Educator of the Week – Palmer
BELLS, Tenn.- Bells Elementary School kindergarten teacher Darlene Palmer loves making a difference in her students’ lives. “I do want them to feel success everyday when they come to school,” said Palmer. “When they leave in the afternoon and go home, I want them to feel like, ‘I had a good day in kindergarten today, ‘ and I want them to know I really do care about them because I do.” Palmer has been teaching for 20 years. She said she loves kindergarten because of the progress she sees throughout the year. “They come in maybe not knowing how to write their names and things like that,” said Palmer. “But we learn all that within the first couple of weeks of school and learn our letters and our sounds.” This educator’s young students also learn to find a love for learning. “I feel like if they get a good solid foundation, they come to school and they’re learning and enjoying it and having fun, that will make them want to come and make them want to learn and make them want to succeed,” said Palmer. “I just try to be positive myself, and I use positive, encouraging words to tell them they’re doing a good job.” Palmer expects everyone to do a good job – including herself. “I don’t try to ask them to do anything that I don’t do myself,” said Palmer. “I want them to come to school and I want them to work hard and try to give 100 percent, because that’s what I try to do everyday when I’m working with them.”
