My name is Debbie Lauderdale. I was born in 1951, have a Masters from University of Texas and have taught 35 years (fifteen of those at Forest Trail Elementary).

To help you begin to know me, I'd like to share five fundamentals upon which I build my year's instruction:

• Each child is unique. Each possesses their own abilities, interests, talent, learning style and pace. That's the fun part. I'd be quickly bored if they were all alike. 

• Each child is gifted. They just open their packages at different times. Like adults, children have a range of differences within and minds that are better at some things than others. 

• Learning that lasts is as authentic and is embedded in meaningful experiences. I try to make these experiences as pleasant as possible. Learning underwritten by feelings will endure and find their use in the years ahead.

• Kids need a good, relaxed teacher who knows about the rough edges of growth. 

• Children need a partnership between school and home that builds a bridge strong enough to support them. YOU have to teach your child that he/she is a very special person. I have to teach them that they are an important part of a group that has to work together and get along. We both have big jobs to do. Children feel secure when they know the important people in their lives are pulling together. 

        I was recently interviewed by EEF and asked to answer some questions about myself. I thought you might like to see my answers.

                What is the most outrageous thing you’ve done to get student’s attention? The trick is not to be outrageous because that just has to escalate until your colleagues wonder about your sanity. It’s better if you guide your students to notice certain body language, an over the glasses glance or a clearing of the throat.  However, admittedly I do pretend to pull out my hair by the roots and stab myself in the heart when they forget to put a name on their paper - again!

        What’s the difference between a good day and a great day? A good day has few interruptions, no money to collect, no drill, no assembly, no individual photo schedule, so that I actually get to teach.  A great day is when a child understands something or can do something they previously couldn’t and they are proud of themselves, so it’s a great day for them, too.

        The school project I’m most proud of? More an endeavor than a project, I’m proud of teaching decades of children to write because teaching kids how to write is teaching them how to think. Even though lots of the things I’m teaching them now will be “old school” before long, I don’t believe the ability to think clearly will. And, writing is such a metaphor for life. There’s a time to turn off your inner critic.  Yet you can’t use every idea that pops into your head, so you have to filter and prioritize. Your writing and your life should be filled with your own voice and personality without becoming shrill, monotonous, or arrogant. Finally, writing and life are both hard, hard work but well worth the effort.

        What have I learned from my students? I’ve learned that humans have great capacity for change in a nurturing environment. I’ve learned that the things we do for others help us more. I want to be just like my students when I grow up; tender-hearted, able to laugh easily, filled with energy,  willing to try things never done before, and not just able to absorb, but be delighted by new ideas.

        What is my favorite part of the school year? The end. But not for the obvious reason.  In May, we teach a month long marine biology unit.  We teach big ideas like -There’s really just one ocean with fragile ecosystems, many of which depend on a keystone creature, without which they could not survive. After all our lessons and discussion and hands- on learning, we take the whole fourth grade on an overnight trip to the Texas coast to see, and smell and touch our “one ocean”. Then, on the way home, exhausted, I usually realize that the bus is full of keystone creatures of my little world and I’m very grateful that I do what I do.

          Well, if you’ve read this far, you must be a very committed parent (which is just the kind I like! So we’re off to a good start!)

Each new school year is exciting and challenging to me. It is like a treasure chest I open and unpack all year long. I am delighted to have your precious child in my class and look forward to getting to know your family.

                                                                        Debbie Lauderdale