Thank you to authors Claire Marie & Meredith Rusu for providing books for this feature. This post contains Amazon Associates links.
Last month, we hosted a
Teacher of the Month giveaway as part of the
Teacher Feature Blog Hop. This giveaway was open exclusively to teachers for a chance to be named the Teacher Feature "Teacher of the Month" for October 2023! The prize up for grabs was $70 in Amazon gift cards, children's books donated by authors
Meredith Rusu and
Claire Marie, and a Q&A about the winner's experiences in education along with a link to their Amazon wishlist shared by all the Teacher Feature Blog Hop Participants to
raise awareness and encourage donations.
The
winning teacher was drawn last week, and so we're pleased to introduce you to the Teacher of the Month for October 2023: Dawn! Get to know Dawn through the interview below, and please consider either
making a small donation or
sharing this post to help us raise awareness - both are a huge help and go a long way towards helping us clear the list for teachers!
And October 10th-11th is the perfect time to donate because it's Amazon Prime Big Deal Days and you can snag amazing discounts on the items teachers need most!
Teacher of the Month October 2023: Dawn Snow
[caption id="attachment_268193" align="alignnone" width="300"]
A photo from Dawn's classroom[/caption]
Tell us a little about yourself:
My name is Dawn Snow. This is my second year as a PreK teacher. I live in southern Illinois with my husband, two dogs, and two boys.
What inspired you to get into education?
I babysat a lot growing up then later worked at a daycare after my children were born. Through a TEACH scholarship, I was able to get my Associate's of Arts and take childcare classes. When my oldest started school, I started volunteering in his class to have children read to me. This led to me getting a job as a paraprofessional at Salem Elementary. I was there for fourteen years when I was told about an opportunity for the Grow Your Own Teacher Grant. I applied and was chosen for it, so I started taking classes at SIU Carbondale working towards a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education with Special Ed approval. Last August, I was hired by Regional Office of Education #13 to be a PreK teacher. I love children and love my job!
Can you share a little about your classroom?
I have an AM and a PM class. I currently have twenty eight students. My students are three to five years old. We use the Creative Curriculum. The curriculum is developmentally appropriate and follows the Illinois Early Learning Standards. We cover language, mathematics, science; social studies; physical health and development, fine arts, foreign language, and social and emotional development.
[caption id="attachment_268195" align="alignnone" width="225"]
An activity Dawn did with her students while learning about colors and emotions: "I read 'The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions' book to my students, they placed their name under the monster that matched their emotions, they did a pom pom color sort with the Color Monster tubes, and also played an emotions monster matching game with a partner."[/caption]
What was your most rewarding moment as a teacher?
The most rewarding moments as a teacher for me are; hugs and smiles from the littles, having parents tell me their children love school, watching a child grasp a concept that they have been struggling with, and having parents tell me that they are glad that I am their child's teacher.
What will you use your gift card prize for?
I will use the gift card for classroom supplies such as; craft sticks, stick glue, bottle glue, construction paper, beads, pipe cleaners, stickers, cleaning supplies, paper towels, Kleenex, crayons, markers, watercolor paint, and washable paint. We do receive a credit card at the beginning of the year through my employer to help offset some of this cost, but the children use a lot of these supplies during our small group instruction and at their art center time. We also go through paper towels and cleaning supplies quickly. During snack time, we use a lot of paper towels for spills and we clean after morning and afternoon snack in addition to cleaning at the end of our day.
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days October 10th-11th: Save BIG on Classroom Wishlist Items!
October 10th through the 11th is the perfect time to
make a donation to Dawn and other teachers because of
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days! Most items on teacher classroom wishlists are already inexpensive: For example, Dawn's wishlist includes things like Elmer's Glue and beads, which are only a few dollars to begin with; pair that with the smoking deals going on during Prime Big Deal Days, and you can make an educator's day for the cost of a coffee.
If you're wondering why so many teachers are in need of donations, please
click here to read Contest Corner's article that goes in-depth on the topic and includes interviews with several teachers. Some educators aren't given basic supplies like paper, while others dig into their own pockets to buy snacks for underprivileged children who don't get breakfast at home; the reasons vary, but the need is great. And although most individual items are affordable, when you have to buy enough for an entire classroom, it adds up
very fast - some teachers have even gone into debt in order to provide for their students. If each of us contributes a small amount, we could collectively
clear the list, so please join us and
help teachers by
donating and/or sharing this post!
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