First and foremost, what you should know about me is I love to learn. I love to learn new things, I love to learn old things better. I believe this is an essential attribute for any good teacher. I hope to find ways to keep your child loving learning each day at school.
I live in the Mason area with my husband, Scott, and my two daughters, Faith (12 years) and Hannah (10 years). We just moved there last February, and I spent much of my summer visiting family, getting settled in our new home, and trying to eliminate the poison ivy in our woods.
My experience and teacher training at Grand Valley certified me to teach students in general education classes (K-5) and students with special needs as well, particularly dealing with students with learning disabilities, emotional impairments and/or mental impairments. As a 1995 Grand Valley State University graduate, I began my career teaching students with learning disabilities and emotional impairments in Grand Ledge, Michigan.
To teach closer to home, I transferred to a resource room position at Cedar Street Elementary School in 1999. With the belief that I was a better teacher consultant to general education teachers by walking in their shoes, I began teaching first grade general education in 2000. That year, I received my masters degree in education from Grand Valley State University. I continued to teach first grade at Cedar Street Elementary until 2007, when I transferred to Alaiedon Elementary to teach first graders. I loved my first graders, witnessing those initial steps toward literacy in so many little learners gave me such joy.
By 2011, I was blessed with the opportunity to experience a new job. I taught my first group of third grade students here at Alaiedon Elementary. A new passion for teaching third graders has developed, as I am able to take their learning to such deeper and more complex levels. How exciting it is to teach them new things, and yet I am able to learn more teaching strategies as I observe how so many of them use their own strategies to discover new gems of learning on their own.
Educational philosopher Robert M. Hutchins stated, “The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” I live and teach by this belief. As a teacher, one of my most important goals is to give your child the tools to make that educational journey independently for years after third grade.