Who is Mr. Elementary?
Welcome to the blog of Mr. Elementary! I have taught 4th and 5th grade in the public school system for 9 years. I have my master’s degree in curriculum and instruction with an additional endorsement in ESOL. My family consists of my gorgeous, adventure-loving wife who is also an elementary teacher, and my one-year-old son who is 100% boy. Outside of teaching my passions include surfing, reading, and travel and I’m SUPER excited to tell you my wife and I are taking a year off of teaching to do just that! “How are you and your wife able take a whole year off of work with a one year old son?” you might ask. Well, I plan to tell you how this crazy, fun adventure came to be in this blog and give you updates all along the way.
Why am I writing this blog?
While I was teaching full time I always had the best intentions of starting my own blog but by the end of the day I never had much time or energy left…if you’re a fellow teacher I bet you know what I mean! Now that I have the whole year off and more time than I ever imagined I want this blog to be a place where I can share and collaborate with fellow teachers. I mean, one can only surf for so long.J But really, in the end, when teachers share and collaborate, it’s the kids that benefit, and that’s what really matters. Right?
What will this blog be about?
I want this to be a collection of books, research, resources, strategies, stories, and tips that have inspired, touched, changed and made me into the teacher I am today. As I mentioned earlier, my experience is in teaching 4th and 5th grade with an emphasis in ESOL so that is where I will be drawing my inspiration from. I’m sure my wife, who has taught a mixture of 2nd and 5th grade in English/Spanish bilingual classrooms for the last 8 years, will be sharing many posts on the blog as well!
Being a teacher, and now a dad, I know how little time you have in your day so I feel honored that you’ve taken the time to check out this blog. Please feel free to leave comments or email me at any time, as I’d love for this to be a place for other teachers to share their thoughts and ideas as well.