Welcome to Room B1 23-24!
This website is your "go to" for classroom specific information and resources. Enjoy! And, for the sake of ease, bookmark this page:) You'll be glad you did.
For school-wide info, click here to navigate to the PPS/BCS Website and Newsletter.
Click here to navigate to the BCS PTA website.
A Little Bit About Me - In Reverse!
2023-2024 marks my eleventh year at BCS, and my fourth year teaching 3rd grade. At BCS, I've also taught 2nd (five years), and 5th (two years). Twice, I've had the privilege of looping from 2nd to 3rd grade with my class, and LOVE the level of relationship, student support, and achievement that's gained through well-structured looping arrangements! While at BCS and under the leadership of Teri Geist, I also had the great honor being part of a team that brought our program to "exceed"
Before taking a job with BCS, I invested a decade as a part-time, PK-8, guest teacher within the PPS and the MESD service areas. Serving (literally) thousands of students amongst eight highly diverse districts -Centennial, Corbett, Gresham-Barlow, David Douglas, Parkrose, Portland Public, Reynolds, and Riverdale- was the richest, most comprehensive ONJ learning opportunity I could have asked for, something that can't be found in treasure trove of student, systems, and curricular experience, insight, and skill.
honed my understanding of what works well. I advocate for and provide universally accessible, sensory diverse, sensory rich, constructivist learning opportunities for B1 students. And, I do everything in my power to ground that learning in expeditionary/site-based experience.
Stepping back further in time, immediately after getting my teaching license I took a position co-teaching high school English for five academically diverse public schools in east-central Japan.
And, finally the experience that made me realize that
, I taught transitional life skills with a non-profit serving incarcerated, soon to be released, adult women. Before that, I served as a volunteer aid at my daughter's preschool.
And, now that that's out of the way, congratulations! You've survived the wild world of CLD, and suddenly your tiny person's a full-blown 3rd grader! Third grade is an epic year. This is the year when many children begin to move away from concrete thinking and really embrace the world of abstraction. It's also the year when many children begin to understand themselves and others more analytically. In third grade, the world shifts on its access a few degrees!