HoJo's Teaching Adventures

Heather (or HoJo as she is known around the web) has PreK-6th grade experience. She has taught Kindergarten, Reading Recovery, Gifted/Enrichment, Title I math and reading, 5th grade inclusion special education, and a multi-grade classroom of ELL students. She was also the overseer of her first school's special education department. Then she served as K-6 Elementary Principal at two schools and district K-12 Special Education Director.

Heather used to teach students from Asian countries during the evenings, weekends, and summer using Skype and other online tools, Through this experience, she has taught students from age 6-20.

Finally {and perhaps most importantly}, HoJo is a work at home mom to two precious children. It's different not going to school each day, but they bring her more joy than she ever could have imagined!

Thank you for supporting HoJo's store and therefore supporting her little family!

HoJo's teaching style varies depending on the students in front of her. She uses a lot of visuals, differentiated instruction, and centers whenever possible. HoJo's colleagues often joke that she has a work hard, play hard attitude. She's the type who expects a lot of hard work from her students, but she will be the first to recognize that hard work and find a fun way to incorporate play into the school day.

The South Dakota Department of Education chose Heather to attend a national standard setting committee in New Jersey in February 2011. A panel of roughly 20 experts helped determine the new cut off scores for the next PLT Praxis exam. Heather also served on a panel of South Dakota educators to determine the new principal evaluation system in 2012-2013. It was very humbling to be one of only four teachers on a panel of administrators and other professionals throughout the state.

Heather graduated from undergraduate school in May 2007 where she received a teacher certificate in Elementary and K-8 Special Education. Heather has a minor in Reading and Kindergarten education. She also has endorsements to teach Middle School Math, Reading/Language Arts, and Science. She can coach any sport in elementary and middle school and holds a varsity basketball endorsement. Finally, Heather has a K-12 technology endorsement. In May 2009 Heather graduated with a K-12 Educational Administration & Leadership degree. Heather served as a trained Reading Recovery teacher during the 2009-2010 school year. During the summer of 2010, Heather took certification coursework to become a Reading Specialist in the state of South Dakota.

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