Hello! I’m Nyla, and I am happy to have you here! You can tell from the name ‘Nyla’s Crafty Teaching’ that I love creating with my hands. I have a mostly type ‘B’ personality. Creativity and passion are what drives me. However, I am flexible, since I also like to have things organized. What?!
Let me share a bit about myself...
I have a Bachelor of Education Degree from the University of Trinidad and Tobago. Before I was a teacher, I studied graphic design. (See where the crafty part comes in?)
I taught at two different Anglican primary schools on my beautiful island of Tobago. Back in 2006, the first class I taught was at the second-year infant level. I loved seeing my young students’ curiosity and wonder at that age. Every two years, I would move to a different class level and my teaching style would change to adapt to my new students. The thing that stayed constant was my use of games and manipulatives.
As a Caribbean teacher, I’ve had to be very resourceful. A lot of my teaching aids and props were handmade, and I enjoyed making them. I used to make these myself or have the students make them with me. We made our own manipulatives for math and science. I emphasized a lot of reading in my class and through this blog I was able to have a donation of boxes of used books shipped to my school from a teacher in the US. These are the memories I treasure the most from my teaching days. I am currently a full-time creator of teaching resources and children’s books.
My Teaching Philosophy and TPT
I have always been a visual learner, and this has caused me to find creative ways to help each student learn based on their learning styles. This is also reflected in my TpT resources, the activities I create provide interactive reinforcement of concepts that students can do in groups. I make my resources visually stimulating with clipart to represent examples of concepts in a real world context. This makes the topic more relevant to students’ pre-existing ideas and they are designed to bring about mastery through repetition in different forms.
Other Hobbies and Interests
I love Zumba! In Trinidad and Tobago, you would hear Soca music on the radio. It makes you feel like dancing. I take a dance class to exercise, but also to have fun. I am a member of the Music Amateurs Choir, I sing alto. I love the arts in general. I love to draw and paint nature scenes. I love the theater (as a spectator, not a performer). Another hobby of mine is adding to my collection of Joke Books that I’ve created. I love curating new jokes and illustrating them with my favorite clip art.
