Iam a first year teacher for third grade at Union Academy. I went through my student teaching at Pace University, and  student taught in the third and fourth grade in the Bronx, in New York City. I have worked as an EC teacher for six months at Union Academy, before teaching third grade.  I love children and animals.  Although I am not a mom yet, I have two  furry children my dogs, who I love very much.

  My teaching philosophy is based around the idea that all children can learn and possess great character. Children’s learning needs to be enhanced through experiences. I feel strongly about balanced learning, and work hard to incorporate it in my lessons.

     Learning has to be fun for children to want to learn.  Sharyn works hard to keep students busy and challenged.  She has made many learning centers to help enrich her math and reading curriculum.  These activities can be used when students finish their work, or as group activities to review skills learned in class.  Her class makes vocabulary flashcards weekly to practice meanings of new words.  They all made multiplication flashcards to use daily at school and home.  Sharyn uses individual whiteboards for children to practice cursive, spelling words, or daily math problems.  It’s a great way to keep all on task.  Sharyn enjoys playing the piano so has taped many educational songs to use with her curriculum such as songs about nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, bones, muscles, and gravity.  She initiated game activities for parents to lead in 3 different 5 week cycles.  Her latest math games included playing war with a deck of cards to multiply, playing Yahtzee, Multiplication Bingo, rolling dice to multiply, and playing Tic, Tac, Toe with flashcards.  Fact speed always increases when learning is fun.  At the end of science and social studies units Sharyn has created games that involve teamwork.     A favorite drama activity each year is to prepare a puppet show of Charlotte’s Web.  Students design their own puppets and perform for our K buddies, our parents, and the local library.  Another fun activity is to select a leader of the day and share daily trivia questions.  Science can be so much fun when we go outside to measure trees to determine their ages, watch seeds germinate, make sundials to explain the movement of the sun, watch the moon phases change over a period of a month and watch the effects of pollution on plant life. 

     Sharyn loves the fact that Union Academy supports character education.  How can you possibly teach without it?  Character traits are posted on the wall and talked about daily.  Free homework passes are issued to students who show good character all week.  3 passes will earn ice cream, 5 will earn a paperback book, and 1 can be exchanged for a prize, inviting a friend from another class to lunch, skipping morning work, or skipping homework for one night.  Students really love those rewards!  She also has a compliment jar in the room for her students to praise good character that she may not have noticed.  We read them at the end of the day.   

     Sharyn realizes how we must prepare our kids for the future.  With all of the problems in the economy, the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States, and the new emphasis on technology it is imperative that we adapt to these changes.  Children must be taught the value of money, they must acquire computer skills to be marketable and become more aware of global issues.  Sharyn spends a lot of time reading news and sharing current events with her class that pertain to issues we are studying.    

     It has truly been a joy to teach at Union Academy. All students must be accountable for their actions.  Our daily motto says, “At Union Academy I promise to do the right thing even when no one is looking.”  Sharyn firmly believes that education is 50% academics and 50% character.  Our students will lead in world because they have character.