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Education:
University of Texas at San Antonio - January 2015 - Current
· Seeking a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership
ACT SA Teacher Certification Program, 2012-13
· Received certification to teach in the state of Texas for Business Education 6-12
Hawaii Pacific University, BS in Business Administration, Major in Marketing, May 2003
· Graduated Summa Cum Laude, 3.92/4.00 GPA
· Completed 4-year degree program in 20 months while working full time at Pearl Harbor Shipyard.
· Emphasis in International Business and Management
Lawrence D. Bell High School, Hurst, TX, 1993
· National Honor Society inductee
· Excelled in Art, Sciences, and Math
· Gifted & Talented program for English & Social Studies, Advanced Placement Math & Science
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And now I'd like to give you a glimpse of how I will be conducting my classroom:
My Vision of Myself as an Educator
As an educator, I will have many responsibilities, both to my students and to myself. The basis for a positive learning environment is classroom management and, according to Marzano, the key to this is to create a positive Student-Teacher relationship. What my class looks and feels like will go a long way towards establishing this relationship from the moment my students walk into the room for our first meeting, so it is important that this make the right statement. I have many ideas as to what this classroom will look, feel, and sound like that will make the students feel safe, secure, and trusting so that we can hit the ground running and begin trusting and learning right away.
First, I will create a visually supportive environment. My classroom will be neat and clean, with visuals arranged in an orderly fashion. I will be using many stories from my previous career in the Navy, so in order to establish this, I would prefer that the walls have a number of posters with a Navy or nautical theme. My desk and one bulletin board will have personal mementos of my service time to give kids a sense of not only what I did, but that I was once closer to their age and it will reinforce one of my main teaching points that an education can help you to go far in life. I will have a seating chart in place soon after the start of the school year begins, as I intend to learn student names as soon as possible to make them feel at home faster. All these elements will contribute to a sense of adventure that, along with my lesson plan, will help students remember what they have done on a daily basis and keep things fresh in their mind for the rest of the day hopefully.
Also, I will strive to make my classroom a place of active learning by engaging students in the lesson through participation. Students will be spoken to as adults, with many “Misters” and “Miss” attachments added to make them feel important. Students and I will always have respect for each other, as this is important to creating a positive learning environment, so students will be required to ask permission to speak in order for me to be able to communicate to them, but I will be free with giving them this permission, so as not to stifle student interaction. I will entertain them with examples of where I may have used this lesson plan in life, or how this information can be used in the real world. Assignments will be given out with the feel of “you are working as a...”style directions, and students will be challenged to complete the assignments as a professional to help make the task seems less like schoolwork and more like something that they will use in life. Work will use Graphic Representations to enhance concepts and utilize similarities and differences in some activities to engage higher level, creative thinking. I will also have many Cooperative Learning activities where students will be able to work as a group to encourage interaction with each other without the need to ask permission. All in all, students will be made to feel like their work is important and they are smart, interesting people that have good jobs and are making their own money. Encouragement will come in the form of verbal praise for a job well done. Other rewards will include “R&R” (rest and relaxation)time to pursue individual activity and sometimes documented achievement awards, as Marzano recommends teachers provide recognition to students for achievements. This will be very familiar to many students, as a similar system of recognition is in place in many video game systems for achievements, so students will feel that this is another system to master, just like their games. In this manner, I will create an organized, orderly style that will help students to settle into a firm routine that enhances learning.
Finally, I will use clearly displayed rules and set expectations for the students early in the term. I will use the rules I’ve created and the lesson plan that I set up to impress upon students that I value their cooperation and their help is necessary to smooth operations and, therefore, learning. I will let them know that I expect them to try their best in every effort because that’s all that I can expect, but I will always push them to reach new potentials deep within themselves. I will act as their “Boss, just like every other boss you'll ever have”, and as such, I will always be monitoring their activities to make sure activities are being actively pursued and any discipline problems are nipped in the bud so students can concentrate on their work. As with all work, preparation is the key. I will let them know that, while they are respected members of “the crew”, I am in charge and responsible for them in the end, so I must have their commitment to the rules and my instructions every day. Students will also be advised that they have a responsibility to each other as well, and need to treat each other properly in order to keep operations on target and efficient. The more horseplay occurs, the less time students will have for fun and “R&R”, so it is to everyone’s benefit to cooperate and act civilly to each other. Finally, I will sum up things at the end of the day, and will dismiss them only when the debriefing is complete (not the bell).This will reinforce to students that work is to be completed properly and not half-done, because that is not acceptable in the real world if you want to keep your job!
All in all, the goal of my mission-oriented teaching style will be to bring confidence and excitement to the student’s work and create an atmosphere of solid work ethic and learning. I will help students realize that if we all strive to work together and work hard, they will see value in themselves and their work, they will be instilled with pride and satisfaction in a job well done, and they will be filled with the self-confidence that will inspire them for the rest of their lives to make the right choices and be the best they can be.
Work Experience:
DPT Laboratories (San Antonio) Account Coordinator
APPCO (San Antonio) Sales Account Manager / Project Manager
RadioShack (Ft. Worth) Sales Associate
MeadWestvaco: (Production Supervisor)
Military Career Highlights:
Lead Radioactive Material Escort, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PSNS)
Reactor Operator/Shutdown Reactor Operator, USS West Virginia,
Reactor Technician, USS Spadefish,
Navy Nuclear Power School (NNPS) Program, Orlando, FL and Charleston, SC
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