges, but it is wonderful to effect a student's life.
I have taught for 19 years. I have a Bachelor's in Elementary Education. I have a Master's in Business/Marketing. I am a National Board Certified Teacher, Early Childhood Generalist (2000). I have Florida Certifications in Primary Education (Pre-K to 3rd), Elementary EducationI(1-6), and ESOL. I also am a Certified Water Safety Instructor with the Red Cross....(which may seem silly in an education bio, but...) we teach all Kindergarteners and First Graders how to swim 2 weeks out of our school year as part of curriculum! It's amazing! I have served as a Grade-Chair person for 14 years of my career. I was named 1995-1996 Sallie Mae First Year Teacher of the Year, 1996-1997 Ida S. Baker Minority Educator of the Year, 1999-2000 Ida S. Baker Minority Educator of the Year (all for Highlands Elementary). In 2013, Practical Living Magazine named the Top 100 Things about Osceola County and I was named as the only teacher. (Funny thing is, I didn't even know it happened and I had to be convinced by someone showing me the magazine! Lol!) I love writing and creating learning tools for my students and colleagues.
