Hi! I’m Haley!

In 2010, I entered my very first classroom. I had just graduated with my teacher certification and degree in English as a Second Language. I was ready to take on the world and make an impact! I covered the bulletin boards in fabric, set up our (tiny) classroom library and had a week of lesson plans ready to go. My students walked in and “the best year ever” began! I went home that evening and burst into tears.

Nothing went as expected. My students came with so many needs and I couldn’t possibly meet them all. Some were hungry, some were brand new to the country and many were significantly behind their peers in social and academic skills. I truly struggled that year. For every 100 things I tried, 10 were successful.

The summer after my first year, I discovered my very first teacher blog. A few days later, I started writing my own. And a week after that I created my first teacher resource…word wall words with boxes around the letters. I knew my incoming first graders needed help with visual discrimination and I figured other classrooms could use them too. I devoured books like The Comprehension Toolkit, Literacy Stations that Work, and Guided Math. I gained confidence, learned the importance of relationships and collaborated with amazing teacher colleagues.

As they say, “the rest is history.” This website…my little piece of the internet…it’s here because of you. I know where you are. I’ve been there and I want to provide you the tools and strategies I didn’t have. Here you’ll find blog posts about best practices, resources that will help you teach and activities that engage your students.

Here are a few truths that shape everything you’ll see at Teaching with Haley.

1. Relationships come first. A student who feels understood and loved will always be more successful.
2. Social and emotional skills need to be taught just like math and reading. Students don’t know what it means to “be kind” or “make good choices” unless we teach them.
3. Learning is messy and loud. Our classrooms should be too.
4. Healthy teachers make the best teachers. We need to be physically and mentally healthy and take care of ourselves so we can take care of our students.
5. Empathy for others isn’t something we add on to our week when we have time. It’s part of our classroom fabric and shapes the way we teach and interact with students. Our students are entering a world that’s more diverse than it’s ever been, and our classrooms are where they learn to accept others and themselves.
6. A little humor is good for the soul and the classroom.
7. Mo Willems is the best.
8. There’s no problem a little chips and queso can’t fix.

So that’s me! I hope you’ll spend some time exploring, drop me a message and subscribe to my mailing list.  I can’t wait to go on this teacher journey with you!