Mrs. Michelle Black

Maroon and Gold through and through. I graduated from Big Spring in 1996, and stayed close to home to complete my undergraduate work at Shippensburg.  During my studies, I had the pleasure to student teach in kindergarten in the Chambersburg School District, as well as spending 6 weeks in fifth grade in the West Perry School District. After college, I was employed in a local daycare and also substituted for Big Spring.  Interestingly enough the first substitute postition I took was fifth grade at Plainfield, the following summer I was offered the fifth grade position at Plainfield Elementary in the same room that I started substituting.  Plainfield Elementary was my home for 10 years, at it's closing I was shifted to Mount Rock Elementary adding a third teacher to the team.  I love fifth grade, and find that this age is where students begin to learn the responsibility and skill that they will need to become a leader in the 21th century world.

When I am not teaching, grading, or planning, I am still learning and parenting.  I love to learning to create and make my own diy items like maple syrup, soaps, lotions, and whatever else seems to be exciting or challenging.  I have three children; two girls and a boy.  We spend many weekends traveling to softball tournaments and cheering on my oldest daughter.  My other children are also involved in their own activities, so needless to say we are a busy, crazy family.  

I am a stroke survivor as of February 2017. Following the stroke, I learned that I had an ASD (Atrial Septum Defect) which is a hole in my heart.  The doctors felt pretty confident that this was the culprit and allowed a clot to go to my brain.  I had surgery to remove the clot, and surgery in May 20217 to fix the hole in my heart.  I still have some days where I am exhausted and my brain is just tired, but that is normal for a stroke survivor.  I learned so much about the human brain and body during the spring, much of what I learned I try to incorporate into my teaching. I am not afraid to share my experience, but at the same time I try to be sensitive to young students and the trauma that may be associated with such an event.

Last year as a fifth-grade team, we spent a lot of time studying the Growth Mindset/ Fixed Mindset learning models.  What I didn't expect was that my recovery from the stroke made the Growth Mindset so much more logical and real to me.  The brain is an amazing organ and the way that we think about life, school, and our own abilities, can do either of two things, grow us or hold us back.  The growth mindset says, I may not be able to do this, but I am going to keep trying because I will be able to do it soon.  While the "fixed brain" focuses' on the grade and connects the grade point to how well they do something.  Meaning if a student always gets an A in math they think that they should never struggle in math, and when they do struggle they shut down and feel like a failure.  This is not what we want for our students, we want them to see struggles as a good thing and something that they come to understand as a way to learn from their mistakes.  As an adult, you probably remember learning to ride a bike, how many times did you fall down?  What did you do when you fell down?  Me, I kicked the bike, at one point I even bit the seat. But, dog gone it, the next time on the seat, I rode that bike around the yard.  I share this story with the students during the first week of school to show that when the going gets tough, the tough get tougher and take control of their learning.

I am looking forward to a new year.  If you have any questions or concerns please contact me, I will do my best to get back to you within 24 hours.