[0:00] My favorite thing about Miss Sin is that [0:02] she's really kind and she helps us by [0:05] making our own decisions by helping us [0:07] think through it first and then [0:09] deciding. [0:13] I've been teaching here at District 191 [0:15] since 1998. And what's kept me working [0:18] here is the children. Teaching third [0:20] grade is just it's a magical moment [0:22] where they are going from needing adults [0:25] for the majority to being an individual [0:28] who can do things on their own and is [0:30] gaining the skills to be able to become [0:32] more independent. My profession before I [0:35] became a teacher was I was a social [0:37] worker and when I was a social worker I [0:39] worked with individuals with many [0:41] different disabilities. I think my [0:43] social work background helps me look at [0:45] students not just with their academics. [0:48] So asking deeper questions, connecting [0:50] with families, their problem solving [0:52] skills are very important to me. I think [0:53] it just helps me look at students not [0:56] just academically but holistically. I [0:58] have gone into almost every classroom [1:01] and I have taught the kids from prek up [1:04] until fifth grade. Little deals and big [1:06] deals. Little deals and big deals is a [1:08] curriculum that helps kids understand [1:10] the difference between a big deal and a [1:12] little deal and then gives them [1:14] strategies to solve either one. A big [1:17] deal is something that is a big physical [1:19] hurt or something that is dangerous. So, [1:21] a student is asked to go get help from [1:24] an adult right away. A little deal is [1:26] different. It's something that bothers [1:27] us or hurts our feelings. We ask our [1:30] kids then to stop and breathe and think [1:34] before they make a choice. Helping with [1:36] that advocacy, helping kids understand [1:38] that they have the tools that they need [1:40] to solve problems and to create change [1:43] and keep peace and just get along with [1:45] people. We also here at Harriet Bishop [1:48] had our first family learning hub. We [1:51] invited families to come in and I [1:53] presented the ideas to families because [1:56] the teachers that learned were saying [1:58] I'm using this at home. And so it was [2:00] just one of these aha moments where we [2:02] thought what if we empower our parents [2:04] to learn about little deals and big [2:06] deals and then what we're practicing [2:08] here at school can also be practiced at [2:10] a home. [2:11] >> My favorite thing about Mrs. [2:13] is that she's really nice and she's [2:16] trying to let us do stuff on our own. [2:21] >> I like that she's cheerful, [2:24] friendly, and nice. [2:27] >> I hope that my third graders at the end [2:29] of the year are ready to tackle little [2:31] deals independently. I hope that they [2:34] know they are able to tackle hard [2:38] academic skills by not giving up, by [2:41] asking questions and accepting help and [2:43] reading every day for 20 minutes.