Hello!
My name is Natalia. I live in Houston with my husband and my two children. I moved to Texas from Russia when I was 22, and I love it here!
I am fortunate to serve English Learners as a part of the incredible team at Seidlitz Education. My heart is at peace because my personal beliefs are in perfect alignment with the mission of our company – we work together to provide students and teachers with tools to develop language in every classroom.
Why bother?
When I read blogs of inspiring educators like Carol Salva and Valentina Gonzalez, I ask myself if there is anything left to say. In fact, I am sure that every thought that might occur to me has already been discussed at length by someone else. So, what’s the point?
Blogging is a way for me to organize my thoughts and store my favorite resources in case someone ever needs them. So, while I want to be useful to others, ultimately I write for myself.
Do I even like to write?
I was brought up in pre-digital Russia. At the Linguistic University of Nizhny Novgorod, I wrote my thesis by hand (in-text citations and all), and now I feel like a dinosaur telling my kids about it. I kept a diary and scribbled silly poetry. Living away from my family, I constantly wrote letters home. So, yes, I like to write, but I would rather do sit-ups than write in MLA style.
I wish I had started my blog when I first set my foot in a classroom, but I could barely keep my head above the water back then.
I enjoy reading blogs of educators, and if you do too, I hope my humble notes about teaching and learning English will pique your curiosity.