When you step into Alyssa Zuravel’s kindergarten classroom, it’s not the colorful number rug on the floor or the ABCs spread out on the wall that stand out.

It’s the books.

Alyssa has a lot of books — more than 850 of them.

“Books are windows and mirrors, but also doors,” she recently told me. “Whenever something pops up in my classroom, I love being able to think, ‘I have a book for that.'”

When she wants to explain the importance of not giving up, she turns to Angela DiTerlizzi’s The Magical Yet. When it’s time to talk about creativity, she reads Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. If she needs to demonstrate how people handle problem solving differently, she pulls out Cori Doerrfeld’s The Rabbit Listened.

Ask Alyssa who her favorite children’s book authors are and you’ll hear a diverse list of well-known names like Mo Willems, Grace Lin, and Matt de la Pena.

The common tie between those authors and Alyssa herself is a reliance on storytelling to engage and inspire children.

“Storytelling is a gateway to learning,” she said. “Kids at the kindergarten level are developmentally very narcissistic. One of the easiest ways to engage them in the topics we are learning is to make it about them. It’s also a bonding experience. Kids want to tell you things about themselves, and if you are able to play off of them and build a story about them, they instantly feel more connected to you.”

Building connection

Alyssa is in her second decade connecting with kids in the classroom, first as a creative drama teacher and for the past 10 years as a kindergarten teacher.

She firmly believes kindergarten is the year that kids experience the most development. She sees it as an honor and privilege to be the person who helps facilitate that growth.

“It is their first time at the big-kid school and I get to help them love it there, want to be there, and look forward to growing up,” she said. “I often explain that most of my job is teaching kids how to be people — and also how to read, write, and do math.”

Alyssa intimately understands the impact kindergarten teachers can have on students. She still remembers the day her own kindergarten teacher — Mrs. Jane Feiner — made her feel like the luckiest girl in class.

“It was stuffed animal day and I forgot mine,” Alyssa said. “Mrs. Feiner gave me a mama kangaroo that had a joey in the pouch to borrow and I felt so special because I had two stuffed animals instead of just one.”

Bringing storytelling to life

Alyssa tries to bring her own type of special moments to her students, oftentimes by combining her passion for children’s books with theater. When she teaches a lesson to students, be it on a chalkboard, on a screen, or from a book, Alyssa exudes enthusiasm.

She doesn’t read stories with a monotone voice.

She doesn’t just tell the information.

She shows it.

“I know I get exceptionally dramatic when reading books and during math time,” Alyssa said. “We also have daily play time, where I have the kids explain to me what is happening in their play set up as if it were a show.”

Learning isn’t confined to the kids

Life as a kindergarten teacher is no easy feat. Those refrains from parents or friends of I could never do that or Your job is so hard don’t always come across as compliments.

Alyssa also has to constantly focus on how to further educate herself and how to evolve as a teacher.

“It’s not just playing around with kids all day, tying shoes, and singing songs,” she said. “It’s a lot of work. If you are doing it right, you have to keep learning, researching, trying new things, figuring out what works best, and making adjustments. If I do the same thing every single day without learning and growing myself, it just isn’t going to work.”

That’s why Alyssa is so passionate about storytelling. Whether it’s obsessing over a new children’s book or recognizing a different approach to teaching addition, her goal is always to find a new way to use stories to help convey a message.

And sometimes, the best way to do that is to let the kids lead and stay out of the way.

“I love saying, ‘Tell me more about that,’ or asking ‘What happened next?’ when they tell me about something that happened,” she said. “You want to model examples. Just ask questions and don’t stop them. You want to encourage kids to understand that their input and ideas matter.”

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3 storytelling tips for you

1) Don’t get in the way

When Alyssa asks students to tell her more about what they’re doing or what they’re thinking, she makes a point of not getting in the way of their answer. As storytellers, “don’t get in the way” can mean make sure every word you share matters, or don’t let your own personality dwarf the impact of the story you’re sharing.

2) Never stop learning

Alyssa teaches kids how to learn, but she knows the only way to be good at her job is to constantly learn herself. The same is true in any profession, whether it’s architecture or aviation, zipline instructing or zoology. Want to be a better storyteller? Practice more. Read more. Write more.

3) Focus on emotions

Alyssa doesn’t always notice it, but she knows that whenever she shares a story with her class, she does it emphatically — often using emotion to attract and retain the kids’ attention. In any piece of content you have, the more you can appeal to emotions, the more attractive it will be to your audience.