TEACHERS
OF THE
YEAR JESSICA ROBINSON
THIRD GRADE TEACHER
AT THE LANGLEY
SCHOOL IN MCLEAN, VA
makeup and gloves, but
I took my role seriously. It
was the only time in my
career, that I did not speak
a word to my students all
day. I taught every lesson
through writing, gesture
or signs. I laughed with
them, without sound. I
taught them, without a
voice. At fi rst, my students
thought it was hilarious,
then they were intrigued,
and by the end of the day,
they were outraged! To this
day, that group of students
remembers that day; it
brings a smile and a laugh
to their faces.

NOMINATED BY:
ALIFIA D.

“Jessica was my son’s
teacher and I can
honestly say we have
never experienced
a more amazing,
caring, warm and
generous teacher.

Her command of a
rambunctious third
grade class and the
respect that the kids
give her is inspiring.

She is the type of
teacher who can talk
your ear off about
your child and knows
every detail about
them as a person.

She’s also the kind of
teacher who will call
you on a school night
at 9 p.m. after putting
three kids to bed
(under the age of fi ve)
because she received
an email from you an
hour ago and wanted
to address your
question. Not only does she
demand and focus on
academic excellence,
she spends time to
teach kids in her class
how to be respectful
of others, to be kind
and learn to work
together.” SPONSORED BY:
What advice would you
give to aspiring teachers?
What originally got you
interested in teaching?
In high school, I used
to volunteer for an
organization called ACTS
Turning Points, which
focused on helping
families that experienced
domestic violence. I
led and taught groups
of younger kids about
anger management and
how to talk about their
feelings. I really enjoyed it
and was amazed at how
much of a difference I
could make in the lives of
others. In college, I was a
philosophy major and I
loved the idea of thinking
about the reasons behind
our actions. I wanted
to combine these two
passions, helping others
and thinking about how
different minds think
about human nature, and
found teaching was a
great way to blend those
passions. Why do you think
24 August 2017
washingtonFAMILY.com Collaboration
is a key to
successful teaching.

teachers are important?
Teachers help raise future
generations and we have
the opportunity to teach
students how to refl ect,
how to be considerate
of others and how to
teach themselves to
question everything. These
are powerful skills and
through teaching, we
can shape the future in a
positive way.

What’s your funniest
teaching moment?
On Halloween, I was
struggling to fi nd a
costume that my students
would be proud of, so
I decided to come to
school as a mime. Now,
people might think that I
just dressed in black with
To understand that
everyday with children
is a new adventure so
expect the unexpected.

In addition, collaboration
is a key to successful
teaching—we all need
to share ideas with each
other and take the best
ideas to implement in the
curriculum. What makes you excited
to go into your school
each day?
I love that everyday there
is something new and
unpredictable. Kids are so
honest, and I feel that this
nature allows me to have
amazing conversations
where I learn as much
from them as they learn
from me. Teaching kids
to access knowledge, to
evaluate, analyze, apply,
compare and contrast
is teaching kids to
think critically. And it’s
teaching kids to think for
themselves. It’s amazing to
see kids fi nd themselves,
to discover who they are
and develop an awareness
of what they think.