About Me
The main focus in my teaching is what WesleyFryer refers to as TheThreeC’s: Create, Communicate, and Collaborate. I try to infuse my curriculum with the Three C’s as much as
possible in order to get my students ready for the 21st century workforce. The current and future workplace
demands these soft skills. The main
way I have my students use the Three C’s is through
Project-Based-Learning. I create projects
that have a context in the real world and have to be completed by having the
students create something that demonstrates their mastery of the assigned
topic. I try not to limit them in
what the finished product is to be to allow for creative freedom. One of the main reasons why I love
teaching Business Education is that the business world is always changing. I incorporate current events into my
lessons often to show my students the relevance of this topic as well as put it
into context.
One of the main themes throughout my time
student teaching was my use of technology throughout my lesson plans. It is very important to me to use
technology that is pedagogically sound and not just using technology for
technology's sake. I have
presented at a district level Professional Development day, as well as crafted
a district-wide policy regarding the use of social networking sites by staff
members. I am the high school
technology liaison for the district technology committee formally, and
informally known as the tech guru by my colleagues. The central way that I use technology everyday is through my
Professional Learning Network, or PLN.
Over the past 4 years, my PLN has been growing and evolving. Through my Google Reader service, I
subscribe to 26 teaching blogs, which range from classroom teachers, to ed tech
coordinators, to administrators. I
also subscribe to a number of blogs that directly relate to the topics that I
teach, such as SethGodin’sblog for my Marketing class. A
nice benefit of this is that I have come across a lot of current resources that
I was able to use in my classes.
Everyday I have a number of new blog posts that keep my informed about
the world of education and help me grow personally and professionally. Twitter is another outlet that allows
me to connect the a very large number of educators all over the world and find out
what information and resources they are sharing. It is 24/7 professional development that allows me to stand
of the shoulders of giants by being able to learn from some of the leaders in
the education community.
In addition to my passion for technology, I
feel that I also bring a unique set of experiences to the table as a Business
Educator. I have five years of
professional work experience that touches on a number of subject areas
throughout the Business Education curriculum. Immediately after college, I was an Account Executive with
Comcast Advertising Sales. While
in that position, I was able to gain sales and marketing experience. After that, I worked for four years as
a Branch Manager at Washington Mutual Bank. It was through this that I gained experience through all
aspects of personal and corporate finance, what goes into staff management, and
everything that is involved in human resources. In additional to my normal job duties, I was also the regional
coordinator for community volunteering efforts. I strongly believe in giving back to the community and would
like to develop/continue a program like this to teach our next generation about
the importance of volunteering.
I am also very active in extracurricular
activities, especially coaching. I
am currently the head Cross-Country coach at Harvard High School. During the Fall 2011 Cross-Country season, the Boys team qualified for the state meet for the first time in school history. I was named the Coach of the Year for 2011 by the Illinois Track and Cross-Country Association. One of the
aspects I enjoyed the most from this experience was the opportunity to inspire
students outside of the classroom.
Conversely, the methods of motivation that I used in coaching helped
improve my motivation practices in the classroom.
Philosophy of Education
I strongly believe teaching should encourage and inspire the active learner in every student. It is my responsibility to discover each student’s strengths and weaknesses and to discern how to provide opportunities for each student to improve both academically and socially. I strive to achieve this through differentiation in my teaching styles. I believe in the boundless potential of all my students. I aim to develop students morally to become socially conscious. By being a stand up role model of good character, I hope to see my students imitate those qualities in their own behaviors.
In order for students to have a balanced relationship between school and home, I feel it is integral to effectively communicate with parents in a timely manner. Also, parents should be notified when their child does something positive, not only when there is something negative to report. Not only does this reaffirm my credibility in the parent’s eyes, but the student receives such positive feedback at home that he/she comes to school more motivated.
In addition to what I've state above, there are other views on education that I hold. I believe collaborating with my colleagues not only betters my teaching, but also the profession. When creating lessons, I strive to teach concepts as opposed to facts. I try to incorporate cross-curricular aspects in my lessons as much as possible. An important aspect of teaching is the assessment which should be balanced, on-going, and serve as a learning tool. Students should have numerous opportunities to reflect on their work and make goals for the future. This will promote independence in each learner. Teaching is a life-long learning experience which I passionately embrace each day as I stand before my impressionable students.
