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My name is Miss Shannon and I am currently a senior student teacher from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. I am teaching fifth grade this semester and am enjoying the excitement and challenges that my students bring to class every day. I am passionate about the fact that every child can learn, he or she just needs to be motivated in the right way. It is my job as a teacher to meet my students where they are and do everything in my power to help them learn. My goal is that I will inspire my students to become lifelong learners, that they will be interested in gaining new knowledge rather than just completing homework, tests and assignments so they can get a good grade. I believe that utilizing technology and allowing students hands on experiences is one of the best ways to get children interested in school.

Fifth grade is a wonderful grade to be teaching because students are usually excited and passionate and they are truly able to be independent, self-sufficient learners. It is a joy to watch them figure out how to problem solve on their own, and I appreciate the new knowledge, skills and perspectives that the students bring to my classroom on any given day. It is my hope that they feel ownership over what we are learning, that they have a say in the classroom curriculum and feel personally invested in the material. I firmly believe that a major key to students' success is there level of involvement and home and in the community. It is my goal to bridge gaps between school, home and surroundings and parent volunteers are always welcome. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have a question or would like to set up a conference, working to best meet the needs of my students is my number one priority. The best way to reach me is by email at edshann@ilstu.edu. I check my email regularly, but please allow at least 48 hours for me to respond to emails.

There are several ways parents, older siblings and other family members can be involved: -Act as a classroom guest speaker -Chaperone field trips and other community events -Attend monthly family & community nights held at school -Assist in the classroom with reading groups, educational games or crafts -Communicate regularly with your student: we do and learn a lot on any given school day and the best way to help your child is ask them to recall new information and be excited about what's going on in the classroom -Participate in school fundraisers, like the bake sale coming up in January -Donate any unused items from home (we love anything that can be used for projects or craft supplies!)

Please see below for the calendar of upcoming events. Below that are student portfolios. Feel free to take a look!

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Student Portfolios


 * First Name || Last Name ||
 * Jillian || Grazioso ||
 * Sarah || Hare ||
 * Kathleen || Maloy ||
 * Nick || Morrison ||

My Philosophy on Education
 As an Elementary Education major at Illinois State University, I understand that my development as a professional educator is the whole reason that I am here. Through my time at Illinois State, I hope to become a well-educated, qualified teacher, and understand the values that make up a good educator. There are many moral and intellectual virtues that will be of importance to me, but I would like to specifically focus on my sensitivity toward the varieties of individual and cultural diversity, my interest in and ability to seek out information, technological, and collegial resources, and my intellectual enthusiasm and courage enough to be creative. These are the virtues I would like to focus on as a student of Teacher Education.  Growing up, I was never in school districts with very much diversity and this has made me feel that I need to focus on my sensitivity towards individuals and their cultures. Although I am very open-minded and non-judgmental, I don’t believe I feel prepared enough to put together projects or lesson plans that represent multicultural education. Because I believe this is so important, I am going to work on immersing myself in my education classes that focus on diversity. I am going to open myself up to new experiences, such as studying literature about other cultures, looking into observing or student teaching in areas where there is more diversity, and changing my attitudes so that I never find myself stereotyping or “othering” anyone.  Another virtue I would like to focus on is my interest in utilizing other resources, specifically technology. I love chalkboards, pencils, and paper, but I am slowly realizing that our world is getting more technologically savvy every day. Now that I understand this more, I need to appreciate the fact that I will be using many technology-based resources in my classes here at Illinois State. As I learn, I will want to share my knowledge with others, and appreciate their knowledge and research as well. To improve in this virtue, I am going to pay close attention to the technology that my professors are using. I will commit to using the technology-based ways of presenting information when I am offered the choice. By utilizing my professors and the resources they use, I will feel confident broadening my horizons and using these resources later on. <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 80%;"> I believe that part of being a great teacher is having a contagious enthusiasm for learning, and teaching in the most creative ways possible. To become this great educator I think of is going to take hard work. As a student, I am going to engross myself in my studies and pay very close attention to the experiences my teachers talk about. Whenever we are studying classroom lessons and teaching styles, I will think hard about how these can be modified and turned into something more interesting. By figuring out how to think outside the box, I believe I will be more eager to try out new ways of presenting information. I will not revert back to the ways I was taught when planning for a difficult lesson plan or presentation because I remember how I felt as a student in a class where my teacher was unenthusiastic about the material and we learned by reading the textbook. <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 80%;"> My goal as a student in the teacher education program is to accomplish these virtues. I hope that by acquiring a sensitivity for diversity, an interest in seeking out technological resources, and developing enough courage to be enthusiastic and creative, I will better prepare myself for what is to come. I believe putting genuine effort into my education while here at Illinois State will help my to develop my sense of professional identity. Then one day, I hope to be a well-respected and successful elementary school teacher.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">For additional resources and to see the references cited on this site, see below.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Panoramio - Photo of Cerro Chirripo, Costa Rica. Abril 2005. (n.d.). //Panoramio - Photos of the World//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2979845 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Acedemic!, A. (n.d.). Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds. //Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.wordle.net/ Adventures in Costa Rica. (n.d.).//ProTeacher! Teaching ideas and resources For Elementary School Teachers//. Retrieved December 12, 2011, from http://www.proteacher.com/redirect.php?goto=550 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">BBC News - Costa Rica country profile. (n.d.). //BBC News - Home//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1166587.stm <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Central America Capital Cities Map - Central America Cities Map, San Jose, Managua, Panama City - World Atlas. (n.d.). //World Atlas including Geography Facts, Maps, Flags - worldatlas.com//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/camvolc.htm <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Costa Rica. (n.d.). //The World Factbook//. Retrieved December 5, 2011, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Costa Rica National Anthem - Noble patria, tu hermosa bandera. (n.d.). //Costa Rica Travel - Reviews and Infomation//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.costaricatraveller.com/about_costa_rica/national_anthem.htm <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Culture of Costa Rica - history, people, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social, marriage. (n.d.). //Countries and Their Cultures//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Costa-Rica.html#b <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Do'in Costa Rica NEWS: November 2009. (n.d.). //Do'in Costa Rica NEWS//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://doincostarica.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> ESPN. (n.d.). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Google Images. (n.d.). //Google Images//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://images.google.com/ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Google Maps. (n.d.). //Google Maps//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://maps.google.com/ Make a vinegar volcano with baking soda & vinegar - Fun Science Experiments for Kids. (n.d.). //Science for Kids - Fun Experiments, Cool Facts, Online Games, Activities, Projects, Ideas, Technology//. Retrieved December 12, 2011, from http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/vinegarvolcano.html <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">MyZoneCostaRica — Costa Rican National Real Estate Listing Service - Purchasing Property in Beautiful Costa Rica — Costa Rican Maps. (n.d.). //MyZoneCostaRica — Costa Rican National Real Estate Listing Service - Purchasing Property in Beautiful Costa Rica//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.myzonecostarica.com/maps.html <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;"> Tamarindo, Costa Rica Daily Photo: Mountains and valleys. (n.d.). //Tamarindo,// <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">//Costa Rica Daily Photo//. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 80%;">http://tamarindodailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/mountains-and-valleys.html

Page created by Eryn Shannon© edshann@ilstu.edu Created: 11/28/11 Last Modified: 12/11/11