WINDERMERE, Fla. — Julie O'Neill's class at Keene’s Crossing Elementary School encourages students to talk and share notes — a practice she tries to make unique.

"We are just going to mingle around the room, OK?" O'Neill tells her class. "Ready and mingle! Mingle, mingle, mingle."

It's not musical chairs, but O'Neill's students still have plenty of fun. 

O'Neill's fourth-graders are encouraged to talk in class, sharing the essays they've written with a partner and learning about how to elaborate on their work.

This is her teaching style — and it's just one reason why fellow teachers nominated O'Neill as an A+ Teacher.

O'Neill says she's just doing what she loves: helping her students.

"And I'm their biggest supporter," O'Neill said of her students. "I'm their biggest cheerleader, and it's nice when some of my older students come back to visit me and tell me thank you. I think that's the biggest reward."

O'Neill says there's something special about elementary school: "The age. They still like us. And they're happy to be here. They're excited. I just love to motivate those little ones."

It is something she does constantly.

O'Neill said she is deeply honored to be chosen by a colleague as one of the best of the best. She burst into tears when she found out.

"We normally don't get the recognition that I think all teachers deserve."