About Mrs. Spalding

Teaching Experience:

I am very excited to be beginning my 21st year of teaching.   I've taught on this 2nd Grade Team since 2018.    From 2016-2018,  I was a Fern Bluff Intervention teacher, teaching Kinder-5th Grade Reading and Math groups.   Previously, I taught at Patsy Sommer Elementary for 2 years in K-5 Intervention (Dyslexia, Math and Reading) and 4 years in 4th grade.   I began my career as a teacher in Hutto ISD, at Hutto Elementary, where I taught 3rd grade for 5 years. 

Teaching Philosophy:

I believe in building a strong classroom relational culture.    We will build a learning community together through Kagan Structures, a classroom garden, Lego Challenges, social games, and classroom meeting discussions.   I believe every student has an important purpose in our classroom and want each child to feel valued by both me, the teacher, and their peers.   I want students to feel safe to share their learning, including mistakes, which will help our classroom community deepen our overall conceptual understandings.  I love a busy classroom, full of purposeful discussion, and varied, differentiated activities.   There will be times daily of quiet concentration, but also plenty of space for peer and group activities.

Family:

I live near the school in Fern Bluff.   I have an awesome husband, 2  great kiddos.   I am committed to helping my neighborhood school be a place where kids love to come everyday.  We have a pet Tarantula named Harriet!

Favorites:

• I love flowers of any variety, plant themed items, Avocados (to eat as a healthy snack!), Plant themed items (decorations, masks, school supplies, etc.), Home Baked goodies, Reese's Pieces, Cherry Limeade from Sonic, Mocha coffee (with cream from anywhere!), Keurig style K-cups for my classroom coffee maker(dark roast), Frankincense, Lavender, Tea Tree oil scented items (such as bath salt, oils, homemade candles, cleaning sprays, etc.), Gift cards to restaurants, Dollar Tree!!!, Amazon or Target.