Parkside Elementary School

I've been working in various classrooms of different grade levels at Parkside for the past 8 years.  I have worked in Mrs. McHan's 1st-grade class helping students learn to read, in Mrs. Colley's 2nd-grade class listening to readers and helping students who are behind get caught up, in Mrs. Higgins' 5th-grade class doing whatever she needed, and in Mr. Silver's 4th- and 5th-grade classes helping students with reading and math.  Now I'm back, and spending most of my time with Mrs. Higgins' 3rd-graders.  I also spend some time in Mr. Pinster's class helping with math and reading, and I've recently started working with a kindergartener on his letters and numbers.  But like I said, the majority of my time at Parkside is spent in Mrs. Higgins' class, and I just love being there.

Mrs. Higgins' Darlings

There are 22 students in Mrs. Higgins' 3rd-grade class, and each one is unique and special to me.  I have had the opportunity to do at least a little work with each one, and I really enjoy my time spent in that classroom.  Usually, I help with paperwork like filing and filling homework folders.  Then I get to walk around the classroom and see what everyone is working on and help whenever needed.  This is my favorite part, because I get to see what kind of school work 3rd-graders do.  I've also had the opportunity to participate in reading groups, which is always fun, and do special things like work with kids one-on-one to help them catch up or understand something they are stuggling with.  I also enjoy the times when I can just sit back and watch Mrs. Higgins teach.  I learn a lot about teaching from observing good teachers.  My hope is that someday I will be as good of a teacher as Mrs. Higgins is, and maybe I'll even have some of her darlings in my class in middle school! 

Sincerely, Colleen Kotrba, colleenkotrba@gmail.com