What is your name? Where do you teach? Alison Timmons-Ryan. I teach at Abney Elementary.

What subject(s) do you teach? I teach all subjects in a self-contained third grade regular education room.

What is your favorite thing about the subject(s) you teach? I enjoy having my students all day. We are able to create a comfortable and safe learning environment together.

ALLISON TIMMONS-RYAN

How long have you been a teacher? I have been a teacher for seven years.

How has the profession of teaching changed since you started? I find that teachers are much more innovative in their teaching. With such a fast paced society, we have to keep up with ways to keep students engaged and interested. New technology in the classroom has been an awesome addition. On another note, I find that more and more of our students are coming from single working parent households or two parent working households and it is hard for a parent to be as involved as they should in their child’s education. It makes such a huge difference.

Why did you become a teacher? I wanted to have an impact on someone’s life. I want to have a positive influence on children’s lives. That is inspiring to me.

What is your favorite thing about teaching? The challenge to learn and understand how they think makes teaching exciting. I also love seeing them grow year to year intellectually. It is awesome.

Do you do anything special in the classroom to get through to your students? I tell a lot of stories about my own two children. I have a son in the same grade that I teach so they love to hear how I showed him to do something. They also like to hear my “mom” stories. I think that helps create a safe climate for them in my room. I also like to play basketball with them at recess when I am on duty. They get to see another side of me and they listen to my coaching advice.

What is the hardest part of your job? The hardest part of my job if fighting off the powerful influence of today’s media and society. Since I teach a younger grade, it bothers me some of the things that kids are exposed to. I like to keep kids sheltered and innocent as long as possible. They need to just be able to be and think like kids.

Are you involved in any extra curricular activities at the school? Yes. I am part of our Random Acts of Kindness club, which was a finalist for the Superintendents Award for Outstanding Character and Citizenship. I also take part in helping our Positive Behavior committee.

Do you utilize any special technology in the classroom? We use the mobile lab in my room weekly. The students love having their own laptops to do Web searches. Also, we use the Promethean board which is always fun. Right now we have started learning MovieMaker so that we can make our Flip camera videos into movies.

Have you received any grants to aid you in the classroom? Not yet.

What do you do during your summer vacations? I usually teach swim lessons and work in my classroom. This summer however, I am going to spend my time with my two children.

Do you aspire to become a principal one day? Administrative positions are difficult, and I am not sure I could do that. However, I am drawn to coaching and counseling and working with kids that way. Leaving the classroom isn’t something I am ready for because I love being surrounded by students.

What’s the craziest thing that has ever happened while you were teaching? Two things. First, when I was nine months pregnant one of my students said ‘Ms. Ryan they said you are having a baby, but I told them you aren’t. You just eat a lot of candy.’ Second, it was the year of the storm, and I had this very creative student in my room.

She had a gift for me in a bag. It was a rotten banana and she had dressed it up with Barbie doll clothes and even cut Barbie doll hair and glued it on the banana. She was so proud, and you know what, so was I.