Hello, I’m glad you’re here! My name is Jasmine and I’m an educator, literacy specialist, CliftonStrengths coach, and professional development trainer. I’m passionate about creating flexible, student-focused, robust learning experiences for the elementary classroom. This led to the creation of Teal Pencil which is a collaborative initiative of experienced, cross-discipline teachers. I received my BSE in Elementary Education with an emphasis in early childhood and my MSE in Literacy Education. Additionally, I’m an Apple Certified Teacher and certified CliftonStrengths Coach. I have taught grades 3-5 in a public, private, and charter schools and found 3rd grade to be my sweet spot.
My goal through Teal Pencil is not only to provide you with engaging, easy-to-use materials but to also share new ideas, and hopefully inspire your teaching. Initially, my love for helping others and working with kids drew me to teaching, but I quickly found that teaching filled another bucket of mine… collaborating with others and being creative! Teal Pencil started off as a collaborative teaching blog. It was (and still continues to be) a space for teachers to share ideas. We learn best from one another and our ideas can inspire each other. Social media has made it even easier for us to do this. However, Teal Pencil continued to grow as I realized I loved to create hands-on, print-and-go products that could help other teachers. Traditional worksheets bored me so I began asking myself, “How else can I teach this?” Asking this question and seeing all the amazing things going on in the classrooms down the hall, I knew Teal Pencil could help enrich other teachers’ content and get students engaged.
