What do I do now

By sdamato
  • UNC - Greensboro

    It was time to declare a major my sophmore year at college. As the first college student, my father really wanted me to be a business major. I wanted to teach fifth grade. I spent my sophmore year taking business classes. I hated it. I spent the summer in summer school taking education classes and changing my major so that I could graduate on time.
  • Randolph Macon Military Academy

    Returned to Front Royal, a small town in Virginia. It was a time when there were at least 24 candidates for the few elementary openings available. With only offers to teach HS Math, I took my first teaching assignment. I taught Geometry and Algebra to military students, some only 4 years younger. It was a scary experience. I had never planned on teaching high school and especially not to students that towered over me.
  • Virginia Beach

    I came to realize that I did not enjoy teaching in a military setting. I had two dreams, I wanted to go to graduate school and I wanted to live at the beach. I sent an application to VBCPS. Receiving an interview with VB was the same as making it to the playoffs; a placement with the city was winning the Super Bowl. I was on cloud nine when I signed a contract with VB to teach at Kempsville Junior High. I taught 8th grade Math for a year.
  • College of William and Mary

    Realistically I didn’t think I would get an interview, so I also applied to the MBA program at the College of William and Mary. The letter came the day I signed my contract. W&M only accepted 50 candidates per year. I was able to defer my acceptance as long as I took a class at ODU. It was this class that I met my future husband.
  • Brunswick, Maine

    Graduation from College W&M with an MBA, marriage, and a move to Maine found me in a difficult job market.
  • CompTutor

    Waiting for interviews, I began taking apart my computer on the kitchen table. You could buy a hard disk that came with an installationVHS. Technology was just emerging, Radio Shack’s Tandy 1000 was the market leader. The IBM PS 2 Model 30, DOS 1.0 and Windows for DOS machines were just becoming available at a reasonable price. Wanting to teach and loving the new technology. Business plan in hand, I pitched an idea to a bank for funding for a computer training facility.
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    Mother of Three

    Time off to stay home with my three and enjoy being the taxi cab driver as a Girl Scout leader, swim team mom, room parent, and PTA volunteer. Volunteering in the schools and motherhood brought a new perspective to what it takes to be a successful teacher. It reminded me of why I wanted to be an elementary teacher long ago.
  • Literacy Teacher

    Full time volunteer mom, the principal asked if I would like to get paid for my time at school. I loved working with the students, so I returned to teaching as a Literacy teacher atPrincess Anne Elementary.
  • Fifth Grade Teacher - PAE

    Again at the request of the principal, I was asked to take over a 5th grade self contained classroom.
  • CRS - PAE

    I loved using technology in the classroom, and I really wanted to share what I was doing. When the position of CRS opened in our school, I was offered the opportunity to work with other teachers.
  • PAE - Teacher of The Year

    I was honored and humbled to be selected selected as a TOY in my first year as a CRS.
  • HS Math - Renaissance Academy

    Many events brought me to transfer to RA. Over the past few years, my children will bring home their friends telling them how I can help them. Each friend had a story about how horrible they were in math. I became the unofficial tutor. This tutoring reawakened the love I had for Geometry and Algebra. I thought about new ways to teach with technology and I got excited to be back in the classroom.