Greetings!
My name is Stephanie Feeman. I just started my 4th year teaching 3rd grade at a school that represents 33 different languages. Our district is kindergarten-8th grade. Southern Illinois is incredibly rural with very little diversity. However, when you enter our school you would never have know where we were located. Our district strives to include students from all walks of life. Diversity is celebrated and we see being different as being special. My classroom is a co-taught special-ed classroom with 26 students from all different backgrounds. My teaching partner and I focus on engagement and genuine thought in the classroom and we both just completed our ESL Endorsement to make our classroom even more inclusive. We try to make every day better than the last and make our time with them as enjoyable as possible. Personally, I understand what it may feel like to have an disfunctional home life. I have seen many students come to school each day and not want to go home. I truly strive to make my classroom feel like it is their home away from home. We don't tolerate negativity towards each other and we encourage each other to try new things everyday. Last year, I held a fundraiser to implement flexible seating. This has completely changed the environment of our learning community. We brought in tables and took out the desk. We replaced the normal chairs with yoga balls, wobble stools, and comfortable cushions. Our room is a little chaotic at times, but that is just proof that our students are learning! For more information, feel free to check out my classroom website!
My Classroom Website
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| Photo courtesy of S. Feeman |
Personally, I am originally from a suburb of St. Louis called Belleville but I relocated after high school to Southern Illinois in 2009 for college. It seems like the rest is history. Southern Illinois wrapped me up and I never left. I am the youngest of 4 children. Collectively, I have 3 nieces and 1 nephew. My old niece and nephew just started kindergarten. My 2 year old nieces are twins and right behind them. My mother passed away 4 years ago after a courageous battle with Colon Cancer. This happened to me the night after my first day of student teaching. I believe that is part of the reason I worked so hard and made so many connections with the school I worked at. They hired me two weeks after I graduated. My mother was a one of a kind woman and always tried to make everyone feel loved and supported. It is because of her that I manage my classroom the way I do. My mom loved every child she met. Even the most unlovable children had a special place in her heart. That is how I feel when I get to know the students at my school. I believe each child is special in their own way and just want to be loved. I graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2013 with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in English/Language Arts. I am currently finishing my Masters of Arts in Education at Dominican University. My boyfriend have been together for almost 2 years and we recently bought our first home with our two year old dog named Lorelai. Lorelai is a husky terrier mix. She is my favorite thing to come home too and the best dog I know. For fun I enjoy spending time with friends, and pretty much anything outdoors. Southern Illinois offers everything from kayaking to hiking and everything in between. It truly is a beautiful place to live. We just experienced our first total eclipse in Southern Illinois, and in 7 years we'll get to experience another one. If that isn't the perfect example of what makes this place so wonderful, I am not sure what is.
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| Photo courtesy S.Feeman |
Stephanie, your classroom must have unique challenges in a school with so many languages! I got to co teach last year with a special education teacher in my 4th grade classroom (during our ELA block only) and I loved it! It was certainly difficult having such diverse needs, but I loved having another person to bounce ideas off of. I also loved watching how much the students grew socially, academically, and emotionally. It was so rewarding to get to be a part of that. I looked at your classroom website and you have some great resources there.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!
~Sarah Arnold
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteI had huskies growing up, but they were all so much lighter in color than Lorelai. Must be the terrier showing through. They're such wonderfully social dogs, though.
Thanks for sharing the story about your mom. I can see how her influence has really shaped the kind of teacher you've become.
Regarding your flexible seating, with the increasing use of technology in education and children's lives in general, it's nice to recognize the importance of tactile experiences in learning.
Thanks for including the link to your classroom page. I love the positive vibe about your classroom and how you took the initiative to bring in flexible seating. Good stuff! I, too, lost my mom 5 years ago so like you I can relate. Looking forward to helping you find new ways to bring technology to your little learners!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of flexible seating! This is so important for our kiddos and being able to have access to flexible seating can benefit children academically. I love that even though during such a hard time, you made it better you and encouraged you to run the classroom the way you do! I can't wait to hear more about your co-teaching, this is something I would love to do one day but have not been able to get anyones insights of what it is like.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story about your mom. I'm sure she's proud of the work you're doing with your students and the positive energy you bring to them! Your students seem to be similar to my students. I work with students who are in foster care so I always strive to make their school experience exciting and fun as well. I like how you implemented flexible seating into your classroom, it's amazing how beneficial this is to your students different ways of learning!
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