Happy Days in First Grade

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February 28, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Why I Teach

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The importance of education has always been ingrained and valued in my family for as long as I can remember.  It is the reason why my parents left everything and everyone they knew to immigrate to the United States in 1988 and the reason why my siblings and I are blessed to have the life that we today.

My story began many years ago in Vietnam.  My father was born in the capital city which was once called Saigon. Because of his family circumstances, he had to stop going to school in sixth grade and sold lottery tickets and toys along the roadsides of the city with my grandmother.  My mother on the other hand was from a small, poor village in the Central region.  There was not a school near her house thus, she had to walk for several miles to learn to read from a teacher who taught from his home.  Each lesson was paid for with a small bag of rice. Through imitation, memorization, and determination, she learned to read and write Vietnamese fluently.  As parents to six young children, they struggled financially and with very little education and means, they knew that they had to make drastic changes so that we could have a better life than they did.

Through the goodwill and generosity of the United States, my family was granted Refugee Status and was sponsored by Catholic Charities to immigrate to Kentucky in 1989 after staying at a refugee camp in Bataan, Philippines for ten months.  In Louisville, Kentucky was where I lived most of life and was blessed with the opportunity to attend both public and private schools.  While my parents struggled with the language barrier and were not able to support us as parents of our American peers did, they always pushed us to excel and were always there to celebrate all of our successes.  “You have to work hard in school” were the words that were always echoed in our house.  They knew that education was the way and the only way for us to elevate our lives and build a better future.

While most of my siblings went into the computer and mathematical fields in college, my heart was always drawn to share my time and knowledge with others.  From my volunteer service with my church youth group, I began a deep passion in teaching and helping others succeed as my parents and so many educators have touched and helped me to graduate Baccalaureate from my Catholic high school, Magna Cum Laude with my Bachelor in Arts, and Master in the Art of Teaching at the age of 23.  Eight years into teaching, and I am still very grateful of being able to do what I love everyday. I am even more grateful for all the people who have helped me to become the woman I am today, especially my wonderful parents.

Thank you so much for reading! Below is a FREEBIE from my store that I would love to share with you!  
FOR THE NEXT ‘WHY I TEACH’, CLICK TO THE BUTTON BELOW! 

Not very fancy

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Comments

  1. teachertam says

    February 28, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    Ha, thank you so much for sharing your story! I'm a KY gal, too. Born and raised there, although I live in Chicago now. Thanks for adding some of your family pictures, too. 🙂 Tammy

    Reply
  2. Mrs. King says

    March 1, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    What a great story and what a beautiful family!

    Reply
  3. Ha Dinh says

    March 1, 2015 at 5:50 pm

    Thank you for hosting this Blog Hop! What part of Kentucky are you from?

    Reply
  4. Ha Dinh says

    March 1, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    Thank you so much, Mrs. King! Love your blog design, by the way! 🙂

    Reply

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Hello There!

My name is Ha. I am a Primary STEM teacher from Texas, a passionate educator of little ones, a teacher-author of interactive educational resources, a lover of Makerspace and STEM, a mother to two, a wife to my high school sweetheart and a forever learner. Welcome to my site!

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hellomrsdinh

👩🏻‍💻 Primary Teacher since 2007
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Ha ~ Happy Days in First Grade
🚨FLASH SALE for 24 hours!!! 🚨 Get a head st 🚨FLASH SALE for 24 hours!!! 🚨

Get a head start by snagging up this EDITABLE Farmhouse Slideshow for your Meet-the-Teacher Night and Back to School!!! 🥳

It has all the slides you need to introduce yourself to your students and it’s EDITABLE!!!! Buy now, edit later!🪴 

Snag it up now while it’s on SALE!!!Link in bio! https://bit.ly/3uqvW5T
Are you planning on doing a photo op for your stud Are you planning on doing a photo op for your students on Meet-the-Teacher Night?! 🌟

📣If so, here’s a fun and easy hack! 📣

Turn your anchor chart rack to a cute and easy photo op for your students using a glue stick and streamers! 🍎🎉

Pair with these FREE Speech Bubble Props for PreK-5th Grade! Link in bio! https://bit.ly/3jNdpMl
May we always carry the ideals of what make Americ May we always carry the ideals of what make America loving, kind, generous, and inclusive with us wherever we go and pass it onto our future generations. 🇺🇸

For a more perfect union, we will continue to put in the work, stay informed, and vote for the future that ALL of our children deserve. ❤️🤍💙
I believe in a loving and generous America- the Am I believe in a loving and generous America- the America that opened her arms and provided refuge to my family and allowed us to start anew and build our own American dreams.

I believe in the freedom that is the cornerstone of our democracy and the belief that we are all born FREE to make our own choices, walk our own path, and choose our own destiny wherever it may lead us.

I believe we are better when we are together, UNITED, and accepting of all Americans. 

I believe in these ideals that built our great country and the belief that ALL are welcome.

May all of our students always feel this way in our classroom and and in our schools. 

These activities can be found in the link in bio as part of the Back to School Activities currently on SALE. https://bit.ly/2TfR0w5
This activity right here is one of my favorite act This activity right here is one of my favorite activities for the beginning of the year! 🌟

I make a BIG speech bubble out of black butcher paper and cut out yellow circles for Emojis. ☺️😀😍🥳🤩😟😫

As one of the things on our class Scavenger Hunt during Meet-the-Teacher Night, the kids are asked to take one of the yellow circles and draw the face of an emoji that best describes how they feel about being a first grader. 

This activity is so simple and fun but gives me such information on how the kids are all feeling even before the first day of school!

Using this simple tool, I am able to address any anxiety or stress that they may have during our FIRST Morning Meeting! It’s so powerful to know even before school begins what I need to do to help ease them into first grade! 💕 

We also use the data collected for a graphing activity and then discuss what we can do to help make everyone feel happy and better. 

I love this activity and will definitely be doing this again this year! Swipe to see the before picture.

For the more Back-to-School activities, you can click to the link in bio to grab them on SALE for a limited time! https://bit.ly/2TfR0w5
One of the best things I did a couple summers ago One of the best things I did a couple summers ago was that I made these privacy folders before school started! 🎉

The kids absolutely love the positive sayings and I love that it allows them space to focus on their own work. 

Swipe to see the full tutorial then click to the link in profile to grab the posters on SALE for 24 hours! https://bit.ly/2TfR0w5 😊📚
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