Experience Summary
After graduating from high school in 2003, I began to work as a substitute teacher in 2004 for Sheridan School District. I continued working for Sheridan School District as a substitute teacher until around 2008, when I was about to graduate from college. From the fall of 2003 until the end of the summer in 2006 I attended Arkansas State University, where I won first place in the 2003 Freshman Writing Competition. I transferred to Henderson State University in 2006 to finish my education. I graduated from Henderson State University with my Bachelors Degree in English in December of 2008. In the spring of 2009 I took a Masters class while working at a Golf Pro Shop in the Hot Springs Village and in the summer of 2009 I started the non-traditional teaching program within the Arkansas Department of Education. I began working for White Hall High School in 2009, and stayed there for three years, until 2012. After only two years of teaching, I was nominated and accepted into the Delta Kappa Gamma Honor Society for Female Educators. While there I also taught one year of Creative Writing and taught ACT courses in Reading and English for two years. After serving as the English Department Chair for a year, I decided I wanted to continue my education and become a Reading Specialist. In the summer of 2012 I traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, a small country in Africa, and volunteered as a teacher at the GSKI public school teaching English to primary and secondary students, as well as helping the teachers learn to teach English to their students-English is Rwanda’s newest national language. Now I am a student in the College of Education at Harding University, working on my Masters of Education in Reading. Through my professors, I have met and spoken with a variety of authors of books about reading comprehension-for example Stephen Layne, and young adult authors such as Kimberly Willis Holt and Todd Strasser. I have almost finished with my classes, and I am up-to-date on Common Core, the latest educational research, the latest reading material for young adults, and the latest technology that can take learning beyond the classroom.
Teaching Style
I believe in engaging the students in their learning. In order to avoid boredom and to get students active in their learning, they need to move, collaborate, and have discussions and Socratic Circles to debate and argue their ideas in a reasonable way to prepare them for what goes beyond grade school. Students should be involved in projects that involve creation, and thinking outside of the box. We should be teaching our students to use digital tools in order to take an interest in learning outside of the classroom. And because of so much technology, students have information at their fingertips, which means instead of memorization and recall questions, we should have students explain what they have learned through a variety of methods using a variety of research. Also as teachers, we should be guides to the students as they navigate through the information overload and prepare to enter the world as adults.
My Hobbies
Dancing, such as ballet, ballroom, tap, and jazz; photography-film photography is my favorite because I love working in a darkroom but I love my digital Nikon too. Also traveling, talking to interesting people, writing, researching, editing other people's writing, reading, and exercise.
Other Comments
I love education; I think it is the most important thing a person can have that can't be taken away by anyone. I want to instill a love of learning in a generation that has forgotten to care about school.
| Type |
Level |
Year |
Title |
Issued By |
| Award |
1st Place |
2003 |
Freshman Writing Competition |
Arkansas State University-Jonesboro |
| Certification |
7-12 |
2011 |
English Teacher |
Arkansas Department of Education |
| Degree |
Bachelors |
2008 |
English |
Henderson State University |
| Other |
Member |
2013 |
Member |
International Reading Association |
| Other |
Member |
2013 |
Member |
Arkansas Reading Association |
| Other |
Epsilon Chapter |
2011 |
Member |
Delta Kappa Gamma International ... |
| Other |
Primary and Secondary Education |
2012 |
Volunteer in Kigali, Rwanda |
Africa Reads, Inc. |
| Other |
State |
2002 |
delegate/Senator |
Arkansas Girls State |
| Other |
State |
2003 |
Counselor |
Arkansas Girls State |
| Other |
Delegate |
2002 |
Delegate |
Congressional Student Leadership... |
| ACT |
Proficiency: Expert
|
| While teaching, I also taught classes to raise ACT scores in English and in Reading. My students' scores always went up, and on average, the students usually scored four points higher on the ACT than the previous ACT. More than one student even jumped from a 15 in English to a 29. Many students were able to obtain scholarships and avoid remedial college classes due to better scores in English and Reading on their ACTs. |
| English |
 This is one of my top subjects!
Proficiency: Expert
|
| Before beginning work on my Masters Degree, I taught English for three years. I am up-to-date on the latest teaching methods, and how to teach students to use the information they have at their fingertips. I have tutored and taught English for years, and before that I edited and proofread my friends' and colleagues' work for at least ten years. |
| Reading Comprehension |
This is one of my top subjects!
Proficiency: Expert
|
| I am currently attending Harding University to become a Reading Specialist. I am close to graduating, and have been trained in Common Core, have written about and studied the latest research in reading comprehension, and have applied what I have learned in lesson plans, tutoring, and working with students for graduate classes. As a high school English teacher I consistently raised reading comprehension in all of my students. I am a certified English teacher, but I am currently in the process of getting my teaching certificate renewed. |