Welcome to Teach Create and Caffeinate where together we can work together to make teaching easier, fun, and engaging in the classrooms. My name is Maritza Lara and I currently live in North Carolina.

I have 7 wonderful years in the classroom and still going strong! I have taught 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. My first year teaching I taught 2nd grade Bilingual. My heart has always been in a bilingual classroom, but I love all classrooms and have found so much joy in being in diverse schools. I fell in love with everything about the classroom teacher… the curriculum, the content, the creativity, and most of all, the kids. I graduated with a bachelor degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Bilingual Education studies. I hold a masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction. We are a military family following my husband in his military career. I enjoy living by the beach and spending my free time with my husband and children.

My current role is a multigrade 3rd/4/5th as a Dual Language Immersion teacher. I love the experience I have gained from being in a classroom with different grades. I have grown so much and a wealth of knowledge. It comes with it’s challenges, but I am so happy I was chosen for this! I love that I can provide my class with meaningful & engaging content, mentor my kids, and have a 50% Spanish and 50% English content teaching to students who are learning a second language.

I am passionate about creating hands-on & engaging activities for the classroom. I have just begun my journey, but I believe I can contribute to this community and make a small or big impact! I believe learning should be full of content, meaning & rigor yet creative and FUN at the same time. Yes, learning can (and should) be fun!!! I hope to provide teachers and educators with ideas to create learning opportunities that allow them to enrich their students’ understanding & create memorable experiences that establish meaningful connections across curriculum.

When I’m not teaching, blogging, creating videos, or content on teachers pay teachers, I’m being a mom to my three little humans who keep me pretty busy! My boys are 13 and 2! Besides the age gap, my 13 year old is an amazing brother. My daughter is 9 going into the 5th grade in August! I love seeing them grow up and learn from each other. They also love contributing to my classroom, and all of my projects! These little humans are the greatest part of my life.

My husband has been biggest supporter in this new journey. Ya’ll, I feel like one lucky gal! He has been my #1 fan since the very beginning. I could not imagine doing this without him or starting this without his encouragement and support. A little bit about our background… he is from California and I am from Texas. He is active duty military. We met in Texas when he was in school as a biomedical engineer with military orders in San Antonio. Our love has only grown stronger by the day and he has been the most amazing person to me and our three little humans.