Hello! I am Ms Morgan. I will be your kindergarten teacher for the 2010 - 2011 school year. Although I have been teaching for upwards of 28 years, I still get excited every September. That's because teaching for me is about the relationships I form with the children and parents. Each new school year is an opportunity for me to meet new friends.I am one of the founders of SCDDS. We began work on this school in 1999, while I was at the Unitarian Cooperative Preschool. Our goal, then as now, was to collaborate with families in providing a learning environment where curiosity and creativity were valued and where each member, child or adult, was respected and given a place to grow. Since that time, our community has blossomed with new ideas and opportunities. My hope is that each of you will find a way to connect and blossom too.
Prior to teaching at the Unitarian, I taught at both public and private schools here in San Diego. I was a Montessori teacher for 3 years and have also taken classes at the Waldorf college in Fair Oaks California. I believe that no one method meets the needs of all children. I use a 'smorgasbord' approach, where I start by getting to know each child and using whatever methods will be a good fit. I will talk more about my teaching style and goals when we meet in person.
I was born and grew up near Los Angeles, and went to college in Northern California. I moved to San Diego in 1977. I began teaching in 1980. I have taught many grade levels, but I love kindergarten best. I love the opportunity to help children fall in love with school, to consider it the place they can be their best selves. I also received my Masters in Educational Leadership from USC in the spring of 2008.
My children are Molly, who is eighteen and in college (she graduated from SDCCS in 2006) and John, my partners' son, who was a member of our first kindergarten and is beginning eighth grade this year. Bill, my partner for 11 years, works for the city of San Diego. Our family likes to watch movies, go to museums, read, practice karate (kids) and yoga (me). We LOVE to travel. We have 2 dogs (one lives with John at his Moms' house), and 1 cat, plus the pets in our classroom.
I hope this blog will serve as the start of a conversation between me and all of you parents. In the next few weeks, you will be on the receiving end of a lot of information about SDCCS and our class in particular. I hope you will use me as a resource for answering any questions that may come up. Last year, the parents and I found it useful to have a yahoo group to facilitate day to day communication. At our first meeting we can discuss whether or not you would like to adopt that practice.
To begin: We will be having a get together on Saturday, August 28th at 10 am in our kindergarden playground. This is mainly an opportunity for the children to meet each other and get a look at me and our playground. We won't be spending time in the classroom until I have a chance to get it ready for the school year during the following week (volunteers welcome.) We adults can chat and sign up for class jobs. I will bring lemonade and cups. If any of you would like to bring a snack to share, I will supply plates and napkins. Please RSVP at my school email: morgan@sdccs.org.
See you soon - Ms Morgan
