Meet Mrs. Riley

MEET MRS. RILEY

I grew up in Pennsylvania. I lived in Texas and Delaware before moving to New Jersey. I’ve lived in Pennsville for 37 years.
I graduated with high honors from Penn State University with a B.S. degree in Elementary and Kindergarten Education.
This is my 43rd year teaching. It is my 40th year teaching at Valley Park School. While at VPS, I taught early kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade.
I have two grown sons. My oldest son is married.
I have a black lab named Duggy. He's 10 years old.
I enjoy reading and have quite a collection of books.
I like arts and crafts and dabble at scrapbooking.
I love teaching! It is very challenging and rewarding. Every year, every class, every day is different.
Last September my grandson was born. I love being “Grammy”!
I believe that "...with God, all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

Fun Facts

I have an identical twin sister.
Mrs. McClincy, who teaches first grade, is one of my former students. I taught Ms. Walsh, our school secretary, and Mrs. McFarland, our school nurse. Mrs. Fordham was my older son's third grade teacher.
I got my first tattoo this summer.
I have been to Mexico, Spain, and Morocco.
My favorite sport to watch is Penn State football. Go Nittany Lions!

Thoughts on Technology

I enjoy using the TouchView in my classroom and love using my laptop for creating materials. Did you know that when I first started teaching back in 1982 people didn't think that our younger students would be able to use a computer at all? That year, I piloted using computers with several elementary students from different grade levels. Our district has come a long way since that time. Our kindergarten students work on iPads. In the classroom, we also use the Hovercam, a document camera, and the TouchView during our lessons. The Hovercam is a great tool for students to use to share and explain their work.

We are 1:1 iPads so students do not have to share. Your child will have a digital portfolio on Seesaw, where your child and I will share his/her work with you throughout the school year. I will push out videos and activities on Seesaw. Plus, parents/guardians and I can communicate with each other through the Seesaw app.

We live in an amazing time. I remember black & white televisions, rotary dial phones, typewriters, eight track players, vinyl record albums/record players, computers that took up an entire room, data entry cards and penpals through snail mail. Your children are growing up as digital natives. They see you using Smartphones, listening to podcasts and music, watching TV shows on demand, connecting with friends on FB, sharing on Instagram and Pinterest... even some of the toys they play with are high tech.

In the next few years, your children will create documents and presentations on an iPad or chromebook, send completed projects to teachers through g-mail, submit work via Google Classroom, collaborate with other students using the Google Apps, send e-mails and instant messages...possibly have ePenpals and their own blogs, follow and tweet on Twitter...or even take classes online.

Technology has opened up the world to our children. We should use technology in our classrooms-not for the sake of being able to say we use technology, but when it can be integrated to enhance student learning. We must remember that play is still an important part of kindergarten and is developmentally-appropriate for our young learners. Children learn social skills and how to self-regulate through play experiences.

Report abuse