By: Heather Piddington Issues in Vocabulary and Word Study Spring 2013

My name is Heather Piddington. As you can see from the first slide’s picture and it’s design I love butterflies. I was born and raised in Long Island, New York. After I graduated from high school I moved to Tampa, Florida. There, I attended The University of Tampa. I graduated in 2009 with honors and decided to stay in Florida with hopes of finding a teaching position. I am married, with no kids (yet). My husband’s name is Phillip. I have a cat named Meadow and a yellow lab named Riley. MEADOwMEADOw Phil and Riley

Soon after graduating from UT, I was hired as a second grade teacher at Kimbell Elementary School. Kimbell is a renaissance school located a few blocks from Busch Gardens in Tampa. A few months later I met Phillip Piddington (my husband). I absolutely loved my life in Florida! I had a job I loved, great friends, future husband, even my mom moved there! Sadly, I no longer live there. So, where am I now…?

My husband is in the Air Force and in March of last year, we received orders to be stationed in Japan. I was sad to leave my life in Florida, but ready for a new adventure in Japan. We arrived here September 19 th, We are here for four years. We live on base with our two pets. This picture was taken in Tokyo, Japan

This was my first attempt at snowboarding. I was NOT successful. For those that love shopping, they have a Forever 21 here with 5 floors! This was a long shopping trip! Here we went on a hiking trip. We are at the top of the mountain. Our next one will hopefully be Mt. Fuji. I’m eating Ramen Soup. It is AMAZING here. We recently went to Hinohara Waterfall. It was beautiful, and cold.

I live on Yokota, Air Base. There are two elementary schools, one middle, and one high school. I arrived when the school year had already started. Therefore, all teaching positions were filled. I currently sub and volunteer at both elementary schools. I really enjoy getting the experience of teaching in each grade level. My goal next year is to obtain a full time teaching position at one of the schools.

As stated in an earlier slide, I taught second grade at Kimbell Elementary in Tampa, FL. I taught there for three years. It was considered a Title 1 school the first two years I was there, and then my last year it qualified as a Renaissance School. While there, I was the primary science contact, a member of the PBS committee ( Positive Behavior Support), and Team Leader for my grade level. I helped to plan and participated in various family learning nights. I also trained the primary teachers on the new Nat Geo Science curriculum and the 5 Day Vocabulary Plan during Professional Study Day last school year.

After completing this program I hope to become a more effective reading teacher. I’d like to share my knowledge and experiences with fellow colleagues. In the future I’d like to be a school’s reading coach or reading resource teacher.