We are proud to introduce our fourth Sunday Spotlight, featuring Phil Moschella who teaches in Las Vegas, Nevada. We loved chatting with him right after he returned from a trip to Brazil to learn about his career switch to teaching, his goals for the year, and his “hands and eyes” tactic for getting the class quiet! Read on for our exclusive interview, which included traveling, popcorn & m&ms, and Edulastic tips.
Phil Moschella
2nd Grade Teacher
Laura Dearing Elementary
Las Vegas, NV
Years teaching: 6 (3 Teaching , 3 Substituting)
“Being a role model for my students is very important.”
Get to know Phil Moschella
What do you love about teaching?
I love (especially because of the area that I’m at, in an inner city school) being a good role model for my students. That’s very important.
Describe your Edulastic “aha” moment in more detail (the moment where you discovered Edulastic and realized it was going to be a great fit)?
Our school has been getting into the use of technology and we are becoming a 1:1 school. So we’ve had a lot of trainings and Edulastic was brought up as one of our trainings. They showed a quick overview of it and when I saw it I thought “This is a program I really want to use.”
What are your teaching/learning goals this school year?
Being new to second grade will be interesting. (Previously Phil taught 4th grade) My learning goal for the year would be to have a good percentage of my students exceed grade level completion. I’m very excited about using the technology because I think it is going to really bolster the curriculum that we have.
Reflecting on challenges that you had to overcome last year, what are some tips for teachers who are new to Edulastic?
While using Edulastic, especially in mathematics and ELA, being able to target a specific standard was tremendous and very helpful.
One thing you love most about Edulastic?
I really like the immediate feedback my students get. It’s great to be able to look back at the problems they missed. From there students can see if they can figure out what they did wrong with it and if they can rework the problems.
Quick Facts
Favorite Edulastic question type?
Drag and Drop.
Favorite thing to snack on while using Edulastic?
Popcorn and M&M’s. Good combo.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee
Favorite time of school year or year?
I really like fall. It’s the beginning of the school year and you get to start over.
Best tactic to get the class quiet?
I call it hands & eyes. When I just say “hands and eyes” they drop everything they’re doing, fold their hands and put their eyes on the target.
Dream vacation spot?
Disneyland
Kindest compliment you have received from a student?
I had one student who was very challenging and he was always in trouble. They had to write something nice about the teacher and he wrote how much he appreciated that Mr. Mosechella always had his back. That was cool.
Greatest teaching-related accomplishment?
My greatest accomplishment was getting my teaching degree at a late late age ( he chuckles). I am 51 now and I’ve been teaching for about 6 years.
How do you like to spend your free time?
My wife and I like to travel. My favorite place to travel is Brazil.
Join Phil and other Edulastic educators:
- Sign up for Edulastic for free!
- Join the Facebook community!
- Or, meet our week 3 Sunday Spotlight educator, Dena Morosin, a 4th grade teacher in Oregon.