I learned so much when I switched to teaching younger students. I spent my first year dedicated to figuring out the unique developmental levels of each grade I taught. I observed classroom teachers and asked lots of questions. I learned by doing and definitely had some lessons that completely flopped!
I will always remember starting my first elementary class, that very first day. I sat down in front of a brand new kindergarten class and thought to myself, “What are you doing here?” If you’ve ever taught kindergarten, you know that teaching beginning of the year kindergarten students takes a special kind of magic and patience. Even though I faltered in that moment, we figured it out together and I have come to absolutely love teaching at this level.
As the years passed, I learned from fellow early language educators on Twitter and was also fortunate to attend valuable professional development sessions. I started teaching with stories and found my true passion.