Michelle

Tell us why you became a teacher

I decided to become a teacher after a birthday party of one of my daughters friends. They were around 3 or 4 and decided to have it at a bowling alley. They started getting the kids going on a game. We never kept score. We just had the kids take turns rolling the ball down the guide with the bumper sides up. I ended up leading the game, making sure every had a turn, kept up the flow, instructing and making sure the kids had fun. My husband told me later that I was really good at it.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I was teaching a 1st grade student. He was on a behavioral learning plan as he had a bad home situation that was getting better but he was struggling. He had a hard time staying still and rarely did work with the class. After a while, I was able to get him to open up and tell me the reason he doesn't do work with the class was because he couldn't write fast enough to keep up so he just didn't bother. We were able to adjust speeds and was able to get his participation up from a 35% to an 87%.

What would you do with the $25,000?

After paying off debts, I would take my kids on a trip to Disneyland like they've always wanted. What's left over, I would donate back into a local area, either the zoo, science central or library.