Author and public speaker Dr. Jean Feldman got Liberty County pre-k teachers up on their feet, moving, waving their hands during a workshop last week. That’s what she wants them to do for their students.  
“She’s the rock star of early education,” Pre-K Center Principal Dr. Shelby Bush described Feldman during the Jan. 4 workshop.
As a retired pre-k teacher of 35 years, Feldman integrates a philosophy of learning by doing in classrooms of 4- and 5-year-olds.

More than 100 pre-k teachers and aides attended the daylong “Math & Reading-Razzle, Dazzle” workshop.
Feldman’s talk included high-energy song and dance activities to not only get the teachers up and moving, but also to use with their students.
“Why can’t educators figure out that elementary students need to move?” Feldman asked.
She provided the teachers with ways to integrate reading through repetition and improve sequencing by use of small motor skills.
She also gave practical classroom management tips, such as dealing with tattletales.
Pre-k Assistant Principal Deloris Crawford said the best part about the workshop was its interactivity.
“What kids are first introduced to, that’s what they remember,” Crawford said.
Teachers left the workshop with a new sense of excitement.
One teacher said she “can’t wait to come back to work on Monday and try this.”
“I love her (Feldman)! I don’t want her to leave,” another teacher said as she got ready to take a picture with Feldman at the end of the workshop.
“Teachers are the reason I do what I do. They’re the best,” Feldman said.
“I’m not trying to sell anything,” Feldman said. “(I) don’t do anything that’s hard or expensive to make.”
“I just want to be the one that reminds them (teachers) that these are little children and they have one chance to build a good memory,” Feldman said. “School should be a joy.”