My name is Tina Welch. I am a second grade teacher from Marietta, Georgia. This will be my tenth year as an elementary school teacher. Prior to my teaching career, I held several positions at the local post office in my community. The money was great, but the hours were long. I also had to work over the weekends and holidays. In some strange way, I believe that my career at the post office has conditioned me to look forward to the day when all U.S. schools will operate on a year-round schedule.
I have always liked school. I can remember playing school with my childhood neighbors and friends. Little did I know just how differentiated my play classroom was then, because none of my play students had the same textbooks (smile). I can also remember going shopping with my mom, and preferring to shop for school supplies, rather than toys. One of my uncles even bought me an old fashion school desk. All of my childhood memories are related to school.
One of my favorite elementary school teachers was Mrs. Richardson. She was sweet, but firm with all of her students. Unfortunate for my fellow 5th grade classmates, we had a bad little boy in our classroom who took up most of Mrs. Richardson time. However, I admired how she managed to keep him under control and teach the remainder us who wanted to learn. I can remember thinking on a daily bases, that this would be the day that Mrs. Richardson would kick William out of the classroom, but she never did. Many of my 5th grade classmates still live in my community. I have seen them over the years at reunions and local school events. We often talk about Mrs. Richardson and how patient she was back then. William is now a successful, proud father and grandfather. I believe Mrs. Richardson’s love and patients somehow contributed to his success. I have learned to pattern my teaching style after Mrs. Richardson.
