Woodside School District

Mrs. Kristina Valentine

6th & 8th grade Language Arts
Room 32

VALENTINE ELA:
https://sites.google.com/woodsideschool.us/valentineela/8th-grade?authuser=0 

Office Hours:
Tuesday: 9:51-10:11 (recess by appointment)
Tuesday: 12:20-1:00 (lunch)

* It is important to note that my class will be facilitated primarily through Google Classroom. All students are members of this online forum and can access announcements, assignments, resources, and due dates here. They can also access a classroom calendar on my website. Students are responsible for checking Google Classroom, my website and their email regularly.

 

My Background
This is my 11th year at WSD, and I am proud to be a Wildcat!  I first fell in love with Woodside School while sitting at my son's baseball game at Willie McCovey Field.  We had just moved to the peninsula from across the bay.  I sat on the bleachers in awe of the Heritage Oaks and Redwoods guarding this beautiful campus.  The sun began to set behind the Woodside Community Garden, and it became clear that this was a special learning community. 

Prior to working at Woodside, I worked part-time for Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, as a research advisor in the Teaching Leadership graduate program and as a teacher supervisor to student teachers. When we lived in the East Bay, I taught eighth grade English and Social Studies for seven years at Harvest Park Middle School in the Pleasanton Unified School District.

 

I completed my M.A. in Education in Teaching Leadership at Saint Mary's College and my B.A. in English with a minor in Italian Studies from the University of Arizona. I have a single-subject English credential and a single-subject Social Studies credential.

 

If I'm not at Woodside, you'll probably find me driving my son or daughter to a local sports field or gym! Our active family loves to play sports, go for hikes around the Bay Area, or compete in serious family game nights. I also enjoy attending Stanford baseball games, walking my yellow lab, cooking for my family and friends, and traveling.

 

My Philosophy

My curriculum is rigorous, and the expectations are high because I prepare our students for a successful transition to high school. My door is always open to students and families for support.  My lessons focus on fostering an appreciation of literature and encouraging an ability to navigate and use the English language practically and appropriately in the forums that students may encounter in education and beyond graduation. Eighth grade is an exciting year filled with growth and opportunity and I look forward to building supportive relationships with my students as they close a chapter here at Woodside and prepare for the next phase of their journeys!

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.