What made you decide to go into teaching?
I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be a teacher -- honestly, in preschool. I had an amazing preschool teacher. She was magical. She made me feel so seen and loved. She was very impactful. All throughout my elementary years, I had amazing teachers.

Why did you choose to teach kindergarten?
Kindergarteners are the best. I love that you get to shape who they are. They’re little sponges. They’re so excited, and there’s so much growth. They get off on the right foot in kindergarten. I know how important those foundational skills are for them.

It’s such a great experience for me, I take it as an honor to be there for them. They love school. They love everything about it. They don’t have a tainted view of the world, they’re so innocent. They’re becoming who they want to be. You see a lot of growth in social and emotional areas as well.

What is the best part of teaching?
The kids. I’m sure everybody says that. They are just the coolest humans to be around. I feel more comfortable being around them than in other environments. Every year, we establish a great community of love and support. It’s so great to have that empathy and understanding with each other.

What is the most challenging part of teaching?
There are a lot of challenges. I wish there was a magic wand where you can understand a child better. To be able to see into their little minds to see what’s going on with them to help them solve their problems. I’m always curious about how to improve their environment, to help them get the most out of school.

If you could go back in time and give yourself advice at the start of your career, what would that advice be?
One piece of advice is that you can’t learn it all in a day. You have to take it day by day.

The other is the importance of communication outside the classroom. Sometimes it’s with parents, sometimes it’s with others in the school, but it’s so important to find those people you want to surround yourself with, to be around the good, to help you grow and be better.

Looking back at my whole career, I wish I would have known about the Science of Reading. I feel like it’s been so impactful for my kids. It has changed how I teach, how I ensure class participation, how I present my materials. It has brought so much joy to me to bring that in my classroom.

Do you have any, "it’s weird but it works" teaching strategies?
We are weird. Weird works in kindergarten. I sing all the time. I sing directions, songs to help them remember things. I sing a lot. I use silly voices, I’m up there wearing hats, doing all kinds of fun things with them. Any kind of attention-getting thing that I use with them. I have a skeleton head that I use to teach them about making sounds.

Using funny attention getters like that – anything to get participation, I’m going to do it. Having humor in the day keeps the kids engaged, it keeps their attention – weird is what works in kindergarten.

What is one thing about teaching that people (or non-teachers) don’t know about teaching?
I think something people assume that they know is the time and effort it takes to be a good, passionate teacher. I don’t think a lot of people outside of the classroom understand how strategic you have to be, about every minute, to the second – managing student behavior, the content, managing the standards. But until you’ve been in the classroom, I don’t think people can know how much goes into making sure everything goes right in the classroom.

It amazes me how teachers are able to process that – the demand, the cognitive load they carry all the time. They do it all the time, always being “on.” There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes things that a lot of people don’t know.

You teach at a small school district. Can you speak to the advantages of that?
I taught outside of Indianapolis for two years. That was overwhelming coming from Parkston, SD. In one grade level, we had six levels of kindergarten. I have felt what the big schools is like, and it’s different in a small school.

In a smaller school, you see people every day – you get siblings, and you get to know people’s families. That makes communication easier. You get to know them better, and they get to know you; they know what to expect from you.