BubbleUp Classroom
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Presentations >
      • Empower17
      • Thesis ALIVE!
  • READ
    • What's the Scoop? >
      • Landmark Supreme Court Cases
    • Reading an Artifact
    • Reading an Image
    • Emoji Notes
    • Sketchnotes
    • Sharing Books with Kids
  • WRITE
    • Thesis & Essay Writing >
      • Thesis Writing Workshop
      • Fairy Tale Grab Bags
      • Essay Roadmap
      • Essay Outline Generator
      • Other Thesis Ideas
    • What's the Scoop? >
      • Landmark Supreme Court Cases
    • Poetry Beyond English Class
  • CREATE
    • Think, Build, Tweet
    • Sketchnotes
    • Ordinary Objects
    • Think Outside the Box
    • Poetry Beyond English Class
  • WORK WITH US
    • Testimonials

BubbleUp Take10 + Julia Marthia: Everyone's Day is Better When It Starts with a Smile

9/18/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
This month we are excited to feature Julia Marthia, an English teacher who works at Nichols School, an independent school in Buffalo, New York. This New York state native is a former colleague, who worked at Kilmer Middle School in Fairfax County for many years. There she built a reputation as a creative, engaging teacher, who was recognized by her colleagues as Kilmer's Teacher of the Year in 2006. She was also received the Al and Winnie Hodgson Award for Teaching Excellence (for her recognition and appreciation of student diversity inside and outside of the classroom). One of Julia's strengths is building relationships with students through story telling. We are excited to share part of her education journey with you in this month's Take10.

PictureJulia pictured with her two kids, Hazel and Evan, and ready for Back To School.
Julia Marthia
​

​Job: English Teacher and Learning Specialist (advocating for special education students and organizing professional development)

Where: Nichols School

Number of Years in Education: 15

1. Why education?
The easy answer is that I've never been able to imagine myself doing anything else. Ever.
2. What is your education mantra?
I have so many. "Do what's best for the student(s)." is the one that I probably use in all aspects of my job. When a student is struggling to make progress, I remember the advice of my graduate school professors: "Often, the quickest way to gain ground is to take a step back. Simplify."
3. What is your daily school routine? 
My daily schedule is pretty hectic. My school has a rotating-double-drop schedule, so classes meet at different times every day and, once a rotation, double and drop. It's a schedule change that has definitely proven to be what's best for students, but it makes planning tricky. In addition, I attend all grade level meetings, coordinate CSE meetings with our local public school, cover for colleagues (we don't hire substitutes unless there is an extended absence), etc. Needless to say, my planner is my lifeline! Each day, I spend the few moments before students arrive reviewing my schedule for the day and recording the daily agenda for each of my classes on the whiteboard. Then, I make it a priority to stand in the hall and greet students and co-workers. It allows for personal connection and helps me gauge who may need help/attention that day...and everyone's day is a little better when it starts with a smile and a friendly hello.
4. What is your favorite lesson of all time?
I have used Sandra Cisneros' vignette "My Name" as an inspiration for student writing for many years. Though I have used it with many grade levels, much of the lesson stays the same. We begin by pulling apart the piece: we listen to Mexican records that "sound like sobbing," we act out Esperanza's grandmother "sitting her sadness on an elbow," we explore pronunciation, we discuss the difference between throwing someone over your shoulder "like a chandelier" versus a "sack of potatoes," and we debate why the number 9 equates to "a muddy color." Cisneros' descriptions are so vivid that students can't help but engage, and they leave class itching to tell their own story. No other personal narrative assignment has reached a wider range of students or resulted in more experimentation with figurative language than this one. 
​
5. If you could change one thing about schools what would it be and why?
My work in an independent school has highlighted the benefits, to both students and teachers, of small class size. Too many schools, including the one my children attend, and (increasingly) the one I currently work in, are increasing class size to balance the budget. This practice is definitely not in the best interest of students.
6. What three words would you use to describe your day as an educator (or three words to describe our profession as a whole)?
ENGAGING, REWARDING, CHALLENGING. Some days it's more of one of these than the others, but most days it's a combination of the three.
7. What’s one education hack you can offer to our readers? 
I just got a classroom of my own for the first time in seven years, so I have been focused on creating a comfortable environment that promotes learning. For me, that means flexible seating to meet the needs of student learning styles and a variety of classroom activities. It also means softer lighting. Table lamps, torchieres, and uplights near the ceiling have replaced overhead fluorescents. It has made an incredible difference in the behavior and tone of discussion in the classes I'm looping with from last year. Nothing new, I know, but an easy change that makes a big difference in my classroom every day.
8. What is one piece of advice that you would give to new educators?
Don't be too hard on yourself. It's so much easier said than done, even when you've been teaching for years, but it's important. Some lesson plans work better in your head, and mistakes are a part of growth. Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities for success.
9. What do you hope students and colleagues will say about you one day at your retirement party? 
That I was a passionate, dedicated educator who worked hard with and for them, that I looked for creative solutions to every challenge, and that all those stories I told were actually entertaining.
10. What are you reading, watching, or listening to these days?
The graphic novel version of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Educated by Tara Westover were my favorite reads of the summer, but I also enjoyed revisiting YA books like My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park in preparation for teaching 6th grade. When we have time for it, my husband and I enjoy watching (and re-watching) episodes of Murdoch Mysteries, and I am (impatiently) awaiting the release of the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

You might also like:

  • BubbleUp Take10: “Be the Wind" with Jes McCutchen (July 23, 2018)
  • BubbleUp Take 10: Be Nice, Laugh and Get Connected with Lara Ivey (August 21, 2018)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Who We Are

    Picture
    Corey Thornblad
    Teacher 
    Picture
    Picture
    Gretchen Hazlin
    ​Librarian
    Picture

    Picture

    Join our list!



    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016

    Categories

    All
    Activism
    Adminstrators
    Assessments
    Back To School
    Balance
    Best Practices
    Books
    Brain Breaks
    BreakoutEDU
    #bubbleupthx
    Cell Phones
    Civic Engagenemt
    Classroom Design
    Classroom Management
    Coding
    Collaboration
    Community
    CREATE
    Critical Thinking
    Curation
    Design Thinking
    Discipline
    Discussion
    Distance Learning
    Edcamp
    Equity
    Field Trips
    Flexible Seating
    Flipped Classroom
    Genrefication
    Gifted
    Gifts
    Google
    Grading
    Gratitude
    Growth Mindset
    History
    Homework
    How-to
    Images
    Inquiry
    Interview
    Joy
    Kindness
    Leadership
    Librarians
    Library
    Literacy
    Makerspace
    Math
    Mental Health
    Middle School
    Mindfulness
    Movement
    New Librarians
    New Teachers
    Orientation
    Parenting
    Pbl
    Physical Space
    Pln
    Podcasts
    Poetry
    Primary Sources
    Problem Solving
    Professional Development
    Project Based Learning
    Questioning
    READ
    Reflection
    Relationships
    Research
    Rubrics
    Simulation
    Sketchnotes
    Social Emotional Health
    Social Emotional Learning
    Social Studies
    Stations
    Student Centered Learning
    Student-centered Learning
    Study Skills
    Summer
    Take10
    Take5
    Teacher Appreciation Week
    Technology
    Teens
    Testing
    Twitter
    WRITE

    RSS Feed


Proudly powered by Weebly
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Presentations >
      • Empower17
      • Thesis ALIVE!
  • READ
    • What's the Scoop? >
      • Landmark Supreme Court Cases
    • Reading an Artifact
    • Reading an Image
    • Emoji Notes
    • Sketchnotes
    • Sharing Books with Kids
  • WRITE
    • Thesis & Essay Writing >
      • Thesis Writing Workshop
      • Fairy Tale Grab Bags
      • Essay Roadmap
      • Essay Outline Generator
      • Other Thesis Ideas
    • What's the Scoop? >
      • Landmark Supreme Court Cases
    • Poetry Beyond English Class
  • CREATE
    • Think, Build, Tweet
    • Sketchnotes
    • Ordinary Objects
    • Think Outside the Box
    • Poetry Beyond English Class
  • WORK WITH US
    • Testimonials