My name is Cherry Carl, and I retired in June, 2003, after 35 years as a teacher and Language Arts Specialist in Santee, California.  However, I continued my role as an instructor at the University of California, San Diego, in the Reading Specialist Certification Program until June, 2009. I wasn't ready to retire. Teaching is in my blood! (My mother always reminded me that when I was little, I dragged the neighborhood kids in to play school whether they wanted to or not!) I still have the strong desire to make a difference for teachers, parents, and students. I'm passionate about the joy of knowing how to read and write and want every child to have the experience of closing a book with a sigh, "Wow, that was a good book!" The only way they can do that is by having the necessary skills and strategies to become independent readers. This website has been created to provide resources and materials for classroom teachers, reading and resource specialists, speech therapists, parents and students in the area of language arts. Please feel free to download and print anything that catches your eye, but please make sure to leave my name on the poetry and worksheets! If you have specific needs or suggestions, please don't hesitate to a   sk. I'm always open to new ideas and requests. That's how the site continues to grow. You can email me at carl1404@msn.com. Thank you so much for your heartfelt messages and testimonials. You and your children are the reason that I maintain the site and I will continue to offer the materials with little or no fees. By saying "Teaching is in my blood" in Paragraph 2, the author means that    _   .
she loves teaching all her life she didn't want to retire at all she is a specialist in teaching teaching is as important as her blood