Teaching experience:

I have been teaching 2nd Grade at Nocatee Elementary since the 2000/2001 school year. If you or your child attended Nocatee Elementary before 2005, you might know me as "Miss Lunde" (my maiden name). I also taught for two years in Rochester, NY  (my hometown) before I moved to Florida. So, I have a total of 12 years of teaching experience!

Education and Qualifications:

I have a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from SUNY Geneseo (1998), in upstate NY where I grew up. I also have a Master's Degree in Elementary Education from the University of South Florida (2006).

I am also a National Board Certified Teacher. National Board Certification is an advanced professional certification based on the NBPTS standards. The assessment for National Board Certification consists of a multimedia teaching portfolio and a three-hour examination. I completed these rigorous activities during the 2004-2005 school year and was named an NBCT in 2006. I am one of only 5 teachers in the district (and the only teacher in my school) with this certification.

I was honored with the title of "Teacher of the Year" for both Nocatee Elementary School and DeSoto County School District for 2009. Attending the state conference in Orlando that year was definitely the highlight of my professional career.

Personal life:

I live in North Port with my wonderful husband and our dog, Badger. My husband, Jason, works on computers and is also an excellent photographer. We do not have any children, but we enjoy spending time with our nieces and nephews and hope to start a family soon.

About this website and how I use it to help my students:

Website visitors can help our classroom by purchasing items from my Amazon Wishlist or making a PayPal donation - all donations and ad revenue received on this site are spent on classroom books and other materials.

Parents - you can also help our classroom by purchasing books for your child from Scholastic book orders. Many books are $2 or less! Every order placed earns bonus points which I use to purchase books and other classroom materials. Every monthly order totaling $20 or more earns us a coupon for $10 in free books for our classroom. If you order online, I get an additional free book pick, which I will use to select a book for your child!

Click the link below to place an order! Username and password are both "maiolo." FGCU students, feel free to order as well! This is a very inexpensive way to get books for your future classroom!

THANKS! Questions? Comments? Feel free to email me.