At which school in the district do you teach?
Arlington Elementary.

What subject(s) do you teach?
Everything!

What grade (s) do you teach?
Kindergarten.

How long have you been teaching at SASD?
20 years.

Is there anything you wish you had known as a first-year teacher?
I wish I had already figured out that every student wants to learn and that it is my job to figure out to make that happen. That, and that I would only get one bathroom break a day – hahaha!

What is your favorite part about teaching?
Gosh, so many things. I love starting the new year and meeting all the new students. I love spending time and getting to know the new students. I find that one of the coolest things about being a kindergarten teacher is you have a chance to see the students who start with me at age five grow into young adults when they graduate.

If you could teach another subject what would it be and why?
Drama class. Before I got my Master’s in Teaching I was an actor working in New York City so I feel I would have a lot to share.

What do you find most challenging about being a teacher?
I think the biggest challenge is the balancing act of time. Every student needs a different amount of time to learn different things, and everything that I teach takes a different amount of time to teach. So it is this battle to find the correct balance with time to have the success that is a constant, ever-changing battle.

If you could have one superpower what would it be and why?
Well, I teach 5-year-olds to read so, yeah, I think that is a superpower- haha. But if I could have a superpower it would be the power to heal. I think that this is what is needed most in situations that are global or personal.

Why did you choose the subject that you teach?
Kindergarten is the most amazing grade to teach because, as a teacher, I get to see how students’ learning gets started. Think about it, in Kindergarten almost everyone comes in without knowing how to count very well or without knowing the names of letters, and then boom, throughout the year the learning just explodes and by the end, they can count to 100 and they are not only able to know letters they are actually reading books. It is truly amazing! Not to mention the fact that in kindergarten we get to sing, dance, and laugh throughout the day!