About Kelly

Biography

I’ve been a California educator for 20-plus years. Though I was born in the mid-west and grew up in Central Illinois, I have lived my entire adult life in the warm California desert, a place I love. I can’t get enough of mountain views and palm trees!

My teaching career began with student-teaching in Kindergarten. I moved to 4th grade for the next five years and enjoyed teaching California history, and science with magnets and electricity. Eventually, I moved on to Middle School which I’ve enjoyed for the past 16 years as a 7th grade math teacher.

I live with my disabled son who makes me laugh every day. My daughter is living with us temporarily while her career recovers from the pandemic. And my younger son is happily married to a sweet, nurse administrator and lives close by. Our home is a mini zoo with 3 friendly dogs and a very grumpy cat!

My teaching career has taken an unexpected turn as the pandemic has forced myself, as well as many others, into becoming tech experts quickly. I hope to take what I’ve learned and help others in my profession navigate these waters more smoothly.

My Education History

I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies, a California Multiple-Subject Teaching Credential, and a Master’s Degree in Reading Education, from California State University in San Bernardino. I also received a Supplementary Credential in Mathematics from the University of California, in Riverside. For two years I taught English as a Second Language to adults at College of the Desert, a local Community College.

Teaching in 2020

Learning to create digital lessons and quickly adjusting to this new online learning environment, has moved my career suddenly down a different path. Over the summer of 2020, I had to learn how to create many digital lessons in preparation for the upcoming school year, which I knew would be online.

I became certified in Google Classroom and Google slides, and am currently working on becoming a Google Certified Teacher. I accumulated many digital lessons over the summer of 2020. My desire to share them with other struggling teachers, led to the creation of my own online store on Teacherspayteachers.com., a popular source for teacher lesson plans. I have since added a 2nd store on Ampeduplearning.com.

I have found my niche, something I really enjoy, creating digital interactive lessons and games that teachers need. And if I don’t have a lesson you need, I’ll search and find one for you that I consider high quality from another teacher store. I really want to help my fellow teachers. Let me know what you need!