DECATUR, Ala. — This teacher has put in eight years of love, learning and of course teaching! However, this year in particular is a new start at a new school in the River City!
Meet this week's Top Teacher, Crystal Long from West Decatur Elementary School.
Long’s first-graders keep her on her toes so much so that she gets her steps in from Apple Watch.
“Let’s see, it says 4,444, which I feel like, that's not a lot!” she said.
She steps a lot and packs a lot. She has a bookbag, just like her students. “My husband; he's picked it up before and he's been like, ‘This is way too heavy. What do you have in here’?”
Long stays prepared and she’s been prepared to be a teacher since she was a student.
“I knew when I was a kid that I wanted to be a teacher. I went to school and then came home and played school. So there really wasn't anything else.”
Long agreed, there are challenges along the way, but she’s prepared for that too.
“I've been very blessed to go through lots of training and different things to be able to give them multi-sensory instruction and make it fun.”
So we asked, why teach first grade?
“It's the year where they learn to read. And I love phonics and I love teaching phonics. And there's so much growth too, for them to go from nonreaders to readers at the end of the year,” said Long.
Her Principal Jennifer Edwards nominated Long to be Top Teacher.
“She goes far and above and is very energetic with our students. And so they are growing by leaps and bounds. She's very passionate, and with saying all of that, she has an open mind.”” said Edwards.
Long hopes to cultivate more than just a learning environment. “As teachers, we meet more than just their academic needs being, you know, a safe place, learning how to make the classroom a safe place for them. New ways to teach. One of my goal for myself when I got into teaching was to always be a learner.”
“If they never remember my name or remember my face, I want them to remember that they were loved. And that has the biggest impact on them. And so I just hope I hope just to leave that with them in their minds and in their hearts,” said Long.
Do you know a great teacher who deserves some special recognition? Click here to nominate them as a FOX54 Top Teacher!
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