About MeI have been working with children over ten years in many different environments including summer camps, private preschools, cross country ski lessons and public schools. My love for teaching stems from the relationships built with every child that has crossed my path. As an elementary school teacher in Vermont I developed inquiry based learning activities, enabling students to learn and explore within a broader topic. My students embraced the history of piracy and vikings, explored issues within recycling, and discovered patterns in numbers while designing housing units. By empowering children to explore learning based on their own interests enables a deeper understanding and strengthens the drive to acquire knowledge. I understand the value of nurturing the individual in order to foster a passion for life-long learning. My communication skills keep parents well-informed and always welcome in the learning environment. My organizational skills have resulted in celebratory parent-teacher conferences. Parents have expressed pleasure in witnessing their child’s development as my student. Weekly notes home, complete with photos and regular invitations to join the classroom strengthen the home-school connection and enrich education through natural incidents binding parents and teachers with children. Students, under my guidance, come together as a community to create and keep a safe, respectful learning environment. As an exemplary model of a participatory citizen I am able to carry these expectations from my life and share them with my students and fellow teachers. In this way communication becomes an effective tool for problem solving and initiating positive change. Students feel safe to step outside their comfort boundaries in order to develop character and self-esteem. My personal interests include my own life-long learning and in pursuit of this I began beekeeping three years ago, I am currently attempting to write a grant enabling inner-city children to attend the summer program at the Robert C. Parker school, and I am working toward my masters degree in Information Studies. As a graduate of the Information Studies program I will be familiar with the latest technological tools available to teachers, the best collaboration methods while providing services to teachers, and aware of resources and tools necessary to provide children with 21st century learning skills through inquiry-based learning. My passion for children and learning result in a teacher that is consistently evolving and willing to try new things. I yearn for adventure and success, and expect over the course of my career I will strive for these goals in a multitude of activities and school initiatives. |