Pencil Box Hero

I've taught in the Ocean View School District in Huntington Beach, California since 2001. Most recently I completed my 8th year as a fourth grade teacher. In past years I taught middle school English and reading intervention.

The store name 'Pencil Box Hero' comes from my 4th grade student Edgar. I asked him to write a paragraph about his hero and he wrote, "Juan is my hero because he loaned me a pencil." Sometimes it's as simple as that. In terms of my teaching style, technology is easy for me and my students are tech savvy. They complete spreadsheets, essays, slideshows, and tests on their Chromebooks. They use the SmartBoard as a center everyday while I work with small groups. I believe they should be the primary users of the technology. I also love to read and I build that passion in my students by staying attuned to their interests through daily reading conversations. When I struggled with a particularly difficult class I took a workshop by Kagan Cooperative Learning. The skills I learned there made classroom management so much easier. We incorporate different types of learning throughout the day: seat work, computer work, social work, independent projects, direct instruction, and leveled small groups. The variety makes the day pass quickly.

Two time nominee for Teacher of the Year Although my students are in the poorest school in Huntington Beach, they have twice won first place in writing in city-wide contests.

My B.A. is from Mills College and my teaching credential is from Chapman University. I am almost finished with my master's degree in educational technology.

I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, moved to Northern California for college, then moved to beautiful Huntington Beach as a newlywed. I work in a predominantly Hispanic school where most students are English learners. Last year our school was shut down because of asbestos contamination and I was moved to an empty school without textbooks, pencils, paper, copier, or technology. I was very grateful for the great resources on teacherspayteachers.