Mrs. Grubka

Education: Bachelor of Science, University of Central Florida; Master of Science, Florida Institute of Technology

 

Holy Trinity’s tagline is: “Start Here. Go Anywhere.” How do you envision helping students to live this motto?
I believe that the more education you have, the more doors will be opened for you. Taking advantage of opportunities to learn from books, other people or experiences should help to enhance what you want to achieve. With us living on the Space Coast, we see examples of being able to head to destinations that touch the lives of others in a variety of ways.

 

What do you look forward to the most about teaching at Holy Trinity?
It is very difficult for me to pinpoint one specific item/topic as to what I am looking forward to at Holy Trinity. This is a new chapter for me and with every piece of new information about The Holy Trinity Way, I am more impressed with the people, programs and culture that is present. I am very excited to be a Tiger.

 

What is the most important life lesson you want a child to learn in your classroom?
I would hope that students would develop a sense of reaching a goal through dedication, discipline and hard work based on being in a caring and supportive environment.

 

What motivated you to become a teacher?
My motivation to become a teacher was enriched because I had parents who valued education and supportive teachers. At a young age I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I loved school and would always “play” school with my younger siblings and neighborhood friends.

 

How do you inspire a student who has a hard time with your subject area?
To help students that might be having a difficult time with math, I strive to make sure that when introducing a topic, I would review previous knowledge (prerequisite skills) for all students. I use examples so that students can reference them when they are doing independent practice and try to pace the lesson so that they have time for guided practice in class with me as a reference. Hopefully, the tie to the real-world can be seen but that relationship may not come as quickly as desired.

 

How do I measure your success as an educator?
I would say that measuring success in education is done in a variety of ways by different people, based on their experiences. I think that my success for me is sometimes my most memorable part of teaching. A student writing a simple note to say that in the past they did not like math but have developed the love for the subject after having me as a teacher. As previous students reconnect and share what successes they have had and reference the requirements or skills (lifelong and math related) that they learned in my classroom, my heart swells. Previous parents of students who voice their opinion of me caring for all my students, their learning environment and safety, while making sure that all were treated equally. Of course, the public and administration, always reference success through assessment scores that are used to measure.