The Arizona Republic will unveil the winners. Here is one:
Lorie Ramirez-Jaquez
Griffith Elementary School
Balsz School District
Kindergarten
1.Describe the moment you wanted to become a teacher.
Since I was little, I always wanted to be a teacher. My mom was
a teacher's aide, and everyone looked up to her and respected her.
My childhood friends would say, "I remember you always had to be the
teacher." I would mimic what my own teachers did.
2.Describe your experience with a teacher you admired when you
were a child and how that influenced you today.
I had a kindergarten teacher who was just so sweet. She just
made you really want to go to school, and she looked like she was
happy with what she was doing.
3.What is the most common mistake made in the classroom by
veteran teachers?
Sometimes they get caught up in the same routine. That's really
easy to do. There are so many new things coming out all the time.
You've got to make sure you keep up with the new things and not get
stuck in a routine.
4.What's the most important thing about educating children that
parents don't understand?
You need to sit with them and listen to how their day was and
what they learned in school. Not just that it was "fine" or they
"didn't learn anything." If you get some good detail, it helps keep
them updated on their learning. It's reinforcing what they're
learning, and making sure they're keeping up with it. In my class, I
have a lot of Spanish-speaking students, so it helps them to
practice the sounds. I have a lot of parents who only speak Spanish.
Sometimes I make CDs for them so they can hear the sounds, too.
5.How do the requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act and
Arizona LEARNS affect your teaching?
Sometimes (the requirements) don't take into consideration where
the students come from. It's hard for (English-learning students) to
keep up. Most of my kids don't go to preschool, so I'm pretty much
the first person they see, and they've never had to speak English.
There's a bigger need there, and it's hard for them to keep up.
- Meghan E. Moravcik