Yedwab Academics

I have been teaching since 2004. I taught 3rd grade for 14 years, then moved to 4th grade as a special education teacher. For about half the years I taught 3rd grade, I taught only ELA. Now, as a special education teacher, I teach only math. Besides teaching in the classroom, I also tutor and run book clubs. I currently run the Spelling Bee at the school where I teach. I ran a school-wide essay writing contest for many years, and also helped to start a 3rd-5th grade math club.

I love to help my students produce great work - work that they are super proud of and want to share with others. When I was teaching writing, each year I would make "white" books for my students. Each book contained the writing pieces they had completed throughout the year, plus photos of the students that I had taken. It was a -huge- undertaking, but so worth it. We would have a publishing party at the end of the year and I would say, "You are all published authors now!" It was such a joy to watch them share their books with family and friends at our celebration.

I haven't been presented with an award per se, but I am very honored each time a student or parent lets me know that they appreciate me and all that I do for them.

I attended NYU for undergraduate where I double majored in Information Systems and Management and went on to work in IT helping to develop database systems, mostly for financial institutions. I then decided politics was more interesting than computers and went to GWU where I received a master's degree in Political Management. During that time, I taught a group of 4th graders once a week for two hours - it was the best two hours of my week! I realized I was meant to be in the classroom, and made my way to Simmons College where I received a master's degree in Elementary Education. It's been a long and winding road.

I live in Washington, DC, with my husband and three children.