Milken Educator Kristen L. Drake (GA '06)

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Kristen L. Drake

Kristen L. Drake (GA '06)

Teacher

Hightower Elementary/DeKalb County Schools
Doraville, GA

At the time of the Award, Kristen L. Drake was:

Teacher
Vanderlyn Elementary School
Dunwoody, GA

http:// worksheetless.com/

Subject(s) taught: General Elementary, Gifted, Special Education

Biographical Information

At Vanderlyn Elementary School in Dunwoody, third-grade teacher Kristen L. Drake volunteered to teach the third-grade group with the lowest achievement levels. In 2004-2005, she helped every one of them pass the state's Criterion- Referenced Competency Test. Her expert use of an electronic interactive white board in her classroom led the district to film her using it with her students. She also uses technology to combine writing exercises with parental communication as students post blog entries about what they've learned on a class Web site that parents can access. Ms. Drake has received a wide range of training on everything from research- based practices for reaching struggling readers to arts integration and a multi-sensory approach to teaching reading, spelling and writing. When the school instituted incentives for high achievement in the Accelerated Reader program, more than 70 percent of the students receiving awards at the end of the year were from Ms. Drake's classroom. Now that's something to blog about.

Personal Message

We've gone green! We have a worksheetless classroom. Practice activities and assessments are online. I even inputted over 500 homework assignments online, spanning from second grade level through fifth grade. Children receive assignments on their readiness level. Check it out at worksheetless.com. Please visit if you're in the Atlanta area! http://worksheetless.com/">worksheetless.com.