A natural lover of all things outdoors and nature, Annalisa had a hunch that being a science teacher would be her dream job. Part of what inspired her was the unforgettable experience she had learning science in middle school—thanks to her thoughtful, patient, and creative teachers. Annalisa wanted to emulate them. She wanted to share her love of science with students and be the kind of teacher who taps into their interests and curiosities to help propel them to achieve greatness. What Annalisa’s hunch didn’t tell her was that her first year of teaching STEM at AF Iluminar Middle School would be during one of the worst pandemics in modern history. The switch to hybrid learning didn’t stop Annalisa from figuring out ways to create a joyful learning community for her students. After multiple iterations, she built an environment that fostered trust amongst her and her students, made learning fun and interactive, and left room for students to explore their unique interests. In-person parent-teacher conferences transformed into virtual spaces where students took ownership of their learning and presented their successes, challenges, and plans to improve. And traditional field trips turned into modified virtual field trips with opportunities for students to explore digital content together like computer programming and coding. Annalisa’s commitment to providing her students with the best learning experience possible exemplifies one of the values of Achievement First—choose joy—and is something her middle school teachers would be proud to see today.
ANNALISA
Sixth GRADE Stem Teacher AF Iluminar MIDDLE 32
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