Experience Summary
Upon graduating from college, I began teaching as a music teacher for one year and then a middle school band director for three years in Talladega, Alabama. Upon moving to Georgia in 1977, I began teaching music and third grade classes in a primary school in Villa Rica, Georgia. I taught school, worked with the High School band and taught piano lessons for several years. I went back to college and received a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education. I continued to teach both publically and privately as a teacher, a tutor and music teacher. I continued my education to include Educational Leadership and I became and Assistant Principal at the same primary school where I had been teaching. I continued there until 1993. In 1993, due to personal reasons (a divorce and relocation), I stopped working for the school system and began working for a friend as a bookkeeper and payroll employee. I also home schooled that same friend's daughter, who was a special needs student. We worked together daily on her education level, particularly reading, mathematics, and life skills. I then became a music director at a large church in Buford, Georgia. I led and taught the church choir, band, orchestra and vocal lessons both for individuals and groups. I continued in that position for eleven years until this past January. In 1996, I started the Sugar Hill School of the Arts. We provided music and arts instruction for students ages 5 through adult. The School of the Arts had approximately 150 students in the year 2007-08. The leadership of that school was passed on to another director and I continued to teach in the school as a piano, vocal, and instrumental teacher until May 2009.
I was laid off as of February 1st this year. I continue to teach piano lessons privately and feel that my experience in the educational field would qualify me particularly to teach subjects on the Elementary Education levels.
Teaching Style
I believe that I am a very good teacher. I love teaching and I love children. I am an encourager. I believe that if I do my teaching job well, the student will learn incredibly well and incredibly quickly. I believe that all children learn differently and the teaching must be tailored to their particular strengths and interests and be taught in a way that they can be the most successful. Students need someone who believes in them and their ability to learn. They need to feel that the person working with them is very much interested in them and their success. They need to feel safe and supported as they move forward in their educational experience. Again, I am an encourager who believes in helping all my students to achieve their own personal best!