Ms. Poertner's 7th Grade Language Arts

Photo:
Harley.jpg (58KB)

About The Teacher Label:


About The Teacher
About three years ago I finally got around to creating my official Hermosa Valley School web page, and I thought it worked very well. Unfortunately, I have never gotten around to updating that site. Instead, I decided to use this Teacher Web resource as a way of communicating homework and providing downloads to help students and parents have easy access to information. This school year marks my 8th year as a 7th grade language arts teacher, and I still can not imagine a better career choice. In addition to language arts, I also teach one 6th grade math class. The differences in these two classes make for a very interesting day. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, I received my undergraduate degree in Social Sciences at CSU Chico and my teaching credential at CSU Sonoma. Upon relocating to southern California in 1980, I went on to earn my M. A. in Special Education. Hermosa Beach City School District has afforded me a wide variety of opportunities in the field of education. I was the District Resource Specialist and Coordinator of Student Services for many years serving the district’s K-8 student population. From there I went on to earn the first tier of an Administrative Credential and worked as Teacher on Special Assignment-Assistant Principal for two years. I returned to the classroom as a 4th grade teacher. After six years in the elementary grades, a language arts position opened up in the middle school, and I grabbed it. I have never regretted moving back into the classroom. Each day presents the opportunity to be creative and actively seek ways to help children to access the information they need to succeed academically. It is the opportunity to be creative that makes teaching for more than 30 years a tremendously positive experience. In my spare time, I look forward to traveling. In the past few years I have traveled to Europe, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Australia. I have also spent time in Texas, a country on its own, and Arizona, where I went skydiving. This summer (2009), I was fortunate enough to spend two wonderful weeks in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where I had some great adventures and even went on a Zip line course up in the rainforest. I will admit that the climb up to each platform was work, but the trip down was well worth it. When I’m not traveling, I spend time with my daughter, Anna, my family and friends, and my little Yorkie, Bitty Bob. You will undoubtedly be hearing stories about Bitty Bob who is a real character. Please feel free to contact me at any time at cpoertner@hbcsd.org. For those of you who also access some of the other teachers' web pages, it will be clear that mine remains under construction. I like to think of it as a "work in progress." One day I may even get back to the Hermosa web page and update that file. It all takes patience.

Mission Label:


Mission
Acquire and continually refine reading, writing, and speaking skills! They are life skills that will be used every day. Math students will gain confidence and competence in their math skills and apply them in daily living.