Welcome!

Welcome to our 1st Grade blog, "Mrs. Carter's Calling"!

This has a two fold meaning. You can interpret the title as if I was calling to fill you in on all the new details or as teaching being my calling in life. Both are very true!

My name is Mrs. Jessica Carter.

I am married to Michael

 who supports my passion for teaching!  You will see him here reading to the class as a guest reader! :)

My three children Jacob(15), Jayda(14), and Jay(4).  Lots of J names and happened much by accident.  Nice thing is, I call Jay and mumble the last part and they all come running to help! :)

I enjoy many activities that include boating, salt water fishing,

 (This photo below was published in the Florida Sportsman Magazine of a black drum I caught in Marco Island.  The photo above is a Goliath Grouper, a protected species.)

art, reading, paper and digital scrapbooking, jewelery making, attending the theater,

photography, bike riding, exploring the local area, my children's sports, and volunteering with girl scouts.

I was born in Orange County, California and raised in Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania. (About 15 minutes from where Punxsutawney Phil makes his appearance every February 2nd!) I attended Gannon University in Erie, PA where I received a Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education. I attended Gannon on a Volleyball scholarship. We were ranked 5th in the nation for Division 2 and this had me traveling all over the USA. It is actually how I came to love Florida!

I arrived in Seminole County, Florida in 1993. I received my Early Childhood degree through Rollins College. I began my teaching career at Winter Springs Elementary where I taught Kindergarten for 5 years. I took a couple of years off to be home with my two older children before returning to the classroom in 2001. At that time, I was placed in 2nd grade where I taught for 2 years. I then was placed in Kindergarten, where I taught for almost 4 years before another blessing put me on maternity leave. After almost two years of maternity leave, I returned to the classroom. I have been teaching 1st grade since 2009.
Here was what I looked like in 1st grade!
Teaching is my gift. I knew when I was in 2nd grade I would be a teacher. There was never a question about what I wanted to do "when I grow up"!
Just a note on blog pictures: to make the picture larger click on the picture.

I love every day as a teacher, each day is different and full of it's own rewards! It is my goal to create a well rounded student/child who gains a love for learning! I believe every child possess gifts and talents.  I help them find their area of expertise and easily adapt to meed all students needs.
I look forward to a wonderful school year together!
You can contact me by e-mail by clicking on the link that says "EMAIL ME" at the top. I look forward to a great year!

I am going to be using this website as a means of bringing you into our classroom through words, pictures, and videos! I will go over safety features and permission forms during open house (as well as many other topics).  I am looking forward to getting to know you better in the next couple of months.

This is the second blog, the first one started here:
Mrs. Carter's Calling (Original) for those who want to take a walk back through time! 
I needed to start again as there was a problem with blogger and I lost access to my account.