About the Teacher
I am so excited to join Christ the King School as the 1st grade teacher! I bring six years of teaching experience working with elementary-aged students and a passion for creating classrooms where children feel welcomed, supported, and excited to learn. Throughout my teaching career, I have had the opportunity to teach 1st grade, kindergarten, and science, which has helped me develop engaging lessons that encourage students’ curiosity, independence, and love of learning.
Having grown up attending Catholic school myself back home in Pennsylvania, I understand the special sense of community, faith, and belonging that Catholic education provides. I am excited to bring that experience into my classroom and help my students grow academically, socially, and spiritually throughout their first-grade year.
One of my favorite parts of teaching is helping children discover the joy of reading. I love watching the excitement on a child’s face when they discover a new book or realize they can read something independently.
Outside of school, I enjoy reading, baking, kayaking, and spending time with my family and friends. I earned my degree in Early Childhood Education from Holy Family University.
Teaching Philosophy
First grade is such a wonderful year of growth as children become more independent, curious, and confident learners. I believe that a successful classroom begins with strong relationships built on mutual respect, positivity, and genuine interest in each child. I want my classroom to be a place where every student feels safe, welcomed, valued, and excited to come to school each day.
I believe that every child learns in their own unique way. Throughout my teaching career, I have worked to adapt my teaching to meet the individual needs, strengths, and interests of my students. I provide a variety of opportunities for students to learn through hands-on activities, literature, creativity, technology, discussion, and movement. I also love incorporating students’ interests into our lessons because I believe that when children are interested in what they are learning, they become more motivated and invested in their success.
Throughout the year, I work to build my students’ independence and confidence. I provide clear expectations and consistent routines while giving students opportunities to make choices, solve problems, collaborate with their classmates, and take ownership of their learning. My goal is to create a structured yet joyful classroom where students understand what is expected of them while still having the freedom to be creative, curious, and themselves.
As a Catholic educator, I also believe in nurturing the whole child. Growing up in Catholic schools myself, I experienced firsthand the importance of faith, kindness, service, and community. I hope to create a classroom where these values are woven into our everyday experiences and where students learn to recognize their own gifts while using them to support and encourage others.
Above all, I want my students to develop a lifelong love of learning. I hope they leave first grade not only as stronger readers, writers, mathematicians, and problem-solvers, but also as more confident and independent!
“My goal is to create a classroom community where every child feels known, valued, and excited to learn.”
Ms. Mockler
Curriculum Overview
First grade is an exciting year full of lots of learning! Explore each subject below.
Literacy
First grade beginning readers enjoy read alouds every day, listening to a fluent reader. Literacy instruction is explicit, systematic and aligned with the latest research on the science of reading. Instruction is comprehensive focusing on all areas of literacy, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, with a particular emphasis on phonics. They progress from short, predictable texts to chapter books. First grade writers express themselves using complete sentences, punctuation, capitalization, and details. They progress from best guess spelling by recording the sounds they hear to conventional spelling of high-frequency words and common spelling patterns.
Math
In first grade, students build a strong foundation in number sense and mathematical thinking. A major focus is developing fluency with addition and subtraction within 20 while exploring a variety of strategies to solve problems. Students will also deepen their understanding of place value, noticing patterns in how numbers are represented and using this knowledge to make sense of larger numbers.
Throughout the year, students will explore measurement, collect and represent data, and investigate geometric shapes by composing, decomposing, and describing their attributes. Learning will include hands-on activities, games, problem-solving, and meaningful mathematical discussions.
In first grade, math is about more than finding the right answer. Students are encouraged to explain their thinking, compare different strategies, recognize similarities and differences in their approaches, and respectfully learn from one another. My goal is to help students grow into confident mathematicians who approach challenges with curiosity, perseverance, and a willingness to try new strategies.
Science
First graders engage with the scientific process by noticing, wondering and asking questions. They make hypotheses, conduct experiments, share their thinking and revise their thinking. Our science units are: Light and Sound, the Night Sky, and Animal and Plant Traits and Adaptations.
Social studies
First graders practice being responsible citizens by participating in our class community. They follow agreed-upon expectations, such as having one speaker at a time. Our social studies units are: the Great Barrier Reef, Since Time Immemorial, and Community Jobs. We also conduct service learning projects.
Religion
First graders learn about common Bible stories and learn how the Bible is organized. They learn that Jesus came for everyone! They learn that God cares about His whole creation and that we are called upon to be good stewards of that creation. They practice living out a life of faith by helping their classmates as Christ would. They participate in Mass weekly and help lead Mass. The common prayers that first graders work on memorizing are the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be.
“I want my classroom to be a place where students feel safe to be themselves, excited to learn, and proud of the progress they make each day.”
From Ms Mockler’s Teaching Philosophy
Highlights
- Panther of the Month
- Math Club with 1st & 2nd Grade
- Hands-on STEM experiments
- Monthly Art Projects
- Weekly visits to the school library
- Holiday parties and classroom celebrations
- Field trips to Cascadia Art Museum, Broadview Library, the Snohomish pumpkin patch, and the Seattle Aquarium
- End-of-year surprise celebration