We are a mother-daughter teaching duo :) Rachel: My name is Rachel, and I have been a preschool teacher in Chicago Public Schools for the past 5 years. My kiddos are 3, 4, and 5 years old in a Blended preschool program. Denise: I have taught in the public school system in San Antonio, Texas and Chicago, Illinois for the past 20 years.
Denise: I am hands on and work small groups in whenever possible. I differentiate learning for all of my students as the need arises. I love project based and thematic units. My students are the center of my decisions and everything works from there. Each year is a new beginning; flexibility and a sense of humor is key. Rachel: I am very organized, but also very flexible. Each day in PreK brings something different! Students might be working on their monthly Self Portraits, making a pizza as a team a la "The Little Red Hen," creating their own science experiments, or problem-solving social issues that come up among friends. I love working with my kids every day and seeing things from their perspective. I am very hands-on, and spend the majority of my day crouching over at preschooler's eye level, or working on the floor with them and their projects :-)
Denise: Nominated for Golden Apple.
Denise: I have a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, certified K-12. I obtained my Masters in Instructional Leadership. I have also taken classes in ELL and Special Education classes and will be taking classes soon to complete my Masters in Special Education. Rachel: I have a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education (Type 04) and am certified to teach Birth-3rd grade. I also have an endorsement in ELL, and I am currently going back to school for my Master's in Special Education, K-21!
While we teach in different schools, different grades, and in different parts of town, we love collaborating and sharing ideas with each other. We often find ways of making alterations to each other's suggestions, so that they work for the students we have in front of us.
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Homeschool, Not Grade Specific
English Language Arts, Balanced Literacy, Creative Writing, Writing-Expository, Reading, Grammar, Specialty, Math, Basic Operations, Fractions, Geometry, Graphing, Measurement, Numbers, Order of Operations, Other (Math), Science, Archaeology, Earth Sciences, Social Studies - History, World Language, Spanish, Arts & Music, Other (Arts), Music, Physical Education, Special Education, Drama, EFL - ESL - ELD, Health, Other (Specialty), Geography, Other (Social Studies - History), Other (ELA), Critical Thinking, For All Subject Areas, Literature, Classroom Management, School Counseling, Character Education, Word Problems, General Science, Library Skills, Problem Solving, Cooking, Short Stories, Writing, Reading Strategies, Holidays/Seasonal, Back to School, Thanksgiving, Christmas/ Chanukah/ Kwanzaa, Autumn, Mental Math, Halloween, Winter, The New Year, Dance, Valentine's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents' Day, St. Patrick's Day, Spring, Place Value, Tools for Common Core, For All Subjects, Summer, Informational Text, Handwriting, For Administrators, Early Intervention, School Psychology, End of Year, Engineering, Phonics, Close Reading, Classroom Community, Social Emotional Learning