Stephanie Pierce
 

spierce@aznet.net
5th grade multiple subjects
Cajon Valley School District
Cuyamaca Elementary School
San Diego, CA

Where I've Been

I was born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in San Diego, Ca.  I love living in Southern California.  I have the best of all worlds.  Excellent year around weather and I spend most of my time outdoors.  I have moved to other states, but I always come home.  My husband works in Biotechnology so we live in the hub for this industry.  I won't be moving and that's okay with me. 

My Life as an Educator
 

I found my passion and my mission in life.  This last summer, I taught a class of entering 4th graders that were attending for remediation.  Most of these children are reading significantly below grade level and therefore most grade level materials are incomprehensible.  I was very concerned about the children being grouped together at their same instructional level with no higher level role models.  I spent this last year studying some special education strategies that incorporate multiple modality learning strategies.  It has been a real successful summer.  The students repeated numerous times that they were having a great summer.  I asked them why.  Their response was I really understand what's going on and I don't feel frustrated.  These children reminded me why I felt teaching was a calling.  This next year, I will be teaching 5th grade and I hope that I can experience some of this same success by differentiating the instruction to meet their needs.  I feel heterogeneous grouping is important, but students need time with instruction at their level, too.  It's the old saying of striking a balance
 
 
 
 

When I'm Not Working...

I spend my time playing with an eight and ten year old.  I help at home with homework and enjoy being a mom.  I spend the majority of my free time running.  I run to think and wind down.  I do my best thinking while running.  I love to play tennis so I'm always looking for a partner.  At night I read.  I enjoy a good mystery or scary story.  I have to admit that the majority of the time I do read professional books and children's literature.   As a family we go hiking and camping during the summer.  One of our favorite family adventures is playing at dog beach with Blue (he is collie).

Web Sites I Like

• The EarthCam page provides links to hundreds of live cameras all over the globe
• Yahooligans - a great site for children 
• Blue Web'n - a site for teachers to see some great lessons
• Barnes and Nobel - great place to shop for books can be habit forming
• The S.C.O.R.E. pages provide links to resources for teachers across the curriculum.
• raceplace - great place to find out about the runner's world and up-coming runs