Jennefer L. Simmons
23648 Seneca Ridge Court
(407) 739-2080
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Stenstrom Elementary School, 1st and 2nd Grade Teacher August 2005- Present
Oviedo, FL
• Created and implemented a blended learning curriculum
The quote, “The best teachers show you where to look but don’t tell you what to see” by Alexandra K. Trenfor, is the perfect embodiment of my first grade teacher, Miss Letemacki. She ignited my love of learning at a very young age in a way that no one else has ever done. Twenty years later, as I sat in my daughter’s first grade classroom, in front of the same beloved teacher, it was solidified in me. Miss Letemacki taught both my daughter and myself to explore the world and accept divergent views. Her passion for teaching and learning was apparent to all who spoke to her. In conferences for my daughter, she spoke to me as a colleague with excitement over the latest trends in education. I don’t remember specifically what I learned but I remember love, excitement, enthusiasm, and the feeling that I couldn’t fail. Her message to me was always clear- do what you love and love what you do- just as she had. Being a teacher was never a choice for me, it is who I am, learned from a single year of privilege in Miss Letemacki’s class.
The education system in America was initially created during an Agricultural age and then re-invented for the age of industry. Over the last several years we have been moving at a hypersonic speed into a Global Information age as well as a time that creates opportunity for creation and breakthrough thinking. Many of us are working feverishly to prepare students for the challenges of this new Global marketplace. I am fortunate to be able to work in a dis...
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...rent in the educational realm. SIM Central Florida and CNL Financial Group have come in to offer trainings for future technology trends. I also organized a professional development day at the DaVinci Center at CNL focusing on STEM Education. I have been a speaker at several STEM conferences focusing on STEM Education at the Elementary level as well as an attendee in numerous conferences on a wide range of topics.
Just as the best teachers show you where to look but don’t tell you what to see, we, as teachers, must also remember that our tomorrows need new and different solutions today. President Lincoln, on the brink of Civil War, noted ‘The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present and future. As our circumstances are anew, we must think anew and act anew.’ I thank you for your consideration and appreciate this new and wonderful opportunity.
Wallis, Claudia. “How to Make Great Teachers.” Time Online. 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 16 March 2011.
“We are going to do in the future what Americans are doing today. Your job is to invent the future” says Jaithirth Rao of the Indian company MphasiS to Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat (389). America has always been abreast of the latest and greatest ideas and designs. However, America’s position in the world is becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee due the decreasing number of college graduates. Tamar Lewin reports in a New York Times article how a recent study by Complete College America discovered that “despite decades of steadily climbing enrollment rates, the percentage of students making it to the finish line is barely budging” (College Graduation Rates). Why? A simple answer is that a large number of American high schools aren’t adequately preparing their students for college. To reset this trend, good work ethic, innovative courses, and early vocational and technical training should be introduced and encouraged in high schools. Thomas Friedman and his book The World is Flat describe the effects of globalization on the world. Foreign schools are quickly rising to and even surpassing the levels of education in America, putting our place in the world in jeopardy.
West, Martin. "Global lessons for improving U.S. Education: international comparisons of student achievement illustrate the gains possible for students in the United States and offer insights on how to achieve them." Issues in Science and Technology: n. pag. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. (“West”)
In a society where kids must go to school up to the collegiate level, teaching is an impactful career choice. Teachers help contour the minds of future leaders of the world. Furthermore, teachers play a crucial role in guiding students to the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to succeed in life, and teachers lead students to make informed decisions on any topic the meet in the future. As a teacher, a person must relinquish their knowledge onto students. Finally, they must prepare their students for all the obstacles they will face later in life.
An effective teacher will excite, inspire and motivate students to be active in their learning, investigate new areas of knowledge and make connections to future learning (Whitton et al 2010). When a teacher is successful, their students are motivated, mutually respectful and ready to build on their knowledge and solve real-world problems. To be a teacher of value, one must have many skills and qualities to cater for a diversity of learners and their individual development; this includes many personal traits that are noticed students.
As an education major at State College, I’ve decided to become a teacher for several reasons. As I progressed through elementary, middle, and high school, many of my teachers were great role models for me. This has inspired me to become a role model for someone in the near future. My love for science and math has also influenced my desire to teach and make a difference in a child’s life. I want to teach students the subjects that I love so much. I want the feeling that I helped a child accomplish or learn something they couldn’t understand. One of the main reasons I want to become an educator is because I feel education has really lost teachers who truly love teaching and those who truly love teaching and those who have the desire to make a difference. I feel I can really help make a difference in the education world and bring back the love to teach.
My interest in teaching started at a young age. I used to watch my teachers in awe as they were able to find new ways to get their students involved and excited to learn. Their enthusiasm to teach was so inspiring. I would often find myself using that same fervor as I grasped each concept. I, then, was able to relay it to my fellow classmates as a peer tutor. To this day, becoming a teacher is a passion that flows through me. However, my enthusiasm and passion are not the only reasons I would be a good teacher. I aspire to see a student’s ability to grasp the knowledge they never before understood. I aspire to see a student succeed at something they never thought they ever could. I aspire to not only support students with academic skills, but also with life lessons about the value of community, pride in one’s own ethnicity, good citizenship, sportsmanship, and more. I aspire to play a fundamental role in ensuring that all students from all cultures and learning abilities have the opportunity to be guided in a positive learning
“Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two together” ~ Scott Hayden
In an age of rapid change due to so many technology and innovative advances, a revolutionary change in the educational system is as vital as what our next energy source is. Education is the most powerful wealth in the world and it demands more attention, and where better to start with than out youth. The school system will soon go out of date due to the information highway and information availability if there isn?t a dramatic change in the way things are run in our domestic institutional facilities. The reason why college was such a success in the 20th century was because books were all of a sudden available to students on university campus. Now with internet, a student could specialize their profession solely with the computer with the click of a button. Something needs to be done to smoothen the rigid gaps and cracks in the school system before the technological pace at which we are advancing decides to bring the whole thing down.
Develop teaching expertise is the part of proposition from NBPTS, specifically knowing the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students (1987). One of the methods is continue to pursue their professional development by joining a professional association or organization, attending a workshop, and reading a professional journal, website, or books. These ideas enhance teachers’ cognitive growth by enlarge information of the latest strategies or method, enhance cognitive growth, and learning to help the teachers to become expert in their teaching and influence on student learning.
Along these two weeks we have been prompt to make a recall to our own way of learning and why we became a teacher: Was it because coincidence, due to life circumstances, maybe because family tradition, was it a conscious decision or because someone influenced us? Whatever the answer is, we have to face reality and be conscious that being a teacher does not only means to teach a lesson and asses students learning. It requires playing the different roles a teacher must perform whenever is needed and required by our learners, identify our pupils needs and preferences, respecting their integrity and individuality but influencing and motivating them to improve themselves and become independent.
A clear understanding of the direction which education and educational institutions are headed, as a result of emerging technologies and global participation requires a look at where we have been. The past employment of new technologies is, if nothing else, an ...
In today’s classroom, the teacher is no longer viewed as the sole custodian of knowledge. The role of a teacher has evolved into being amongst one of the sources of information allowing students to become active learners, whilst developing and widening their skills. Needless to say, learning has no borders – even for the teacher. One of the strongest beliefs which I cling to with regards to teaching is that, teaching never stops and a teacher must always possess the same eagerness as a student. Through several interactions with other teachers, I always strive for new ideas, techniques, teaching styles and strategies that I might add to my pedagogical knowledge. Furthermore, through personal reflection, feedback and evaluation...
As you can see the future for the education world is bright. There are many developments to make education more efficient, simpler, and equal for all from
Education has transformed immensely from where it first began and needs to continually transform in the future to meet the growing needs and expectations of society. Consequently, teaching and learning are quite different in the 21st century when compared to previous centuries. There are several key factors driving change in education today with the focus on globalisation and social factors, including: Information Communication Technology (ICT), cultural and social inclusion along with changes in the economy, jobs and businesses. Additionally, 21st century learners are expected to ascertain a multitude of qualities and skills in order to succeed in today’s world. Communication, collaboration, global awareness, creativity and problem solving