“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
Kara Kreitlein, a rising second grade teacher at Willow Oaks Elementary School, lives by this quote every day. She originally studied journalism at Arkansas Tech University but came to realize that journalism wasn’t her life’s calling. So she changed her major to early childhood education.
Graduating in 2011, she went on to join the Teach for America program. “I was drawn to their message that no matter a child’s race, socioeconomic status, or geographical location, they deserve a quality education,” she says, adding that Memphis was her first choice for a community in which to serve.
In 2012, she relocated to Memphis, interviewed with Shelby County Schools, and landed a job with Lucy Campbell Elementary School teaching kindergarten. “I joined the team during the first year of the school’s implementation of the iZone model,” she says. The iZone — or Innovation Zone — is a program aimed at turning around underperforming schools, moving them from the bottom 5 percent of schools, achievement-wise, to at least 25 percent by means of high-quality teachers and principals, extended learning days, and a direct support team.
Once Kreitlein saw to her first school’s turnaround, she saw an ad on Facebook about a teaching opportunity in Shanghai, China. “I love traveling,” she says. “So, on a whim, I applied for it.” She was accepted, and she moved on to work teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to children ages 3 to 16 years old.
“I didn’t want to be in China forever, though,” she says. “I just needed a bit of a breather, and I needed to regroup. I was ready to come back to the United States.”
Once she returned, Kreitlein got a job with Willow Oaks Elementary School, where she still works today. “Half of our student population is Spanish-speaking,” she says. “So all of those skills I learned in China, like how to communicate and create a vocabulary-rich curriculum, transferred to my ability to teach my ESL students here.”
Although some teachers at Willow Oaks specialize in teaching ESL one-on-one to children, teachers like Kreitlein incorporate full-immersion techniques into their general lessons. “ESL students are mixed in with native English speakers,” she says. “Giving them opportunities to work together on online group projects or activities really helps them pick up on language. This way, they learn how to use the language naturally in conversation versus me drilling them with vocabulary words.”
Kreitlein says her favorite subject to teach is phonics. “I love seeing that ah-ha moment where students are beginning to make sense of what they’re reading and are able to put down on paper what they’re speaking,” she says.
Kreitlein makes a point to revolve her curriculum around students’ abilities and interests, often thinking on the spot as she goes. “For instance, if a kid shows an interest in fireflies, I’ll go down a rabbit hole of teaching them about bioluminescent creatures or nocturnal animals,” she says. “You can’t be afraid to jump off that path for a second and show them how to look for something that they’re interested in.”
Educating children can be a puzzle. “You have to be very crafty as a teacher to figure it out,” she says. “Where is the time? Where are the resources? How can I get my kids what they need?”
During the 2018-19 school year, Kreitlein noticed that only three of her students purchased books at the school’s book fair. So she took it upon herself to rig up her own version of a book fair. “I decided I’d create a mock book fair and provide students books for free,” she says. “I created a wish list on Amazon and posted it to a Facebook group. People shared my cause, and 150 books were donated. The kids loved it. Every one of them picked up books and sat down to read them.”
What has Kreitlein taken away from her teaching career so far? “The most important thing is to put your students first,” she says. “There’s no one way to teach. You really have to tune in to what your students need and be able to be flexible with that.”
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