Shelly Fryer is the type of teacher, and person, that I aspire to be someday. Shelly's main title is a third and fourth grade teacher in Oklahoma, but she is so much more than that. On her blog, Shelly says that her "passion is helping her students love learning" and that passion is evident through her work at an elementary school that caters solely to homeless children. Shelly has been teaching for over twenty years and she believes highly in integrating the arts and technology into classrooms.
In Shelly's latest blog post, "The First Weeks of School" she reflects on how important the first few weeks back to school are for the students and gives some of the strategies that she uses. The first thing, in Shelly's opinion, is to make the physical classroom an inviting and comforting environment for the students. If the teacher is going to expect for his/her students to open up and actively participate in class then they have to be comfortable with their surroundings. Shelly also comments on how important it is not to academically overwhelm students in the first few weeks of school; rather, she incorporates academics into fun games and activities so the students can ease back into school and she can learn some personal things about her students, such as their learning style, how they interact with others, and what frustrates them.
If you would like to read more about Shelly's classroom you can check out her class website and you can also follow her on Twitter.