"Greetings!

I'm Katherine.

I entered the field of education following my retirement from the military. I worked as a special education instructional assistant before getting licensure to teach prekindergarten - 6th grade. I taught in both general education and inclusion classrooms for 9 years, working mostly with 4th and 5th graders. I have also been tutoring small groups of students for 4 years. I was recognized by Isle of Wight County as their 2021-2022 Elementary School Teacher of the Year. Additionally, I was singled out by my school administration for my innovative lessons and contributions to students and school community.

My specialties are reading, writing, and social studies, but I am also experienced in teaching elementary school math and school science. While in the military, I volunteered teaching economics and financial literacy to kindergarten through high school students. I have experience working with students with emotional disabilities, reading and learning disabilities, mild to moderate autism, ADD/ADHD (medicated and non-medicated), hearing loss, speech concerns, diabetes, epilepsy, and gifted abilities.

One of my primary teaching strengths is building relationships with my students. This is critical because I set high standards for all of my students and push them to achieve these standards. With a strong relationship, I can often move students past even where they thought they could go. I am a strong advocate of incorporating games and technology to enhance student learning and provide a more personalized learning experience. I constantly seek out new techniques to reach my students from both my colleagues and my students themselves.

In addition to my college degrees, I have completed IMSE's Orton Gillingham Training, Level 1 LETRS training, and two SIM programs through the University of Kansas (Summarizing/Paraphrasing and Word-Mapping)." less...