Rcrow008

My introduction

Hi! This is rcrow008 and I live in Reedville in beautiful Northumberland County.

I grew up in the Northern Neck and attended college at VCU. While earning my bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, I worked at the Medical College for a pediatric surgeon who traveled abroad to volunteer his services to children in need. After coordinating his missions and falling in love with the children of Guatemala, I followed my heart by staying in the non-profit sector after college. Later, my husband and I welcomed our daughter into the family. It became extremely difficult to balance work and home life. I departed my job after seven great years of mission work, and found a career change into teaching very easy.

File:My family rcrow.jpg

My daughter will turn 3 years old this year. She has taught me the importance of family life and eating dinner together at the table each night.

I have a white yellow lab that would rather be brown. There he is after an evening of wallowing in the mud.

My husband is a waterman, a trade that he learned from his father and his grandfathers. While I still cannot pick out a soft crab in a shedding tank yet, and still too afraid to just stick my hand in the water and find out, living a seafood life facinates me!

Where I am now

In September, I began as a teacher’s aid for the 4th Grade. I was initially very intimidated at the thought of working with this age group. Because of my daughter’s age, I had high hopes of teaching Pre-K or Kindergarten. However, I have fallen in love with my two classes and the developmental stage of the fourth grader! I also really enjoy the variety of personalities that can co-exist in a classroom, no doubt due to the fact that they have been adapting to each other since their start in Kindergarten. I recently substituted in the High School and was able to foresee how these fourth graders will grow physically and in maturity in the coming years, but will retain their unique character such as entertainers, quiet observers, and perfectionists.

I am currently enrolled in the alternative route to a teaching license through ODU.

My educational philosophy

• Not to worksheet my students crazy. Instead, have them keep a journal, composition book, or notebook that they write in, paste pictures in, or draw in. (I guess you could say they would write their own text book, just like ECI 301 students!)

• Provide lots of visual aids. Dress up in character daily if needed, and call on students to assist. Show pictures on powerpoint projections. Use the Smart Board to play educational games.

• Watch my room and students like a hawk. Don’t let any bad behavior go unaddressed.

• Stay consistent. List my classroom rules and stick to them throughout the school year.

• Allow students to rewind and restart. If they are caught breaking rules, allow them a re-start. I believe this will help them a) learn the correct response and b) practice the correct response or action that should have been taken. If they made a disrespectful comment, allow them to restate using appropriate language. If they misbehave or are disrespectful, allow them to redo their actions.

• Assign seats and group members. Change them often.

• Be approachable and available to both students, parents, and coworkers.

• Attend teacher workshops that apply to grade level and subject level as often as possible/appropriate. It is always so helpful to share and gain new ideas for teaching.

• Begin the school year with a clean and organized room. Only hang up posters as you learn them in class. Display as much student work as possible to show them how important their work is.