Hillside Elementary School

Welcome to K-153! I am so excited to embark on my fourth year of teaching kindergarten at Hillside. Thank you for trusting me with your little lovebugs. Even though this year will look a little different, we will still have a magical year filled with exploration, learning, creativity, self-discovery, and growth. Let's collaborate and flourish together and have an adventurous year!

Why I Teach

I am a teacher because I want to support children to become confident, independent, creative, fearless, proud, kind, literate, and adventurous human beings. I adore watching their young minds flourish throughout the year as they become life ready!

My Teaching Philosophy

Teaching means it is my obligation to provide every child with the tools needed to succeed in school and life. In our classroom, we will grow together and learn how to be confident, polite, adventurous, creative, independent, inquisitive, kind, helpful, thoughtful, and responsible. The classroom environment also plays an important role in our learning. As Lorris Malaguzzi, creator of the Reggio Emilia approach, believed, the classroom environment is the "third teacher". I couldn't agree more, which is why our classroom environment is a safe, supportive, caring, comfortable, and positive space in which we can grow, learn, make mistakes, and have fun!

My teaching style is very hands-on, messy, and creative. I believe it's important to make mistakes in order to learn, which is why I point out my mistakes to my students so that they understand that it's a natural part of life. I support students by creating stimulating, multi-modal, interdisciplinary, differentiated, and creative lessons. Some teaching strategies that I implement include large and small groups, individual conferences, engaging centers, and hands-on activities. I do my absolute best to meet the needs of all learners, whether they learn through music, movement, thinking, reading, writing, creating, or hands-on approaches. My goal is to show children how fun learning can be!