Lisa Kinzel committed herself to education after visiting a classroom in college – and she still remembers the kindergarten teacher who launched her learning journey more than a half-century ago.
“I still remember my kindergarten teacher,” said Kinzel. “I remember what she looks like. I remember the things that she taught me. I mean teachers make a huge impact. … It’s a very unique, rewarding career.”
For a total of 18 years, Kinzel has created that kind of memory – and that kind of relationship – with the kids in her classroom, in the last 10 years as a kindergarten teacher at Silver Strand Elementary School.
In the middle of a busy Phoenix airport, two college-aged brothers from Arizona instantly recognized Kinzel, the woman who launched their education when they were 5 years old.
A Chicago native, Kinzel, 57, moved to Coronado in 2011.
She previously taught preschool and second grade in Texas, then a decade of kindergarten in Arizona before teaching in the Silver Strand.
“Kindergarten, that’s what I was meant to do,” said Kinzel. “(Students) they’re learning so much in that time. … It’s an important time in their development. And it’s fascinating and it’s a challenge. It’s a big challenge that I love.”
Kinzel found her passion for teaching as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois in Champaign where she studied early childhood education and went on to receive a master’s degree in education.
She said it all clicked when she paid a visit to a friend’s classroom.
“You are impacting and you are influencing these little beings,” said Kinzel. “I could see that she loved it. And I could see that her students loved her. So that’s why I thought, ‘Yes, this is something that I want to do. I want to make a difference.’”
The Coronado News asked Kinzel about the kindergarten experience in the lead-up to class this fall. Answers are edited for brevity and clarity.
“It’s different every day,” said Kinzel. “You meet new kiddos and it’s fun to watch them grow. I mean, they come in at the beginning of the year and they learn so much, and by the end of the year, they blossom.”
Q: Kindergarteners are so young: How do you make sure they have fun in the classroom – and learn at the same time?
Kinzel: You’re teaching them so much along with the academics. So I always take it very slow in the beginning of the school year. A lot of repetitiveness, a lot of teaching routines and procedures is so important, but in a fun and engaging way, because you can’t just talk at students and children, you have to make it fun and engaging. A lot of singing, a lot of echoing, a lot of stories that teach those skills.
Q: What are some activities you are preparing for the first day of school to help kids adjust and get a positive start?
Kinzel: Students that come in with no school experience, they really don’t know what it means to be a student so they’ll walk in and they don’t understand how to follow directions or even to sit in a seat.
They’ve never had that experience where they’re sitting and they’re engaged and they’re listening to a teacher. And then you have some students that come in and they are able to follow directions, they’re able to hold a crayon or a pencil, they’re able to cut. So in order to meet all of their needs, I’d have to differentiate.
Once I get to know the students and all their skill levels, I will start making groups and I will be pulling students based on their skill level and working on a specific skill for maybe five minutes at a time. So that’s how I meet the needs of all of my students.
Q: By the end of this school year, what do you hope students take away from your class?
Kinzel: I’m going to be looking for them to be able to read some sight words, hopefully around 25. I’m going to be looking for that student to be able to add and subtract within five, know some basic geometry, identifying 2D and 3D shapes. With math, I’m looking for students to be able to count to 100. These are all end-of-year benchmarks.
Reading sight words with some fluency, definitely being able to tap and blend words. So I’m talking about students being able to look at a word and then segment it, say the sounds, and then blend it together. Writing, I’m looking for students to build one sentence, using proper conventions, like capital letters, spacing, punctuation, those types of things. Those are the common core standards now for kindergarten. Along with that, I’m still very, very passionate about having a play-based curriculum. So I want to give those kiddos time to play.
It’s not all academics. They need that time to explore. They need that time to be able to interact with their peers and have that unstructured play time. I’m a huge believer in that, so I always make sure that I incorporate that in my day.
Q: Can you describe your teaching style and how it helps students?
Kinzel: I’m a big believer in building a community. My students are with me for seven hours a day. My job is to build that trust and that community with them for us to be able to communicate with each other and help each other. My role is to facilitate that.
I want my students to be really engaged and involved in whatever we’re learning. So I’m not going to stand at the front of the classroom and just teach. I’m going to show them something or present them with some kind of concept, and then I’m going to allow them to take that and use manipulatives. If I’m teaching subtraction, for example, I’m going to introduce it, I’m going to model it, but then I’m going to then give them manipulatives so that they can actually be doing it.
Q: What is your No. 1 suggestion for parents whose kids are starting school for the first time?
Kinzel: I suggest to parents that they have conversations with their child. Ask them questions about their day and talk to them about their favorite part of their day, or maybe something that made them a little nervous or something that was difficult for them.
Q: Are there back-to-school routines that you’d encourage parents to practice?
Kinzel: I can teach reading, letters, sounds, and all of those things that your child needs to be successful to move on to first grade. I think parents need to spend time with their children communicating, playing games, getting them outside to play.
Those are the things that are so important. That’s what a parent can do to build confidence in their child. Also teaching them some independence, too. I always tell parents, when school starts or maybe a few weeks before school starts, teach your child how to unzip their backpack. How to pack their snacks. Those types of things are so helpful.
Q: What are classroom rules and expectations families should know? Can parents and children practice at home?
Kinzel: I always give my parents all of our rules and our expectations. They’re really simple ways for us to be happy and safe at school. When they come in and they drop their child off at school they can always remind them.
Even going over those before they come to school in the morning or going over them before they go to bed at night is a great way to reinforce them and for them to remember for the next day. I’m always communicating openly with my parents, and I really, truly believe we’re a team.
On a regular basis, I’m going to be sending home weekly newsletters on Mondays so the parents know exactly what’s happening for that week. I send home a lot of updates through emails in general. Those are my two main ways of communicating with parents.
Q: Do you offer the kids advice on how to succeed in kindergarten?
Kinzel: “The Kissing Hand” is a great story about how the mommy kisses the raccoon’s hand, and then he has her with him all day long. I always read that story on the first day of school. And it helps the students understand that these feelings (of sadness) are so normal.
The most important thing is: Do not show that you are scared or you’re anxious about your child going to school. We’re all anxious, even teachers get anxious. A child, they’re looking to their parents, they’re looking to their teacher to see “Am I okay?” The parents have to show them, “You’re okay.”
