Welcome to First Grade with Mrs. Dolly Gamlyn!

First of all, I would like to welcome your family back to school this year. We are going to be working together as a team to make sure that your child has the resources they need to grow and learn in an environment of belonging and support. It is hard to believe that it has been 18 months since schools had to shut down and learning had to occur in a completely new format for both teachers, students and families. 

I am very excited to be your child’s first grade teacher! I will work alongside you and the rest of the Woodside community to ensure that your child receives a quality education.  My goal is that students will walk away from first grade with multiple different academic and social-emotional strategies that will help build the foundation for future learning. 

In our classroom, I focus heavily on building a safe learning community. Throughout the school year, I will emphasize how we are a classroom family. It is the job of each member in our classroom family to support and help one another in order to foster a positive learning environment for everyone.  My hope is that students will feel comfortable to make mistakes and take risks within our learning environment. I like to model that mistakes are a normal process of learning and that even adults (myself included) make mistakes sometimes. We can all learn and grow from them! I like to model that I am learning together with them and that learning is a life-long journey. Furthermore, we will be working on perseverance, grit, and building a growth mindset. We have been out of school during this pandemic and that makes it all the more important to work together and support one another as we make the transition back to school full time. Learning along with others pose challenges at times, but I know that we will be able to work through it when we support one another. 

As for me, I have been teaching in Everett Public Schools since 1999 where I have taught K, 1st and 2nd grade. Before that I taught in Northshore in 1998 in K and before that, pre-K in Bellevue in 1997. I attended Humboldt State University 1990 – 1996. I first majored in Marine Biology for 3 years and then moved into Liberal Arts Multiple Subjects where I began my 4-year journey toward becoming a teacher. I enjoy reading mystery novels, watching movies, spending time with my family and being outside in nature. My family and I have a dog, a cat and recently a baby corn snake as our pets which we enjoy very much. They are like members of our family. I look forward to learning about your family as well as we journey together through this year of new experiences in education.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I can’t wait to begin our journey together!

Thank you,

Your Dedicated Teacher,

 

Dolly Gamlyn