Ok, so there
is much debate about who is the Super Teacher and who is the sidekick, but we
thought letting you in on this little inside joke would be a fun way to
introduce ourselves…
Crystal says: A few years ago, I had returned to
school to finish my teaching degree and was looking for a place to do my
student teaching. I had been the secretary at my children’s school, but I
wanted to branch out and make some new connections. I had heard great things
about a nearby school and knew the principal from when I was in high school
many – yes, many – years ago. I called him and he set up a day for me to
observe in the building.
My first
stop was Kristi’s classroom. It didn’t take 10 minutes to know that her
classroom was the place to be! She was so animated and engaging that the
students seemed to hang on her every word. It was also obvious that she loved
those kids. That was important to me because when I worked as a secretary, my
eyes had been opened to realize that not all kids were loved and cared for like
I love and care for my own children. I wanted to be that person that they could
depend on to be there every day and to love them. Anyway, I knew that I wanted
to student teach with Kristi! The teaching program I completed would not allow
us to request a specific teacher, only the building and the grade level. I
turned in my request and began to pray. I had a couple of friends from church
that knew Kristi, and they told me she didn’t want me (some silly reason of
having the load of a combo class that next year – ha, ha)!
Kristi says: Ok, so as
I have my principal come to me again after telling me that I would be teaching
a combo class for the very first time in my life, he asks me if I would like to
have a student teacher for a semester.
As we all know, having a student teacher usually means more work—more
paper
work, documentation, and time. I’m
thinking: Are you kidding me? On top of a combo
class, you want me to take on a student teacher? This poor student teacher is going to
come into this combo class and see me try to teach it for the very first
time. Is this really going to be good
for a student teacher to see??? Anyways,
some of the other teachers in the building knew Crystal and told me how
wonderful she would be, so with hesitation, I agreed to have her
as my student teacher as long as she knew that it would be an unusual year and
I couldn’t promise that it would be smooth.
She accepted—being the kind individual that she was. It did prove to be an extraordinary and
awesome year. Crystal came in ready and excited to
teach! She was awesome….she was
dedicated, worked hard and her love for kids shined. She helped me throughout my first year with a
combo class. The year with the combo
class proved to be a great, smooth year since Crystal was with me. She was definitely a blessing! The following year, she was hired on as my
co-teacher!
Crystal says: Okay, fast forward to present day. So
just before Christmas break, Kristi is showing me all these educational things she
is thinking of doing that week and I say, “I don’t want to grade all that!” So
that evening I tell my sweet husband about the conversation. He says, “You two
really balance each other out. She is like the over-achiever, the super
teacher, and you are…” He wisely stops himself and says, “This is not coming
out right, is it?” Um…you think?
I was not
really offended because Kristi is an amazing teacher. She puts in so much extra
time to make her lessons interesting and engaging. She has the BEST classroom
management I have ever seen (hope she will plan on sharing some of her great
techniques on the blog soon)…some in our building even call her the “child
whisperer.” In my mind, she is definitely the super teacher and I’m the
sidekick – trying to learn as much as I can from her!
Kristi says: Crystal
is definitely the Super Teacher
in this scenario. She loves kids and has
so much excitement for teaching. Every
day she comes in with a smile and eager to get the day started with the little
ones. Her classroom is filled with
excitement, involvement and kids who are eager to get into her class. All the students love her and she has a great
way of engaging all of her students in her lessons. On top of all of this, her
organizational
skills are amazing!! I, myself, have to
try hard to keep up with her, due to her organization. She is always on top of it and ready for the
month or should I say the year…..I am constantly out of breath trying to stay
at her speed and be as organized and ready as she is on a daily basis. My co-teacher has come in and taught me so
much about ways of teaching and working with a variety of students. So, I would have to say that I win on
the debate of her being the Super Teacher and me the sidekick!
And so the Super Teacher debate continues…
J
Thanks for
checking out our blog. We have much to learn about blogging, but we are
self-confessed blog stalkers and finally ready to take the plunge and join the fun!
Kristi and Crystal
