Let me introduce myself…

I will start by saying that my approach here is not to be generic. My thought was to start with “Hello. My name is Teri, and I am a high school teacher”, as if I was a participant at an AA meeting. But I have never approached my profession generically; in fact, part of my philosophy when entering the field of education was to NOT be a standard, “as expected”, social studies teacher. So, instead of providing you with a run-down of my credentials, here is what I’d like to share:

History has always fascinated me. If you judged me on the surface, you may never take me for a history geek, but it is a title that I honor and hope to bestow upon the thousands of students who have left or will leave my classroom. In my 14+ years of teaching, here are some things that my students and fellow teachers have said about me (well, at least to my face):

Student- “Oh my gosh, you are so loud that I can hear you from the cafeteria.” Me: “A bonus social studies lesson for you. You’re welcome.”

Teacher- “Oh no. Is it Trashketball day? Can you at least shut your door please??!” Me: “Sure.”

Student- “You dress like there’s a fashion show everyday. Don’t you get sick of it?” Me: “No. In fact, I use the hallway as my own personal runway.”

As a secondary social studies teacher, my goal was to change the way that traditional history classes were taught, and to make things that may not seem so interesting, interesting. It was also important to me to truly be myself throughout. Kids are pretty astute; they can sniff out a fraud from a mile away, and this is especially true for adolescents. I have taught city kids, and country kids. I have had beautiful moments, and challenging moments. I have said “WHY did I choose this profession?!” and I have said “I have the best profession in the world”. I respect and appreciate education and educators, and I would not change my experiences for anything. Although I have maintained my identity throughout, I have evolved as a professional. I have always worked hard at… uh-oh, I’m about to do it… being the best that I can be (sorry, I thought that it would seem like I was trying too hard to avoid saying that, so I just said it). But it’s true. And I let the people sitting in my classroom everyday steer my professional growth.

Along the way, I have created some pretty incredible lessons and resources. I have learned that sometimes you don’t need to re-invent the wheel, while other times, you do. I am using this platform to share these resources and experiences with like-minded educators in the hopes that I can alleviate your burden just a bit.

I will be “Blogging”… wait. Can I just say that I never thought I’d be a “Blogger”? Hmm.

Let me start again. I will be posting blogs regularly with teaching strategies, experiences, and helpful classroom resources. I would love if you fed my ego a bit, and joined me along the way. Please reach out if there is anything that you would like to share, or with questions that you may have. And THANK YOU for reading all the way to the very end of my first blog ever!

Teri

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Hi! I’m Teri, a.k.a. the “Mad Historian”. I enjoy fitness, heels, and history, but most of all, I love creating effective classroom resources and sharing my strategies.

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