About Me
School
 This year I am in the 5th year Masters of Arts and Teaching (MAT) program at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. I am working towards a certification for Early Childhood/ Elementary Education. My student teaching is at Findley Elementary in Beaverton Oregon in both a 2nd and 4th grade classroom.
   I spent my freshman and sophmore years at the University of Oregon and in 2004 moved to Portland to finish my degree at PSU. I graduated summa cum laude from Portland State University in June of 2006 with a Bachelors of Science in Social Science, with a focus on Political Science and History.  My love of Language arts has been long standing, but I found a passion for history while in college.
Working With Children
   I have been working with children in different settings for a long time. When I was in middle and high school I worked in classrooms as a Teachers Aide, and volunteered at an after school program for struggling readers.
   When I started college at the University of Oregon, I became involved with the child development center on campus. This was the experience that really solidified my desire to teach. I will never forget the experiences I had there working with 3 and 4 year olds.
   When I moved to Portland in 2004 and enrolled at PSU I started work at the Helen Gordon Childcare Center on campus. While this environment was different from the one I left in Eugene, I learned a lot here as well and it was really wonderful to get a different view of what Early Childhood Education is and how a program can be structured.
My Classes
   Currently I am taking six classes in addition to student teaching. Three of these are methods courses for general subjects, such as Reading, Math, Science and Social Studies. I am also taking a Learning Communities class, a Technology class and an Expressive Arts class. If you would like to see some of the fun things that take place in Expressive Arts, you can link to Mark Bailey's website here to see digital documentation.
  painting rocks    batik
            aboriginal art
Photos by Mark Bailey
Travel
I love to travel and hope to see the world over in my lifetime. So far I have only been to a few places, namely the Philippines and Ireland.  In the summer of 2000 I spent 6 weeks in the Philippines with my family and in spring of 2004 I spent 10 days in Ireland after taking a Political Science class entitled Ireland and the IRA. I have wanted to go back ever since.  Next on my destination list is France to visit, among other things, the home of Claude Monet, my favorite artist.
Monet's Garden
Monet's Garden
map of Ireland
Favorites
These are a few of my favorite things...musical notemusical note
I have many favorite books, namely Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. My favorite movies include Star Wars (the original trilogy IV,V & VI), Ferris Buller's Day Off and Jurassic Park. My favorite foods are Chinese and mashed potatoes. I like snow better than sunshine, and love sleeping in in the morning.
winter scene stack of books
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