Annie Diaz

Buckeye, Arizona

I teach fourth grade in the greater west valley of Phoenix. I am not one of those who have known since I was a little girl that I wanted to be a teacher. My parents aren’t in education so I couldn’t follow their footsteps. I don’t even remember many teachers from my childhood. Who inspired me to choose this profession? Well… I have two boys whom I love more than anything in the world. They are students in the 21st century.

I decided to be a teacher the year that my oldest son started preschool. I had the usual misconceptions about teaching…I really did believe that I would leave work at 3:00pm every day and get summers off. HA! It was somewhere between my first social studies methods class and the course for teaching elementary mathematics when I had my moment. I realized teaching was my calling, my passion, and the career for me. I am a National Board Certified Teacher and a current doctoral student hoping to make the world a better place.