Grindstone Elementary School teacher John Kruggel.
Name: John Kruggel
School where you
teach: Grindstone Elementary School, Berea
Grade/subject you
teach: First Grade
What made you want to
be a teacher? What’s your favorite part of the job?
Both my parents are retired teachers, and one of my three
sisters is also a teacher. So I guess you could say teaching is in my blood! As
a teenager, I worked at day camps as a counselor, and I’ve coached kids in
various sports across various age levels. I always enjoyed being around my
nieces and nephews and seeing how they learned to do things and what their
reactions were to new and different experiences. The combination of all these
things put me on the path to being a teacher, and I love what I do. I feel very
lucky to have worked since 1998 in a district like the Berea City School
District, where there is so much mutual respect among teachers, staff,
administrators and Board members.
I think my favorite part of my job is the very beginning of
the day, seeing the kids come in to class in the morning. It doesn’t matter
what the weather is, what kind of mood I’m in, or how much we have to do that
day. First-graders come in so excited and full of energy and things to share.
You just can’t ask for a better start to your day!
How many former
students do you keep in touch with? Do they come back to visit?
I get to see a lot of my former students from time to time,
especially because I also live in the school district. I see the students up to
the fourth grade in our building, and often I get to see the older students at football
games and other sporting events, or perhaps when they come to our school for a
performance. This year I had a former student, who is now at the high school,
come back and teach Junior Achievement in my class. It is so neat to see them
all grown up!
Teachers often get a
bad rap, for getting summers “off.” How do you generally spend your summers?
While I do enjoy having a little more time to spend with my
family in the summer, I, like other teachers, also spend time taking classes,
looking for additional online resources for my students, networking with other
teachers to get suggestions and ideas I can use with my students, finding
special craft materials or other supplies I can use for the next year’s
lessons, etc. I am often in the building
preparing my classroom or future lessons — most teachers spend time in their
schools over the summer. Just like the school day is not over when I leave my
building, the school year is not over when there are no students. This year,
especially, with the Common Core coming in, teachers have been meeting
regularly, taking classes and workshops as part of professional growth, and
always, always learning.
I also work a second
job, since I am lucky enough to have a brother-in-law who owns his own
landscaping business. I work with him most of the summers, which is a great
change from the classroom. He does all the thinking, and I do what he tells me!
How have your lesson
plans and teaching techniques changed to keep up with technology? The Common
Core? Standardized tests?
Technology has totally reinvented teaching for me. The use of smart boards, ELMOs, and the
availability of a wide variety of online resources have made it possible for me
to get my students involved as active participants in their learning. We use technology to give immediate feedback
on diagnostic testing on computers, to check the weather and calendar items
each day, and access a variety of creative videos that present the key elements
and skills in a unique and enjoyable way — reinforcing skills in reading,
math, and writing and also make those available to students at home. Most of
today’s students have access to these technologies in their home life (iPods,
smart phones, tablets, Kindle, computers), and they enjoy that interactive way
of learning and understanding. Fortunately, students in first grade don’t have
as many of the standardized tests to deal with yet, but it’s important to
remember that any type of testing provides just one piece of information in
understanding and evaluating the ability of each child. I try to use as many
avenues as possible to help my students learn the skills and knowledge they
need.
The Common Core requires students to use higher-level
thinking, with more detail and understanding of the process of formulating answers.
Rather than memorizing outcomes, students must explain how they arrived at a
particular answer, which increases the learning. I want to use every strategy I
can to help my students be successful, lifelong learners.
What is the best
teacher thank you gift you’ve ever received?
I’ve had all kinds of great gifts from students and their
parents over the years and I’ve enjoyed every one of them. The ones that always
mean the most to me are the ones that are made by the students themselves and
come from their hearts. I keep many of those gifts in my classroom, and
whenever I look at them, I remember that student and the things that made him
or her special. Every child is special in a unique way and I am lucky to have
the opportunity to work with them as a teacher.
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