Sandy Geisbush's door is always open, but not wide enough to let out the kittens--or the parrots, snakes, iguanas, sugar gliders and turtles in her 5th-grade classroom. Ms. Geisbush's students at Encino Park Elementary have class in a room full of animals. "One of the reasons I like to have animals in the classroom is to provide a little bit of distraction," Geisbush explains. "I think the kids need to learn to work through distraction." She points to the animals in the room--the kittens pouncing on one another, the bearded dragon, the pythons and the talking birds, one of which repeatedly calls out its name. "I always get attention deficit students in this classroom because that's one of my specialties," she explains. "Some people say 'how could they possibly function in a classroom like this?'" Yet, at week three of the school year, the students have already learned to let the animals fade into the background.

"I teach my whole program under the umbrella of math, science and technology," explains Geisbush, who is in her 11th year of teaching in the public schools. "By the time these children are in the workforce, their jobs are going to require far more understanding of math and science and problem solving than ever before." Fifth grade is a crucial time, when many students turn-off to math and science. "As elementary school teachers, we haven't helped the kids make connections. We've taught them a lot of content, but we haven't really connected it to something meaningful enough to make them feel confident taking physics and advanced algebra. It's a mistake. It's going to take a paradigm shift to make it happen for them." She points to the classroom, "But it starts here."

Geisbush brings the same determination to her pursuits outside of the classroom. "In my spare time, I am committed to preparing other teachers to turn this corner in education, to change their paradigms. . . We are no longer preacher-teachers, and yet teachers are still being trained as preacher-teachers in a lot of ways. We really need to become facilitators. We need to stop giving answers and start asking questions."

Trying to change traditional attitudes in teaching can be frustrating. "There are set-backs and disappointments. There are times when you put everything you possess into something and it doesn't quite work out," she says. "I go home exhausted. I truly do." But the benefits of being a teacher far outweigh any rough beginnings a new teacher might experience. Being around children keeps you young by helping you to see things through the eyes of a child.