Welcome to Two Lifelong Learners!
We are Lucy and Amanda of Two Lifelong Learners. We met in 2011 when Amanda was hired to be Lucy’s new first grade teaching partner. We had an instant connection through our passion for teaching and children. What appeared interesting to the outside was the fact that Amanda was fresh from student teaching and starting her career, and Lucy was entering the last 5 years of her career before retirement.
Although the age gap may seem peculiar to some, our bond is strong and the energy and excitement we have is very apparent to those who come in contact with us. We share a unique perspective as Amanda can share new and fresh ideas, and Lucy can share the knowledge of past experiences and artistic creativity. Both of us having open hearts of educators, find a lot of joy in the collaboration we have. Our goal by developing this blog is to maintain the rigor and relevance we expect in the classroom by providing purposeful, practical, and standard-based lessons and activities for all learners.
Lucy
My description is tricky to write, but I am Lucy (the old one). I am always eager to share learning with students and teachers. Absolutely no surprise, I have had lots of practice with both teaching and learning since I taught for 36 years. I have an undergraduate degree in Art Education, an extended degree in education K-8, and an MBA in education. I taught art, I taught preschoolers, I have primarily been a first grade teacher, and was an adjunct professor for a local college for 5 years . Now I’ve retired from the classroom, but my passion for the educational process will never fade. I have had to deal with most every situation in teaching, and I am anxious to offer help for busy, hard working teachers just like you! I know nothing about blogging, but here I am blogging. I just illustrated a book (my first book), which should be coming out this year. I have plans for another publication. I have some artistic talents, and I have placed my faith in God to guide me through this process.
My husband and I have two amazing daughters!
My daughters, Elizabeth and Katherine found two wonderful men as husbands and each have two children, but best of all I have four grandchildren. Thank you family!
You can see I’ve got this grandma thing all under control.
Amanda and I taught first grade together for 3 years, and found friendship and a strong working relationship. We have learned a lot from each other in the classroom and outside of the classroom. So we found ourselves working a very special project in our community. I also worked as a Kayla’s Krew community member volunteer. The all-inclusive playground was envisioned by a group of dedicated and committed people, “My Amanda” being one of those people. It was such fun because I did much of the art work on the playground, but it was particularly special to work with students I had taught and with their families. I learned so much in the process.
Amanda
Hi, I am Amanda (the younger one). I have been a 1st grade teacher since 2011 and love every bit of it. I am originally from Brookfield, Wisconsin (about 15 minutes outside of Milwaukee), and attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Here, I received my Bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Special Education, as well as a minor in English Language Learning (ELL).
As a child I always new I wanted to be a teacher (as many of you most likely did), but as I grew older I became involved with Special Olympics and was a peer helper with the students with special needs at my school. I realized quickly that special education was where my heart was. Although I ended up getting hired as a general education teacher, I have the privilege of having all of the students with special needs in my class. I truly believe that you cannot teach the life lessons that students can learn from a diverse and inclusive classroom.
Outside of teaching, a few things I enjoy are spending time with my family and friends, a wide variety of music, being on the board for a local charity called Kayla's Krew, and coaching high school volleyball. I played both volleyball and softball in college and continue to enjoy the physical activity of both.
Here is my family. From left to right: My brother (Jesse), his girlfriend (Ara), my dad, my mom, and me!
Kayla’s Krew was a big part of my life, as I am the media director. Our mission of Kayla's Krew was to build an all-accessible and all-inclusive playground in Franklin, Wisconsin that is inspiring and truly all-inclusive for all children and families of any age and ability. Our goal was to provide common ground to enrich social skills through play, create friendships for a lifetime, and promote peer advocacy programs through collaboration with community partners. Simply, Honestly, Purely. We achieved that goal in September of 2015 when we came together as a community and built Kayla’s Playground. Find out more on our Facebook page: Facebook Page.
My faith is very important to me and I enjoy being apart of my church. My most memorable experience to date was going to Guatemala.
So excited for this next adventure!
We truly believe and understand that education is ever-evolving, and although that can be overwhelming at times, it can also be wonderful. We each were continuously evolving our classrooms based on the new knowledge and past experiences we’d gain, and although Lucy is retired and Amanda is still teaching, our outlook remains: “Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.”
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