Connect Tell us why you became a teacher

The simple answer is that I wanted to help make learning fun for an age group that most shy away from- middle schoolers! I wanted to bring creativity into the classroom, to engage students in texts in a meaningful way and teach them to love literature in their own way.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

While I have many memorable moments (being called "Ms. Honey" like Matilda, being "School Mom", helping a student get a job, driving an hour to watch a student play baseball etc), I think a recent memorable moment was seeing beginning English Language learners eyes light up when they were able to participate in a lesson and game just like their peers because I had taken the time to make materials bi-lingual. Seeing him learn and gain confidence over the year was amazing!

What would you do with the $25,000?

First, I would put some in my kid's college savings plan and set some aside for family fun. I would also like to purchase real time translator devices for my classroom to bridge the gap of oral instruction for my many multi-lingual learners. This would allow students who are not literate in their home language but have oral comprehension the chance to engage and learn. I would also like to buy more novels in home languages to have diverse representation in my classroom library.