Jan Abernethy

I am a fifth grade teacher in Greenville, Pennsylvania. I teach in a self-contained classroom, so I am able to integrate subject areas and integrate technology into my subject matter. Due to grant writing and participating in a variety of contests, my class has fourteen iPads, a green screen setup, and at least one laptop or desktop for each student in the classroom. Each year, my classroom gives itself a name the first day of school. The class takes on that name persona and that is who we are for the year. We have a class website, blog, you tube channel, twitter account, and more. The blog is written from the point of view of our class mascot. In the beginning of the year we form a class government by following the true election process as closely as possible. Our class president is elected on election day. Our class chooses some kind of service learning project to work on for the year and it becomes a part of our curriculum. One year we took on a neighboring corporation that refused to clean up the hazardous waste they left behind when they took their plant to Mexico. One year they honored all of the senior citizens who gave back to the community and gave them a senior citizen extravaganza. One year they started a talk show about autism and another they started one about bullying. If you would like to learn more about my class and my former classes, go to jabernethy.com The former classes can be found in the lower left hand corner of the site. The reason I teach is because I want to make a difference and I want my students to make a difference.

Sherry Winner

5th grade ELA

I am a fifth grade ELA teacher in a small school district. I have been teaching for over 20 years in the same district. I truly enjoy teaching and try to instill the importance and love of reading in my students daily. Reading is the foundation of everything that a person does in life; therefore, it is extremely important for students to learn to read and enjoy it.