Khedl002

About Me

Hi! My name is Kim Hedley and I am 23 years old. I was born in Virginia Beach and have lived here my entire life, except for college of course. I have three brothers (I am third in the line up) and we are all very close in age. Having three brothers has certainly been a challenge but it is one that I am grateful to have been given. Trying to keep up with the three of them and competing in pretty much everything we do, has definitely made me a stronger person. I have been very involved in athletics since the time I could walk. I have played a number of sports and the competitive streak doesn’t end there; it continues to pretty much all facets of my life. I spend a lot of my time at the beach and also enjoy running, reading, playing tennis, and relaxing.

My Education

I attended Kempsville High School here in Virginia Beach where I played both soccer and field hockey. I graduated in 2004 and went on to attend the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. There, I majored in Kinesiology and minored in Psychology. I also had the chance to play field hockey for the Tribe and I loved it. Being a Division 1 athlete was definitely an arduous task, but one that was well worth the time and effort. It offered a very demanding schedule and not much free time, but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. I had the opportunity work closely with the women’s lacrosse team for three of my four years. Since the main season for field hockey was in the fall and lax was in the spring, I was able to help out in little ways each year. Spring semester of my senior year, I was invited to go along with the lax team to Australia! We visited Melbourne and Sydney on our eleven day trip and saw so many amazing sites…it was an unforgettable experience.

I thought about attending graduate school after graduating from W&M in May 2008, but decided not to go right away. At that time, I wanted to pursue a career in Occupational Therapy. I chose to take the year off and work at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. There, I worked for about six months in the Rehab Department with speech, physical and occupational therapists. I really enjoyed my time there and learned so much from the knowledgeable staff. In this time, I also realized that it was not the career I wanted to continue with. It was not surprising to any of my friends and family that I began thinking about teaching. (It was really no surprise to myself either!) My mom is a teacher and I have been exposed to it all my life. I guess this is what drove me to exploring other opportunities; however, I realized that teaching had been my passion all along. And this brings me to now… I am taking a few classes in order to get my teaching license and couldn’t be more excited about getting started!

My Educational Philosophy

Although I have not yet started teaching, I have certainly given a great deal of thought to what kind of teacher I want to become. My main goal is to simply be a good role model for my students. I plan to teach pre-K through six, my ideal grade being second or third. I believe that teaching children about the importance of responsibility and respect are crucial. Because each child is different, I hope to be able to understand the differences and help each one learn in his/her own way. Learning takes place not only in the classroom but in many other places and ways as well. I hope to bring other aspects of life into my daily teaching; including technology, experiments, hands on activities, etc. All of these methods of learning will help to build a greater awareness of the environment that the children live in.

In addition to these ideas, I also hope to create a diverse and comfortable atmosphere for my class. I believe that children with special needs should be included in the classroom. With this diversity, the children (as well as the teacher) can all grow and learn from one another. I plan to have the children work in group settings as much as possible. This will allow them to interact and problem solve with their peers, an important skill for everyday life. I also hope to use a system to teach rewards and consequences. I will emphasize positive reinforcement which I believe will enhance confidence and self-esteem. Building a bond with the parents of the students is also an important task. By doing this, I hope to have these ideas carried out at home as well. I think that expanding the learning experience to as many settings as possible is a necessity. My goal is to ignite a desire for learning in each of my students that they are able to carry out, whether it is in the classroom, on a playing field, in nature or at home. By sparking this interest early, I believe that success for the student is inevitable.