About Jessica Lerner

  I began teaching in an urban elementary school straight out of college. It wasn’t my plan… I majored in Biology. I started as a substitute, which was actally great experience. I saw how teachers all over town set up their classrooms. Some were great and inspiring and some were really, really awful. The school at which I subbed the most often offered me a long term sub job for a woman on maternity leave.  I had no teaching experience and no teaching degree and all of the sudden I took over a first grade class. The teacher never came back, so I had the class for most of the year.  In those days, there was no district-wide curriculum. Every teacher made their own plan and everyone worked ALONE. I had no long term plans, so I made it all up. It was really hard work. The kids were crazy and I fell in love with all of them. The school was one of the poorest in the district, and one of the worst performing on the standardized tests. But, all the teachers were just like me… young and idealistic. We all cried and stayed late and hugged eachother often.

After that year, the school created a position for me and I got an alternative license. I taught science for all the kids, kindergarten through fifth grade. We did experiements and wrote lab reports and the kids did plays about sub-atomic particles.  The kids loved it and I loved it. I went on to get my principal’s license. In the meantime, I taught fifth grade – with some of the same kids I had in first grade my first year. Then I became a literacy coach – planning staff development and coaching teachers.  The school continued to struggle academically. The superintendent called for the school to be reformed, soliciting plans from anyone interested in taking it over.  With my infinite optimism and desire to save all of our jobs, I (along with the other literacy coach) wrote a plan of improvement. We called it the PACE model - Parents, Accountability, Collaboration and Expectations.  The school board selected our plan and we began implementation the following year.  I continued my position as a literacy coach, but I had a baby at the end of that year and decided to stay home with him the year after.

Now home with baby number two, I find myself thinking about teaching and coaching all the time.  Maybe my brain needs a break from the toddler-speak. 

Contact me at jessicalerner@hotmail.com