SANFORD, Fla. — A+ Teacher Jenna Turner teaches second-graders at Goldsboro Elementary Magnet School in Sanford. She likes to set aside some time each day to talk to her students about being patient, respectful and how to work through their feelings.
What You Need To Know
- Jenna Turner wants her students to excel in school and be good citizens
- Turner has dreamed of working as a teacher since she was a child
- Here’s how you can nominate an A+ Teacher
Turner says it's important to her that her class is a safe space for all students.
"I hope that my kids feel comfortable enough to talk to me about how they're feeling or come to me with problems at school or problems at home, whatever it is that they might need," she says.
Besides teaching her students all subjects, Turner also teaches them life lessons and adds, "How to be a kind person and how to treat others. How to respond and react to situations appropriately. How to heal their feelings and voice their feelings."
Born and raised in Seminole County, Turner attended public schools in the district, too, and developed a passion for teaching early.
"I used to literally teach lessons to my grandfather in their living room, tape all kinds of things on the wall, and he would get detention and things like that,” she says.
These days he gets to talk to Turner about what it's like to lead a real class. Turner smiles as she says, "One of my No. 1 supporters! He is 87, almost 88 years old. He is around, and he is very proud."
Besides the important schoolwork the students complete, Turner says it's important to share social-emotional skills with students. She says they are skills they can utilize throughout their lives.
"Today's world is very challenging for kids, and I think sometimes they struggle with how to express themselves," she adds.
Turner says students are encouraged to express themselves, too.
"Sharing with each other or saying ‘I'm frustrated,’ and this is why and it's okay to feel that way, and how are we going to work through it? If their heart is good, if their emotions are good, then the learning is going to be better on track, too," Turner says. "The learning can't happen if they are not feeling good about themselves and able to feel safe and secure and happy."
She says she hopes her students remember about her what she remembers about her own elementary school experience. "That I care about them — like how much I cared — because that's what I remember," she says.