My name is Beth Rigsbee and I am a second grade teacher at General Greene Elementary in Greensboro. I have taught first, second and third grade, but most of my 14 years of experience have been in second grade. I am Nationally Board Certified and am about half way through the ASU mater’s program. I am currently on maternity leave and am planning to return to work in August. I have 12 week old baby boy at home an am enjoying being a new parent.
I visit my class often and even go on field trips with them. Our school is a magnet school, which means students from all over Guilford County attend and are chosen by a lottery system. Our focus is on science and technology, but we teach the entire NCSCOS curriculum. Each grade goes on approximately 15 field trips per year that center around the science curriculum. My students are taught thematically based on the science curriculum and literature. We incorporate technology through weekly lessons in the lab and small group lessons in the classroom.
My literacy learning was very cut and dry. My class was divided into reading groups and the teachers had us sit in circles and we read out of our designated reading book. Once you were in a group, it was unlikely that you would change. I never enjoyed reading, but seemed to read fairly well. I never remember a teacher reading a book out loud to me or even encouraging a particular book to read. My mom was an avid reader and read many books to me as a child. I read when I had to for school or homework, but never read a book just for the joy of reading. That continues today in my reading. I read adult books when necessary for work or school, but rarely for pleasure. I do love children's literature and enjoy reading new children's books.
Writing was an area that I seemed to enjoy as a child. I had a fourth grade teacher who really made writing fun. We shared stories with our class and even read stories to other classes. All fifth graders in my elementary school participated in May Day activities that involved singing and performing plays. I can remember singing and dancing around the May Pole, but I have very few memories of being in plays although I do have pictures of me dressed as various book characters. Acting was never my cup of tea, but I enjoyed singing and dancing and continued it through high school in a song and dance group.
My strengths seem to be in organization and planning. I do not see myself as an actor in a play or having the spotlight on myself. I don’t have a fear of performing, but it is not a comfortable area for me. Writing seems to also be an area of strength in displaying my literacy learning. I hope that my students benefit from the joy of children’s literature that has become apparent in my adult life. Each year I try to take time to just share good books with students to encourage them in an area that I was not encouraged as a child – to just read for the pleasure of reading, not just for a school assignment.