A Little About Me

My real name is Nicholas Kleve. I am married to a wonderful woman and have three delightful little children. I have been teaching for 17 years. When I am not in the classroom teaching, I enjoy hiking, backpacking fishing, biking, swimming, running, competing in triathlons, exploring wilderness survival, and trying anything that deals with the outdoors. I also enjoy dancing, watching movies, and spending time with my family.

My Thoughts On Teaching

“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher,” according to a Japanese proverb. I consider myself an effective teacher, and I have never forgotten why I became a teacher. Every year my students depend on me to give them the best educational experience possible. They are the 21st century leaders in our community, state, nation, and global society. Providing a mediocre learning experience for my students is just unacceptable. That is why I get up every morning passionate and driven to help my students experience success. This should be a goal of all effective educators.

My Approach To Teaching

1. I am sensitive to differences such as skin color, disabilities, cultural backgrounds, and religious beliefs.
2. I teach students to celebrate differences and all that we as people have to offer the world.
3. I teach with a positive attitude, flexibility, creativity, and innovation to meet my students unique learning needs.
4. I push my students towards excellence and help them strive for high achievement.
5. I teach with excitement, passion, and energy.
6. I strive to inspire my students to become motivated and excited about their education.
7. I help students develop academically, mentally, and socially.
8. I create an environment where students feel safe and welcome in my classroom.
9. I have extremely high expectations of my students.
10. I bring a playful attitude into my teaching.
11. I incorporate humor, laughter, and play on a daily basis.
12. I use hands-on body movement, music, chants, dance, singing, and excitement as powerful tools to help students learn.
13. I expect my students to use appropriate manners, such as using please, thank you, and addressing adults as sir and ma’am.
14. I promote a sense of “family” in class, and it helps my students feel united as a team.
15. I teach students to be kind and not bully or harass other people.
16. I work hard to build positive relationships with all of my students.
17. I stay current and sharp as an effective educator through professional development.
18. I stay current in the latest research-based instructional strategies to continue evolving as an effective educator.
19. I strive to build strong relationships with colleagues and parents because we all work together as a team helping all of our students in our school.
20. I keep an open communication with parents through phone calls, emails, letters, and face-to-face meetings.
21. I assess student learning daily in a variety of ways, including writing samples, homework, journal logs, games, debates, brainstorming, storytelling, teacher observation notes, checklists, teacher-made tests, rating scales, rubrics, and student reflection questionnaires.
22. I focus on higher-level thinking skills to evoke critical thinking among students.
23. I make learning student-centered.
24. I want each of my students to grow up being happy, healthy, and productive human beings who want to make the world a better place.

Wonderful Quotes That Inspire Me

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”–Dr. Seuss

“You’ve got to continue to grow or you’re just like last night’s cornbread—stale and dry.” – Lorreta Lynn

“If a seed of a lettuce will not grow, we do not blame the lettuce. Instead, the fault lies with us for not having nourished the seed properly.” – Buddhist proverb

“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” — Christopher Reeve

“The greatest sign of a success for a teacher…is to be able to say, “The children are now working as if I did not exist.” — Maria Montessori

“Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.” –William Butler Yeats

“Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre.” — Gail Goldwin

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” — Albert Einstein

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” — Benjamin Franklin

“A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank…but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child.” — Forest Witcraft

“Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher. –Japanese proverb