About Me
My name is Kathy Hurlbert and I am currently a first grade teacher at Montgomery Elementary in the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas. I have worked with children for the last 20 years of my career. I have previously taught Kindergarten, First Grade, and Third Grade. First grade is my passion, though! I LOVE to work with first graders and help them to become excellent readers! My bachelors degree is in Early Childhood Education and I have a masters in Elementary Education from Wayland Baptist University. My entire career has focused on educating children and I, again, am pleased to be a part of your child's education whether it be through the website, the classroom, or tutoring. I am committed in my career to helping students succeed and meet success in whatever capacity I am able to.
Outside of teaching, I am a devoted Mom. I have an fourteen-year-old son, Caleb, who is the light of my life. I have been married to his father, Charles, for 16 years and we are very happy living here in San Antonio. I love to swim, do crafty things, and spend time with my family. Teaching is icing on the cake for me. I love what I do and enjoy my job and working with the children each day. There is nothing better than helping students succeed.
My Teaching Philosophy
I believe that children are unique individuals. Each child comes to school with a set of experiences unique to them that they will build all further learning upon. I believe that all children can learn and have great potential for learning. It is my responsibility to meet each child at the level they are at and do everything in my power to ensure they succeed and achieve the best possible education.
I believe that my expectations of students matter and can make a tremendous difference in their performance. I expect children to do their best. I want them to feel good about the things they can do and so seek to provide learning opportunities which encourage an “I can” attitude by adapting instruction to teach to a variety of intelligences. I believe that children will meet your expectations, so set them high-in behavior, academics, and in how we treat each other and then lovingly guide them to meet the goals I have set.
I believe in using a child centered approach in the classroom. The flow of the curriculum is based on the individual development and needs of the students. I use a variety of approaches which appeal to various learning styles and help students achieve standards. With each new lesson children are given different hands on activities to help them meet their goals. My classroom must become a community of learners where everyone feels safe, accepted, and welcome. I believe in implementing a program which heavily emphasizes and promotes literacy which will build a solid foundation for future academic success.
I believe that a child's family is their first teacher. I believe that my role is to create a link between home and school. I work very hard to make this link and to emphasize the important role families can play in their child's education. I try to establish and strengthen this connection through newsletters, the class website, and opportunities for parents to be involved in their child's education.
I believe my role as a teacher is to find ways in which I can help students be successful in the classroom. I work to establish age appropriate limits which the students are involved in setting and use a love and logic approach to help them perform successfully utilizing natural rewards and consequences built into the curriculum and daily schedule to motivate students to do their best. Again, students will meet your expectations if you help them to get there.
I believe that learning is a lifelong process and teaching and learning are synonymous. I use each day and lesson as a learning experience. Additionally, I continually seek opportunities to develop my skill as a teacher so that I may be the best teacher I can be for my students. I seek to collaborate with other teachers to find and share the techniques and strategies that will benefit my students the most. The more I learn, the better I will be at helping my students to succeed.
I believe I have the best job in the world! I love what I do and believe that I can make a positive difference for each student everyday.