Roughly three weeks. That’s how much time remains in the school year for most Arizona school districts. In efforts to continue to support their students, teachers have transferred their lessons to various online platforms. At the start of quarantine and a statewide shutdown of schools, teachers, in just a matter…

In the past few months I’ve been able to gain valuable insight on how the Early Childhood and Early Education sectors are viewed by those not embedded within it. Throughout my career I’ve spent countless hours “pitching” (selling, justifying, convincing etc.) …

I recently finished up my last 2018 podcast episode for the Early Childhood Journeys Podcast. It was with Kareem Neal, the AZ Educational Foundations Teacher of the Year recipient! …

I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of watching Disney Pixar’s animated film, “Coco” and seeing Mexican spirit animals, aka “Alebrijes”, represented so well. Alebrijes are fun, imaginary, brightly-colored and legendary creatures from Mexican culture. They can be captivating for any child, and even in the inner child in all…

Almost 3 years ago, I was asked to join a grant-funded project, traveling and training (among my many other tasks) to implement some much-needed Kindergarten training modules developed by Alesi Group. …

This conversation is a transcription from the Early Childhood Journeys Podcast Episode 33 where I sat down for an audio recording with Adrienne Ledford, Director of the Tucson teacher resource, Treasures 4 Teachers of Tucson. This 100% volunteer run, non-profit store is worth learning about! Start of recording transcript: [Marissa]…

I’ve been in the Early Childhood field for over 20 years, so I’ve experienced a lot in my day after beginning my career straight out of high school. I’ve had different types of roles: from direct care, to administrative, to leadership positions overseeing programs and employees. So when I was…

MAKERSPACE: a place where we gather tools and materials to create, invent, tinker, design, fabricate or otherwise enable individuals, a…

Appreciating Educator Mr. D’s Energy and Spirit! Last month I was able to attend a speakers event presented by ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton College of Education. The Fall Speaker was Mr. “D” aka Joe Dombrowski, a 4th grade teacher who is currently teaching in Chicago. His clever and very humorous…