Kansas State University

Lori Goodson, Editor
Mary Hammel, Technical Editor

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Name: Brianna (Hammond) Fibelkorn

Position: USD 259

City/State: Wichita, KS

Class/content area taught: Second grade

What you are most excited about with your new career: I am excited to finally put everything I’ve learned over the past 4 ½ years to the ultimate test. I am most excited to be among other professionals who LOVE their job and have a passion for people! It’s also exciting being among the youth of the upcoming generation; knowing I have a small and mighty impact on them for the year I get them in the classroom. So… lots to be excited for!!!

What you enjoy most about teaching: My favorite thing about teaching is the continuous growth it provides to me. Each day I’m given multiple decisions I must make instantly or within a short period of time. Each time I make a decision, the outcome teaches me and grows me and shapes me into a better professional. I love the opportunities for professional growth and personal growth. Both adults and kids are helping to mold me into my best self and that is what I love about teaching.

In what ways has your school/district supported you? I am thankful for my peer consultant that my district has provided for me. My district also provides inservices just for new teachers. At these inservices they provide us resources, a place to collaborate, and a check in with other teachers going through the same first year process.

Ways KSU especially helped prepare you for your new career: Specific things that helped prepare me for teaching in the classroom include peer teaching, practicum assignments, and unit planning assignments. Teaching to my peers back in college helped prepare me for presenting to other colleagues during staff meetings or team meetings. My practicum assignments really built up my tool box of teaching techniques and management ideas for this first year. And finally, learning how to write my own unit plan helped provide an outline and sequence of how to write one now that I’m in the classroom.

Are there specifics about your background that make teaching the perfect fit for you? Something I love about my back story, is that I don’t have any family members that are/were teachers. Teaching is the perfect fit for me because it’s my passion that was instilled in me from a teacher way back in 2^nd grade. I love that my pursuit of an education degree came after trying out 3 other majors, but teaching always found its way back to the forefront. I found out teaching was the perfect fit for me when I met my best friends in educational psychology class and found joy in writing lesson plans! I love this job!

Suggestions/encouragement for new teachers: This year, my mantra has been accredited to one of Franklin Covey’s paradigm shifts:Change starts with me.
I chose this to remind me to stay away from the negatives and politics that may come with education. This paradigm helps keep my focus on the big rocks of life: my kids, my classroom, my colleagues, my school. If I want change to happen, I must first start with myself.

 Other thoughts: Leaving you with my favorite quote:

“Be a fountain, not a drain.” – Rex Hudler

It’s March—which means spring rain (maybe?), a much-deserved break (hopefully you were able to make a stop or two in the Little Apple), and assessments! While you may be putting in a few extra minutes in your classes reviewing material for the tests, it’s also a good time for you to consider the achievements your students have made—whether they show up on a test score or not.

As your students take the assessments, know that you have done your best. If you’ve kept a journal for reflection, now’s the time to spend a few minutes flipping through the pages and seeing just how far your students—and you as a teacher—have come.

Take time to reflect upon your teaching, how you’ve prepared your students for these assessment and, most importantly, for succeeding in your class and with your content. Flip through your past lesson plans and make note of what works and what didn’t, what needs improvement and what was successful.

As assessment results come in, make use of that data. Use the results to see how your students have progressed and to determine what general areas you may need to spend more time on or approach in a different way.

Do not, however, judge your teaching abilities based on assessment results. Assessments are only part of the picture regarding your students’ achievements. Ideally, testing would be an absolute way to judge your abilities to help students learn. But veteran teachers and administrators know other factors affect how your students do on the tests.

As you move through the school year, don’t miss a thing! Be a part of EdCATS!

We want to help beginning and early career teachers like you thrive in your career! Check out #WeAreEdCats for teaching tips and to stay in touch with the COE! Check out the website at coe.k-state.edu/forever-edcats.

We asked some of your favorite Curriculum and Instruction professors, “What do you think is most enjoyable about teaching this age level/content area?” We think you’ll find their responses provide you with a few smiles…and some motivation to keep up your good work in the classroom.

Dr. Brad Burenheide (Secondary Social Studies)— “Everything. The content, the kids, it is intellectually stimulating and enjoyable.”

Kaylee Myers (Elementary Education)— “The students, of course. They bring a smile to my face, especially each morning when they walk in ready to go and a new day has begun.

Cyndi Kuhn (Technology)— “I love technology, and there are so many options and always a new one. Embrace them.”

Dr. Sherri Martinie (Secondary Math)— “There are so many applications of the content to the real world. There are definitely opportunities to be creative teaching math. It is also very rewarding when students that have struggled with math start to make sense of things and enjoy learning the subject.”

Dr. Tonnie Martinez (Secondary Language Arts)— “I always loved when a student would say, “I hate English class.” I would tell them, ‘If you still don’t like it at the end of the semester, I’ll give you your money back!’ It broke the ice, and sometimes I was shocked when one of the “haters” came in during the last week of school and told me they didn’t want their money back and they liked English now.”

Dr. Tom Vontz (Social Studies)— “The honest and sometimes inaccurate and funny interpretations of the world that come from the mouths of little kids.”

Dr. Vicki Sherbert (Secondary English/Language Arts, Speech/Theatre, Journalism)— “We get to bring exciting literacy experiences to our students. Sharing our enthusiasm about books, authors, poetry, drama, etc. with our students is critical to help them develop their own literate lives.”

Dr. Phillip Payne (Music Education)— “The most enjoyable part for me is to see students developing their love and knowledge of music. They learn to take ownership of their musicality and to see that is immensely gratifying.”

What’s up?

Why don’t you send us a photo of you at work in your classroom! Or, do you have a question about classroom procedures? A suggestion for a topic we should address in Before the Bell? Want to add your name to our mailing list? Or provide a different email for our list? At the very least, just email and say hi!

Early-career teachers, feel free to jump in and offer suggestions to those who are following your career choice!

We’d love to hear from you, so please email us at lagoodson@k-state.edu.

Go, COE Cats!

Believe it or not, spring AND the final weeks of your school year are within reach! OK–it’s Kansas, so I can’t promise the spring thing, but I CAN promise that you only have a few more weeks for the 2019-20 school year.

We want you to make the most of those final weeks. To help out, here are some of the topics we’re going to be addressing in the April issue:

• The Home Stretch (that sounds good, doesn’t it?)
• Cool Things about Your Secondary Content
• Wrapping Up Your First Year