Julie Kearns

Third Grade General Studies

Years as a teacher: 23

Years at LGA: 13

Why did you become a teacher?

I love teaching children. I love their energy, enthusiasm, wonder, and curiosity about the world around them. I love facilitating their questioning, learning, problem solving and creating, and then seeing the joy and satisfaction on their faces from their accomplishments. There is not a better job than helping children to grow and develop into who they want to become. 

What do you love about teaching at LGA?

I was drawn by the musical, artistic, and bilingual culture. Everything we do at LGA is enriched and enlivened by a sense of beauty, culture and history. I love that at LGA each class performs a play every year, and sings on stage several times a year. I love that the whole school gets together on Monday mornings and Friday afternoon to share the week, build community, and sing. I also love that at LGA I have the freedom to integrate art, technology, and project based learning (PBL) into my curriculum, as well as celebrations such as the annual Kitah Gimel Biography Fair.

What is your favorite topic/subject to teach and why?

I love teaching math. I love to see students’ eyes light up when they learn how numbers can be used to solve problems. I love to teach social studies, since I am fascinated by the history of people and places, and how cultures have evolved over the centuries.

I also have a new favorite subject of facilitating student creativity, invention, and problem solving in the Makerspace. This year grades 2, 3 and 4 are doing a PBL project together, creating a sensory path hallway. 

What is your favorite activity/experience that you do with students outside of the main curriculum?

My favorite activity to do with students is building shelters in the forest behind our school, patterned after the shelters that Native Americans used to build in these same woods hundreds of years ago. At the same time, our class writes their own creation myths modeled after the stories Native Americans used to tell about how animals and other parts of nature came into being.

Students love this project, because it gives them the chance to experience the life and culture of native people. Students get to figure out what kind of designs and materials work when building these structures. They create whole campsites with lean-to’s, fire pits, cooking spits, and even sometimes pretend food. This experience is the most wonderful combination of their imaginations, knowledge, creativity, and design skills.

What is your favorite aspect to our communal celebrations?

I love the singing. It brings transports us to different times and places, and brings the whole school together.