As far as work experiences, this past semester I worked at Petal where I substituted at the Primary School and the High School. I also have experience as a graduate assistant in a previous graduate program from the Fall of 2014 where I taught undergraduate students and worked in a clinic. Additionally, I have worked as an intern for two summers (2012 & 2014) at the NAVAL AIR STATION in Meridian.
I took several online classes in my undergraduate career. I have a pretty good handle on how to use Blackboard. Additionally, all three of my classes last semester in the MAT program were online (CIS 603, REF 601, and SPE 500), so I further developed my online class skills. When I begin teaching, the flexibility that online schooling provides will be a major convenience. This semester, three of my classes CIS 700, CIS 708, and IT 645 are online, while REF 632 is on campus.
I have experience working with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In college and at previous jobs, I used all of these programs quite frequently; so, I have a clear understanding of them. I used the programs for school assignments, writing papers, analyzing data, and printing reports for past jobs. I also have experience with SPSS, which I became familiar with in an undergraduate statistics class and REF 601. After using SPSS to analyze data for a research project, I feel quite comfortable with it.
I use email quite frequently in my day to day life, and I love how technology has advanced to where we can communicate with people so easily. I prefer emailing over other forms of communication because of its convenience. I also have experience posting on discussion boards for numerous Blackboard classes, both in undergraduate and graduate school. I enjoy the organization of topics that discussion boards provide.
My Teaching Philosophy:
I wish to create a safe, encouraging positive environment where students feel driven to do their best. I believe learning is possible for all students: no matter race, religion, exceptionality, physical health, or mental health. I also believe in the importance of high expectations and communicating to students that they are capable of whatever they set their mind to. I also wish to utilize cognitive empathy in my classroom by viewing learning from the experience of the student and having the students’ interests at heart. I also see the importance of communicating the objective and explaining the importance of explaining to students why they need to know information. Additionally, I also see the importance of developing my own knowledge base and continuously pursuing higher education so I can be the best teacher I can be for my students.