| Riley, Kati, Me, Sarah, & Tim at the beach last summer |
Hey,
y'all! I’m so excited to be a part of Meet the Teacher
Monday! I can’t wait to share a little bit about myself and learn A
LOT about all of you!
* * * * *
Tell
us a little something about you...
I'm Debra,
and I blog at Mrs. McDaniel’s 2nd Grade Superstars. I’m a mom
of 3 grown (or almost grown) kids – a 26 year-old daughter who got married in
July AND followed in my footsteps by being an elementary schoolteacher, a 23
year-old daughter who is in the fashion design industry in NYC, and a 20
year-old son who is a sophomore at Auburn University majoring in pre-law (with
a 3.81 average!!)! School started last Monday and I have been overtired,
underfed, and SUPER excited about my new groups of seconds ever since! I live
in Alabama in a small rural community about an hour from Birmingham and boy has
this first week been hot!!
How
long have you been teaching?
This is my
seventh year teaching full-time. I taught at risk students part-time for
two years, ELL students part-time for four years, and then started teaching
full-time in the Fall of 2004. I taught 3rd grade one year, and I
have been teaching 2nd grade
for the last six years.. I *love* second grade.
You
might not know...
I didn’t
begin teaching in the classroom until my oldest child was a sophomore in college
(my middle child was a senior in high school and my “baby” was in 8th
grade)! Well, actually I started working with the at-risk students when
my oldest daughter was a freshman in high school, and I had volunteered in
their classrooms ever since they started in elementary school…but I decided to
go back to school and get my Master’s Degree when I turned 40! I began to think
about what I had accomplished and how much more I had to “give’ even though my
own children didn’t especially want me volunteering in their classes any more…so
I went back to school! I had to learn all about taking classes in this
technologically advanced age…but I am very competitive…and graduated with a 4.0
average! Not bad for an “old” lady!!
What
are you looking most forward to this school year?
I'm most
looking forward to a fresh start. I had a very difficult class last year…lots
of discipline problems…several RTI students…many ADHD whose parents refused to
give them medication…NO sub wanted to be in my classroom!! I am excited about my new batch of seconds.
After one week, I can already tell this is an entirely different type of class!
They are AWESOME!! I cannot wait to get to school each day!
What
do you need to improve?
I want to be
a better time manager this year. I tend to get “long-winded”, talk (explain)
too much, get sidetracked, and have a hard time getting to “Unit” at the end of
each day. I am determined to get it all in this year!
I also
want to do Guided Math this year. I did
the Debbie Diller book study this summer, worked on organizing my math
materials better, worked on Math “Stations”, and really want to do math this
way instead of so much whole group instruction.
What
teaching supplies can you *not* live without?
Cannot
live without my Elmo and LCD projector!! Don’t know how I taught without it!
;)
Looking
forward to my new Mimio…have it set up and am learning how to use it!!
My Keurig
coffee maker in our 2nd grade teacher workroom…I cannot make it
through the day without 1, 2, 3 (or more) cups of fresh coffee
throughout the day!!
I have to
agree with Abby -- books, books, and more books! I spend a fortune on
books!
And last, but certainly not least is my wonderful 2nd grade teamies...could NOT make it through a day without them!!
Me (in the middle) with the 4 best team members ever at my daughter's wedding
