Introducing Jill Scott

Hello Teacher Friends. My name is Jill Scott, and before you get too excited, I feel I should tell you up front that I’m not the famous one. I am, however, happy to be here on Inspired Teacher, although looking around I wonder if I might be a little professionally immature for a site as classy as this. I guess if you don’t like me you can vote me off the island, right?

Does anyone want to form an alliance with me right now, before things get ugly?

See what I mean? I’m professionally immature. I’ll try to stick with the program though and do what I came here to do today, and that is to tell you a little about myself.  Here goes . . .

I live in Idaho, I’m married and have two little girls, ages 8 and 10. I teach sixth grade in an elementary school setting, I craft and create whenever I can, I like to organize, and I have a little blog which, surprisingly, people visit to read my yackity yack. If you so desire, you can read more of my yackity yack at www.controllingmychaos.com.

What is your educational background?

I received my B.A. in Liberal Studies, so intellectual, I know, with a Minor in Mathematics. In the beginning I hated math, but my husband convinced me that I needed to minor in that, or science, to make myself more marketable. I picked math as the lesser of two evils, and ended up falling in love with it. I graduated from California State University, Hayward (now CSU, East Bay), and completed a fifth year Teacher Credential Program at the same university after receiving my B.A.

What is one of your favorite things about teaching?

It’s the money, for sure. I love it.

Actually, I just remembered, I only get paid 10 cents an hour, so I retract that statement.

If it’s not the money then it has to be the kids. They make me laugh every day, and I am so inspired by their amazing and unique personalities. That, and I like to make people listen to me and boss them around. It makes me feel powerful.

What books/resources have shaped you or would you recommend to other teachers?

Well, I am a Control Freak, so I would have to say that just about any of the classroom management books by Rick Morris have been an inspiration to me. I am always changing things and trying to make my classroom a more efficient, comfortable, and visually appealing environment. Geez, those things don’t even go together, do they? However, that pretty much describes me, although perhaps I am a little ADD in my pursuits. Wait a minute. What was the question?

What aspect of education are you most passionate about today?

You couldn’t ask an easy question, could you? I’m passionate about different things on any given day, but if I had to pick one, it would be aligning my curriculum to the Common Core Standards. I am very excited about implementing a focused and effective curriculum geared towards success for my students.

What is a favorite inspirational quote that encourages you to teach with intention?

My favorite inspirational quote is really for my students and it is from Winnie the Pooh. This is how it goes:

Promise me you’ll always remember:

You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.

Christopher Robin to Pooh

It says exactly what I want my students to believe about themselves.

What advice would you give a younger teacher?

Ignore all the glossy pages in the textbooks, and focus on culling the content that follows the standards. There’s so much fluff in our textbooks, that it’s overwhelming when you’re just trying to survive that first year. You can’t do everything, so just focus on doing your best at teaching the standards. Also, eat lunch with other teachers. They are your best support system and you need to talk to them every day. They will help to keep you centered.

Tell us a few random things about yourself. . . .

Hmmm . . . do you promise to still respect me?

I loathe camping because I dislike dirt, I secretly stack the plastic bowls in my cupboard in rainbow order when no one is looking, and my idea of a perfect vacation is to be Alone in My House. Oh yeah, and I like to give people nicknames. For example, I call my husband Peanut Head and as a result many people don’t even know what his real name is.

Hopefully no one is running away screaming before I have a chance to do my first post. I’ll be B-A-A-A-A-CK.