001My name is Madison Heaman and I teach at Silverdale Elementary. I actually started in the district at Seabeck elementary before it closed. Wound up in another school district for a little bit in back for, eighth grade through 12th grade at Klahowya Really enjoyed, finishing up there doing running start and then going off to Pacific Lutheran University and then doing my teaching degree through WGU. Afterwards, while I was doing that, I was subbing with the district to really see if I liked being inside of classrooms. Found that I really enjoyed being inside of classrooms and came back to work as a teacher in our district. I started teaching five years ago here at Silverdale Elementary, so this was my first school and it still the school I love the most. Honestly, having gone to school here
002and just having different connections with people that I remember and I really remembered having a positive, like having a great I'm going to school here and wanted to come back since I knew this area well and I felt comfortable here. My mom was an educator, my dad's mom was a teacher for a little bit as well, and I when I was growing up, I was like, I don't want to be a teacher. I don't want to be. And then my first job was working with kids, teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding. And then I continued working, like helping with things with kids and working with them and then running a summer camp for a little bit and then subbing. And I was like, oh no, I'm good at this. I like this. It's fun. And I
003stopped being stubborn and realized that I actually really did enjoy it. I really like working with students because they say the funniest things, and I mean, I, I teach kindergarten now, and I used to be terrified of kindergartners. I wanted to teach the older grades. And then I was actually, moved into kindergarten on my first year, and I was scared and ended up having so much fun teaching them with the experiences we got to have and seeing them grow and like seeing the light bulb come on and the excitement that they have when they achieve their goals and things we're working on. It's not all arts and crafts There's a lot of things we are growing on but it's so much fun. The biggest adjustment has definitely been that shift that came the first year.
004When students are coming into kindergarten, they may have the experience of preschool, they may have the experience of daycare, and they may have no educational experience anywhere else. So we have students coming in at all of these different levels. And being in kindergarten, I'm on the ground floor with them, helping them learn not just our letter sounds and letter names and starting to read, but how to be human. And exist with other humans in a positive way and in a fun way, and how to have fun with each other, grow with each other, and learn with each other. The shift down of being like, okay, well, we're learning to listen. They may not have ever had that experience of listening before. So it's we're building that skill from the ground up. And it was a
005big shift. You're like, oh my goodness, I'm helping them with this now.