I'm Callie Reyes, and I teach Grade 2 — where the alphabet turns into stories, counting turns into confidence, and every single kid gets to feel like the main character.
Grade 2 · Reading Specialist Certified
"If a seven-year-old believes they're a good reader, they'll read for the rest of their life."
I've spent nine years in a classroom that smells like crayons and somehow always has one shoe missing. My favorite part of the day is the twenty minutes right after lunch when we all pile onto the reading rug and I get to watch a room full of seven-year-olds forget they're supposed to be quiet.
My teaching leans on phonics-first reading instruction, hands-on math, and a lot of patience — every child learns at their own pace, and my job is to notice which pace that is and meet them there.
Outside of school hours, I run the school's family literacy nights and am (slowly) building a classroom library of over 500 books, organized entirely by how a seven-year-old would sort them.
A full day, built around the subjects that matter most at this age.
Structured phonics instruction blended with daily read-alouds and guided reading groups.
Counting, place value, and early problem-solving taught through manipulatives, not worksheets.
Weekly speaking practice that builds confidence long before it's called "public speaking."
Cross-curricular art projects that tie back into whatever we're reading that month.
Daily circle time for naming feelings, resolving small conflicts, and practicing kindness.
Monthly evening sessions helping parents support reading practice at home.
A shelf of the projects, units, and traditions that live in Room 12.
Twenty minutes a day, every day — our shared read-aloud tradition, now on book 34.
A real classroom planter used to teach measurement, graphing, and patience.
Every Friday, one student reads their own writing aloud to the whole class.
Parents and kids read together in the classroom, once a month, cocoa included.
Our SEL system for noticing and naming good moments in the classroom, together.
An end-of-year classroom exhibit of every student's favorite piece of work.
Riverside Elementary, 2024
State literacy certification
Focused on literacy development
Classroom library expansion, 2023
My daughter went from dreading reading to asking for "one more chapter" every night.
Ms. Reyes noticed my son needed more time before anyone else did — and it made all the difference.
The Kindness Jar is the best thing that's ever happened to our house at dinner time.
Short notes on what we're learning and why.
Twenty minutes on the rug does more for reading confidence than any worksheet.
Measurement, patience, and one very stubborn tomato plant.
A simple system for noticing good moments — and why it works better than a rewards chart.
Fifteen minutes to talk about how your child is doing — in person or by video call.