“The thing I love most about teaching at SWS is that… while I am teaching students, I’m also learning from them. We learn new things and achieve new goals each class as we push ourselves to new heights. This helps us with our team ethics and compassion for each other. Teaching at SWS has changed my whole dynamics about the education field. Because of SWS, I’ve learned to leave my fixed mindset behind and use my growth mindset very often. Because of this, my ways of teaching have changed and grown and become more authentic. Working at SWS is such a joy. I have the best colleagues. They are supportive, positive, uplifting, and encouraging. It makes my days meaningful and makes it the reason why I believe “Nothing Without Joy.”
The thing I’m most proud of is… my goal setting. Each year I set five goals that I want to accomplish before the new year arrives. These goals don’t come easy but without struggles you won’t learn the lesson. I remind myself daily that “You have to go through the storm to see the rainbow.” This saying has gotten me through a lot of rough patches.
In my free time I enjoy… going to church, reading, watching sports, listening to old school music, and spending time with my family and friends.
I make learning fun by… incorporating the students ideas into all units that we do. I ask them what ways can we make this activity work for us as a team, I also ask them what do they expect and want to learn from doing this activity. Once we’ve discussed these things together, we use our team cohesion skills to make class enjoyable. At the end of class we discuss our activities to see what we may need to fix or what we need to continue doing.
If a visitor came to my class they would see… learning through rigorous play. I introduce the kids to rigorous play to help them understand that it is ok to not get it the first time, but if we are persistent we will eventually learn it together. A visitor would see a TEAM. We support each other with love, care, help, kindness, and trust. My classroom is Health and Physical Education with a twist. In my lessons, I incorporate life skills. When students leave my classes, they leave with love and joy.”
Ms. Rachelle came to SWS as a teaching assistant in 2013. She started as the school’s PE teacher in 2016. She holds a B.S. degree in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation with a minor in physical therapy and an M.S. in Sports Management.