Meet Mrs. Smaldone!
Mrs. Smaldone is a fifth grade teacher at Nixon School and is teaching an in-person cohort A and a remote cohort B this year. You may have heard that Mrs. Smaldone is the teacher who gives ducks to her students! Yes, we said DUCKS! She likes to have spontaneous celebrations in her class for her students when they have an academic achievement, do something nice like clean up the classroom or help out a friend, or even have a cool hair style after a sweaty gym class! Her ducks reflect the school's core values, even if the reason is super silly!
Mrs. Smaldone was not always a teacher. She worked in High Tech Marketing for twelve years managing a large staff and budget. She says that most days at Nixon she finds herself utilizing the marketing and advertising skills learned in her old job to spin a lesson in a way that makes it engaging and fun.
Mrs. Smaldone says that her teaching philosophy is;
"[to provide all students with purpose (why am I learning this?), exceptionally high expectations, individual scaffolding and fun."
She believes that:
“The single condition that leads to young people becoming EXTRAORDINARY adults is that someone gave them the opportunity to WORK HARD. Once students have attained skill level, it is all about WORKING HARD.” ~Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers
Mrs. Smaldone likes traveling with her family, and can be seen in the photo with her son, Nick, at Epcot. Did you know she also is a good basketball and softball player?
Her students call her silly but she brings wonderful and unique talents to our school! So the next time you see her, please extend a thank you for the hard work she does!
