Teaching:
Teacher: Laurie Jacobson
School: West Elementary, Sycamore
Grade: 2nd
Number of years teaching: 19 years – All in 2nd grade
Farm Bureau/Ag Literacy connection: I have attended several Summer Ag Institutes with the Farm Bureau and I am the Ag Literacy Ambassador for West Elementary.
What is your favorite unit to teach? I love teaching my non-fiction reading unit. Second graders get really excited to share all the new things they are reading about.
What do you enjoy most about teaching? I never get tired of seeing that “light” go on, when meaning “clicks” and students really understand something they are learning.
What is something unique that you do in your classroom? In March with our Ag in the Classroom presentation, I combine our plant and animal science units with our consumer and producer units in social studies. I try to connect it all together with agriculture, and then finish the year with a field trip to local farms.
Why is it important for students to learn about food and farming? I feel that we’ve become disconnected from our agricultural heritage. Students need to reconnect with the role of farming in the production of food and appreciate the journey of food from the land to their tables.
Share one memorable teaching story. We were at Deutsch’s dairy farm on a field trip when a calf sucked a student’s fingers. His look of pure joy was thrilling!
Personal:
Hometown: Sycamore
Family: Married with 3 grown children
College/Degree(s): Bachelor’s Degree in Education from NIU
What did you want to be when you grew up? A dairy farmer or a veterinarian
Favorites:
Quote: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
Hobbies: Anything outside – Taking care of horses, gardening, yard work, walking the dog
Book: “Thank You, Mr. Falker” by Patricia Polacco
Sports team: Chicago Cubs
Movie: “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Travel destinations: Germany, Montana, Maine