Introductions:
Hi there! My name is Deidre Dott aka Mrs.Nelson. I've adapted to being called "Mrs.Nelson! Mrs. Nelson!" and the jokes about "you're not missing today!" referring to the children's book of course.
A bit of personal background: I spent my childhood in Monroe Falls, Ohio, and Midway, Utah. My family then settled in for the long run in Holladay, Utah. My parents are natural teachers and unusually animated as if I were being raised by Dick Van Dyke and Carol Burnett. Along with other occupations, my dad taught at a local university, and my mother taught art at a parochial school. They passed on to my siblings and myself some atypical ease with public speaking and a belief that we could be artists on any given day.
My middle name 'Dott' is after my great grandmother who was a premature infant. Her father said, "You're as small as a dot..." She grew up to be a math teacher- riding in a buggy from Sugarhouse to Draper to teach higher math to her dedicated students. She was also a stickler when it came to grammar and passed out cookies after school from her Mama Pig Jar dependent on students asking with the proper wording. My great grandpa was a principal. His best friend was the janitor. They lived next door to each other, went fishing, and built cabins on the same property. The principal's son and janitor's daughter got married. These are my dad's parents. My great grandpa the janitor was named Earl Napolean Darling. He thought chalk board erasers were a pain to clean, so he invented the 'Darling Eraser' which is like the Shark or Swiffer because the idea is to have a cloth that can be removed and washed properly. I have this eraser on my shelf in my office at home now. I have grown up witnessing and hearing stories of exemplary teachers and conversing freely with the ever expanding minds in my family.
In high school, I was dubbed by my friends the 'founding mother of the Hopeless Romantics Anonymous'. Looking back, it is not really surprising that I lept into marriage with a man who is kind-hearted, witty, and way too good-looking.. Skip ahead a couple decades and I am now the mother of five. In the picture above you'll see the amazing and amusing kids that we were lucky to get. When my youngest was a toddler, I went back to school taking night classes at Salt Lake Community College. I then transferred to Western Governors University. Going back to college after being home with my kiddos was no small decision. One advantage though about being a non-traditional student is that I knew enough about myself by that stage in life that if I was going to commit to pursuing a formal education- I knew deep within that it had to be teaching. While working towards my degree, I didn't want it to take too much of a toll on my family, so I continued to volunteer at their schools, etc. While I was at Back to School Night, a teacher informed me that there was an opening for an aide that I might go apply for. I knew this could be a fantastic way to really see how several teachers manage their classrooms, organize activities, interact with each other as a team, etc. It proved to be an invaluable experience. For an additional year, I offered to substitute for aides and teachers which gave me perspective into many classrooms, grade levels, styles and subjects. In a way, I sort of designed a personally engaging student teaching experience that expanded beyond the usual twelve weeks of classroom time. The very best part of working at the school though was that I got to see my three boys in the hallway, at lunch, recess, etc. and we'd hug or do our family handshake in passing. That was some years ago. Now they are almost all out of elementary school.
Hobbies, interests and favorites? I could write five more verses to Julie Andrew's song no problem. To be brief, I enjoy variety when it comes to reading and music from dystopic fiction to western novels, and from blue grass to Broadway. I also enjoy travel, camping, museums, theater, healthy debates, and movies that include layered popcorn.
I'm just old enough to know that children grow up at a staggering pace. That's why I intend to enjoy my own kids and the ones I get to teach while they are under my wing.
A bit of personal background: I spent my childhood in Monroe Falls, Ohio, and Midway, Utah. My family then settled in for the long run in Holladay, Utah. My parents are natural teachers and unusually animated as if I were being raised by Dick Van Dyke and Carol Burnett. Along with other occupations, my dad taught at a local university, and my mother taught art at a parochial school. They passed on to my siblings and myself some atypical ease with public speaking and a belief that we could be artists on any given day.
My middle name 'Dott' is after my great grandmother who was a premature infant. Her father said, "You're as small as a dot..." She grew up to be a math teacher- riding in a buggy from Sugarhouse to Draper to teach higher math to her dedicated students. She was also a stickler when it came to grammar and passed out cookies after school from her Mama Pig Jar dependent on students asking with the proper wording. My great grandpa was a principal. His best friend was the janitor. They lived next door to each other, went fishing, and built cabins on the same property. The principal's son and janitor's daughter got married. These are my dad's parents. My great grandpa the janitor was named Earl Napolean Darling. He thought chalk board erasers were a pain to clean, so he invented the 'Darling Eraser' which is like the Shark or Swiffer because the idea is to have a cloth that can be removed and washed properly. I have this eraser on my shelf in my office at home now. I have grown up witnessing and hearing stories of exemplary teachers and conversing freely with the ever expanding minds in my family.
In high school, I was dubbed by my friends the 'founding mother of the Hopeless Romantics Anonymous'. Looking back, it is not really surprising that I lept into marriage with a man who is kind-hearted, witty, and way too good-looking.. Skip ahead a couple decades and I am now the mother of five. In the picture above you'll see the amazing and amusing kids that we were lucky to get. When my youngest was a toddler, I went back to school taking night classes at Salt Lake Community College. I then transferred to Western Governors University. Going back to college after being home with my kiddos was no small decision. One advantage though about being a non-traditional student is that I knew enough about myself by that stage in life that if I was going to commit to pursuing a formal education- I knew deep within that it had to be teaching. While working towards my degree, I didn't want it to take too much of a toll on my family, so I continued to volunteer at their schools, etc. While I was at Back to School Night, a teacher informed me that there was an opening for an aide that I might go apply for. I knew this could be a fantastic way to really see how several teachers manage their classrooms, organize activities, interact with each other as a team, etc. It proved to be an invaluable experience. For an additional year, I offered to substitute for aides and teachers which gave me perspective into many classrooms, grade levels, styles and subjects. In a way, I sort of designed a personally engaging student teaching experience that expanded beyond the usual twelve weeks of classroom time. The very best part of working at the school though was that I got to see my three boys in the hallway, at lunch, recess, etc. and we'd hug or do our family handshake in passing. That was some years ago. Now they are almost all out of elementary school.
Hobbies, interests and favorites? I could write five more verses to Julie Andrew's song no problem. To be brief, I enjoy variety when it comes to reading and music from dystopic fiction to western novels, and from blue grass to Broadway. I also enjoy travel, camping, museums, theater, healthy debates, and movies that include layered popcorn.
I'm just old enough to know that children grow up at a staggering pace. That's why I intend to enjoy my own kids and the ones I get to teach while they are under my wing.