I have been blogging since 2012 and many of you who read my posts will know that I recently took very early retirement from teaching due to ill-health. My auto-immune system has been compromised for many years, beginning with a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease in 2002. Since then, I have developed a number of other health issues. I battled for a long time to stay in the classroom, but when my absences became more prolonged and began to affect my students, I knew I had to leave. However, it isn’t possible to stop being an educator when it is such a huge part of who you are, so I had to rework my mindset and discover ways to do what I loved, whilst living with a chronic illness.
How do I stay relevant?
- I volunteer at my local elementary school
- I tutor elementary age students
- I research the latest in curriculum development and teaching strategies
- I acquaint myself with the latest technology, being a bit of a tech geek!
- I complete professional development courses online
- I network/collaborate with teachers in the US and UK
- I develop K-2/SPED curriculum content
What do I believe?
- learning and instruction should be differentiated, flexible and engaging
- teaching and learning should be hands-on, visual, and concrete
- education is ever-changing, so educators need to be life-long learners!
What can I help teachers with?
- Organizational tips to help your classroom run smoothly
- Ideas for making learning engaging, visual and concrete for your students
- Intervention strategies that are tried and tested
- Literacy resources that focus on language, fluency, phonics, comprehension, and vocabulary skills
What are my educational experiences and qualifications?
I will try and be brief here, as I spent 10 years abroad experiencing a variety of educational settings!
Scotland: Steiner Residential School for students with profound and multiple disabilities
England: 5th Grade Language Arts; 1st grade
Germany: Kindergarten
My curiosity and love of learning has allowed me to broaden and add to the usual teaching qualifications required for an elementary teacher.
To enable me to work with students in an outdoor setting:
- Youth and Community Work
- Wild Water Kayak Coach
- Mountaineering and Orienteering Skills
To broaden my skills as an elementary educator:
- Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language
- Advanced Diploma in Special Educational Needs
- Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing
- Reading Recovery Specialist
- Peripatetic Dyslexia Specialist
Responsibilities in school:
- Management of Special Needs Program and staff
- Testing of students with specific difficulties
- Whole School Assessment
- School Website
Before retirement, I taught 1st grade for 10 years, full time, alongside managing my leadership responsibilities. Combine the hours I was working with Crohn’s disease and the outcome was never going to be good! I love the dynamics of classroom teaching, but (had my illness played ball) I had already planned to make the change to serving as a resource teacher, working with small groups of students with specific reading difficulties. This is what originally drew me to teaching all those years ago, and I had hoped to finally realise my dream!
Fast forward to early retirement, and despite some tough battles along the way, I have found what’s right for me now. I absolutely love creating and designing curriculum content to share with others around the world, and have even found a new passion in creating graphics – maybe if we could all live two lives, I might have chosen to be a graphic designer or have an animal rescue sanctuary – there just aren’t enough years to follow all my passions – lol!
So, that’s me, in a not so short, nutshell. I am a talker, an over-thinker, over-analyzer and a perfectionist. Not always the best combination, but you will always get my best effort in everything I do! I hope to continue to build great online friendships!
