About Mrs. J

Hello!

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my blog! I was on a rabbit-trail of distractions reading other teachers' blogs when I realized the middle grades teacher was severely under represented in the blogosphere. I don't believe that I have everything all figured out, nor am I perfect in any sense of the word, but I wanted to get a dialog of ideas started and to share what I'm doing in my class in hopes that it helps someone else!


My princess- Athena
A little bit about me...

My little boy- Leonidas
I live in northeast Tennessee with my wonderful husband and two toy poodles, Leonidas and Athena. I love to keep busy by scrapbooking and quilting. I also love to watch movies with my little (furry) family. I used to perform in musical theatre all the time and I hope to do it again sometime in the near future. I miss being on stage, but I guess I have my own stage every day in my classroom!

A little bit about my career...
I have been teaching since 2004 after graduating with my Bachelor's in Elementary Education from Grove City College in Grove City, PA. I immediately moved to Atlanta where I began my teaching career. I taught first grade, sixth grade (math), and third grade while in Georgia. I earned my Gifted certification in 2008 and my Masters in Instructional Leadership in 2009. That same year my husband and I moved to Tennessee (due to his job) and I was pleased to be offered a job teaching the fifth grade at the laboratory school on the campus of East Tennessee State University.

A lab school is very different than the three schools that I had worked at prior. I am not one of nine teachers on my grade-level (as I was in Georgia), but rather I am THE fifth grade teacher. If you're going to the fifth grade, you're going to have me! It allows me a great amount of creative control and freedom in pacing, curriculum selection, and planning but that comes with a down-side. I must do all of the pacing, curriculum selection, and planning by myself! I am exceptionally blessed with wonderful support teachers in grades K-4. If research supports it, I'm pretty much free to implement it in my classroom. Since we are associated with ETSU there is a strong emphasis on research and best practices. We are observed constantly by student teachers, beginning education students, and professors.


Hopefully you get something useful and/or meaningful from my blog!

Mrs. J