My name is Nancy Jang and I have been teaching 2nd grade for twelve years at Woodland Elementary School in Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The unique grade configuration of the school — kindergarten to second grade — enables us to specifically target our funding and resources to primary instruction and interventions. Since our school boundaries include two cities, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, the socioeconomic backgrounds of our students are quite diverse. Each classroom serves approximately twenty students, with about seven classes per grade level.

My background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from the University of California in Irvine and a Master of Science in Education with an emphasis in reading from California State University Fullerton. Currently I serve as my school's staff development coordinator, a STAR Discovery Educator Network representative, and an Art’s Advantage coordinator. In previous years, I have also served as technology coordinator and as a science and math trainer for my district. My passion as a teacher is integrating art, science, and technology into all other curricular areas. Visual and performing arts, science, and technology not only prepare students academically, but they also engage students, provide enrichment for gifted students, and offer visual and verbal cues for English learners. Implementing the arts, science, and technology into the curriculum and training others to do so allows me to share my passion and brings out my best teaching skills.

In my classroom, students understand that it is okay to make mistakes as long as they learn from them. It is important to follow your passion, and I want to lead by example. My students receive problem-solving opportunities every day. I believe children need to practice critical thinking and problem solving in a safe and nurturing environment. I want all my students to achieve a goal of personal improvement — just to be a little bit better today than they were yesterday. With each day we celebrate those milestones, benchmarks, and achievements. We try to be our best, every day.

Finding time means creating time. Although test skills are life skills, students must develop creativity, design skills, empathy, storytelling, a love of learning, and the ability to identify patterns and systems and construct meaning. Without practicing these skills, our students will master test-taking, yet little else. I enjoy finding a way to include creativity while systematically and explicitly teaching research-based programs.

Every child deserves access to the entire curriculum. This ensures that students master their reading and math skills in a rich instructional environment that includes the arts, science, technology, writing, and history.