Professional Background
        In 1997, I received my Bachelor's Degree in Journalism with a French Minor from Indiana University at Bloomington.  In 1999, I began to guest teach and I knew right away that teaching was to become my life's work.  I have had several significant, unique experiences that have helped me to develop as a professional.
        I guest taught in Stockbridge and Pinckney Community Schools for a year and a half.  Then, I did priority guest teaching in Pinckney Community Schools.  I worked with children in grades kindergarten through fourth grade.  In the summer of 2001, I had the opportunity to teach small writing classes of varying ages as part of Pinckney's Community Education Summer Program.  I have had practicum experience at the Children's Institute on campus at Eastern Michigan University, Ann Arbor Open School, and Erikson Elementary School in Ypsilanti.
       I thoroughly enjoyed my student teaching experience in first grade in Chelsea.  I was able to try out my own teaching techniques and integrate developmentally appropriate technology into the students' daily routine.  In the winter of 2005, I will be completing one more student teaching experience at the preschool level.  This placement is at Ann Arbor Preschool and is part of the Michigan School Readiness Program.  As my initial certification process comes to a close, I know that I will continue to develop as a professional by staying up on developmentally appropriate technology integration and effective teaching techniques.
Technology Background
       My classroom at North Creek Elementary School included 2 student computers and a computer for the teacher's use.  The classroom computers were used primarily during center time with language arts related games, such as picture dictionaries, programs about telling time, and electronic books.  The classroom had a television screen that enlarged the contents of the computer monitor to aid the children in understanding technology instruction.  The children had one hour of computer lab time each week that was supervised by the classroom teachers.  This lab time was facilitated by my cooperating teacher specifically; there were no specific computer lab times built into the schedule at this school building.
        While I was student teaching, the district was attempting to get all teachers to have at least a basic class web site.  The teachers showed different comfort levels with this proposal.  I helped my lead teacher to put up basic class information on the class's web site.  At Thanksgiving, she started to put up pictures.  Several lab technicians were available for consultation on a sporadic schedule to aid with hardware and software problems.  Email was commonly used at this school for communication between staff members and a weekly electronic newsletter was distributed by the principal.  I had originally wanted to do a slide show book with KidsPix, but there had been technical difficulty with this program prior to my arrival.  The teachers were learning to use Max Show instead and they were working out the bugs as they used the software.  Therefore, I wasn't able to do a KidsPix Slide Show, but my students did make slide shows of math facts using Max Show.  There were also some limitations on the amount of color printing we could do.  For our MS Paint pictures and Graph Club graphs, the children had black and white images and then colored the work themselves.  In the case of the MS Paint pictures, they also added a title to their pictures.  In general, the technical support staff at this school was responsive and tried to resolve technical difficulties.  However, sometimes the computer experts had trouble explaining procedures to staff members who were less experienced with using technology.
Learning Environment
        North Creek Elementary School is located in the small city of Chelsea, Michigan.  The people of this community are primarily Caucasian, with a small percentage of other ethnicities.  Most of the adults in this community have a high school diploma and roughly half have at least a Bachelor’s degree.  With the close proximity to local universities, some professors and other university personnel live here.  Approximately 5% of the district's students receive free lunch and approximately 2% receive reduced rates through the governmental program.  About 15.5% of the district’s children receive special education services. Parents in Chelsea are generally supportive of their schools and involved in their children’s education.  The district has three elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.
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