Children should be comfortable in the classroom. Children should want to go to school. The classroom teacher is crucial in accomplishing this task. I am the teacher who helps children to love school. My students are comfortable to absorb as much information as possible from reading aloud, reading silently and having open ended discussions before, during, and after reading books. Literature is an important element in my classroom. It can bring children to far away places, as well as teach him information about life. Many children love to read and being read to. My classroom is comfortable for all children and includes many different aspects of teaching and learning, including multiple intelligence and different learning styles.

I believe that all children learn in different ways and that teachers need to adapt their way of teaching to their students' needs. I try to create a fun learning environment for my students. I try to help them learn what they need to know in a competitive world full of state exams and other more important challenges they encounter daily.

My goal as a teacher is to inevitably teach my students to be able to teach themselves, so that they may grow to be lifelong learners. I want them to grow up with the knowledge they need to make good decisions and be productive members of society.

I was once asked why I wanted to be a teacher. My simple answer was, "because I want to make a difference". As a special education teacher that goal sometimes takes a little bit longer, but I feel that my students leave my class knowing they can do whatever they set their minds to. It's a tough world out there. My students have learned and will continue to learn how to cope in an ever changing world and be better for it. I always tell my students "Don't say I can't. Say I'll try!"

I believe I am a constructivist in terms of my students being able to formulate for themselves what they 'get' out of a lesson. I, as a teacher, try to support my students' ways of thinking by asking them to explain how they got their answers to problems. By doing this it often sparks other thoughts by other students. Some of my best explanations have been given by students. Sometimes I feel as though I am not explaining a topic in terms that all my students can understand and so I often ask my students to explain what I just said in "kid language". So many times this has helped other students in my class.

As a learner I tend to be constructivist as well. I listen to a lecture, or read a selection and I need to re-read or re-formulate what I have just learned in terms that I understand. Sometimes wording confuses me, but if I can re-word things in "Heather language" I better understand it. As a learner I find myself participating in class so that I can verbalize something that was just said in my own way in order to gain feedback from my professors. I find that my students do the same thing to me.

Blooms Taxonomy weighs heavily in my classroom. I always strive to ask my students critical thinking questions. I try to stretch their mind just a little further each day. I am also a very tactile teacher. I try to create hands on projects so that my students can see and touch what they are learning. I use technology when I can and I try to switch things up as is needed for students in 3rd grade and with special needs.

Children today are used to immediate feedback. They are very technological. It is important for today's teachers to be up-to-date with the latest and greatest inventions in order to keep up with them. Children today also have a lot of emotional baggage. It is a world of divorce even more so than when I was a child. A teacher today needs to wear many hats. I wear these hats and I wear them proudly. I do make a difference. It is apparent when I see that spark in a child's eyes when she gets it. It's obvious when a student tells me he loves math now, or she's found a subject she loves to read about now. I make a difference because I, myself, am a life-long learner. I strive each day to better myself and expect the same from my students.