About Me - Hojo's Teaching Adventures

Fun, engaged, impactful.

Those are the three words that first come to mind when I think of teaching. This should apply to be the relationships you build with your students and their learning.

There’s nothing greater than seeing students engaged when they are learning in your classroom. They are having fun. You know you are making an impact as a teacher. Then again, one thing might be better…having former students approach you and thank you for all the fun they had in your classroom. That is when you’ve reached the teacher jackpot!

Thanks for stopping by! You’ve reached one of my little corners of the internet world. On this blog you’ll find great freebies, plenty of teaching ideas, and some products to help your students be engaged in their learning in a fun way.

You can also find me at HoJo’s Life Adventures.

Here’s a picture of my little family.

I spent seven years as a classroom teacher. During that time I taught in a variety of positions: Kindergarten teacher, multi-grade classroom teacher at a Hutterite colony, 5th grade special education inclusion teacher, 6th grade teacher, 4th/5th/6th grade departmentalized teacher, Reading Recovery teacher, and Title I teacher. Then I was an Elementary Principal of two schools and also the district’s K-12 Special Education Director for a year.

As much as I loved being an educator, I decided to stay home with our son after his arrival. The fall of 2015 found me at home blogging, being a virtual assistant, helping people lead healthier lives, and being a full-time mommy!

Please consider connecting with me via Social Media!

Read on to learn more about me!

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Here’s how I got my nickname

My grandma immigrated from France to the United States when she was 20. She still speaks a mile a minute! When my parents told her my name was Heather Jo, she said it back so fast that it sounded like HoJo. That’s all it took – it stuck!!

To this day my family actually calls me HoJo or Jo more often than they do Heather. I think I was about 8 when I threw a fit because I honestly thought my grandpa did not know my real name!! There were also four Heather’s at school – so some of my friends even called me HoJo. It’s about as second nature to me as anything!

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Teaching Experience

I started my teaching career in the fall of 2007. Since then I’ve taught grades K-6 in some capacity. My positions have included classroom teacher, ELL teacher, Title I teacher, Reading Recovery, special education teacher, and special education overseer.

I have obtained two masters degrees, one in K-12 Administration & Leadership and the other in Reading. I spent one year as the K-6 principal of two schools and the district’s K-12 Special Education Director.

In 2013 I started working as an adjunct professor, and I did that through spring 2016. It was a great three years, and it was fun to teach teachers in a different format.

After the 2014-2015 school year ended, I decided to stay home with my newborn son. Blogging, helping people live healthier lives with essential oils, and being a Virtual Assistant are now what keep me busy when I’m not chasing my cutie! 🙂

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Favorites

foods – Italian, Mexican, pizza, and a good steak or burger

movie – The Lion King

smell – fresh cut grass, horses

animal – horse

book – too many to even think of!

I truly appreciate you taking the time to check out my blog! Please make sure to read my disclosure statement while I’m here. Basically it says I do use affiliates. So if you’re interested in supporting me, simply clicks on the various links/ads you see on this blog. For example, if you want to shop on Amazon – click here. Or if you want to purchase something from my Teachers Pay Teachers store – click here.

Thanks for reading!
~Heather aka HoJo~