About

Welcome to KateDanielEd! I'm glad you're here!

I'm a California elementary school teacher with over 12 years of teaching experience in grades 1st through 6th.  My passion is literacy instruction, student-led discussions, and creating a learning environment that excites kids about new ideas and topics. This year I'm learning all about Design Thinking through a year-long Design Thinking curriculum that my team is working on - and I'm having a blast.

Currently, I'm spending my time in a self-contained elementary sixth grade classroom and chasing my four year old son around town.

I started this blog in 2011, and it was called "Second Grade Sparkle" - but a lot has changed since then. Now the posts I write are aimed at teachers across various grade levels and you'll see a variety of topics and ideas for multiple grades and ages.

Want to get to know me better? Check out some of my most popular posts! I would also love you to join me on Facebook!

Using Mentor Texts for Writing Narratives

Teaching is the crappiest of crap jobs

Writing Great Beginnings for Narratives

Writing Tips: Topic Sentence & Main Idea

Come on, get happy!

Get the job! Tips for acing a teaching interview

Mother's Day Success

With that, I welcome you to my blog! I hope you'll poke around and stay a while!