Teaching Strengths

My teaching strengths can be viewed/seen as a refelction of my personality/skills, past expereinces, and the knowledge I have achieved through my educational career. I believe all that all three of these topics connect and overlap with one another, making me become the best teacher that I can be.

Strengths & Applications:

Knowledge: 

• Through my Bachelor of Science Degree, I have aquired an expertise in Biology and Psychology. I also obtained an Early Years Math teachable. I will be able to use my content knowledge to enhance the students love for those subject areas as I am super passtionate about them.

• I also have multiple PD, workshop, and additional course certificates that will help me be the most effective teacher. One of these being the "Making Sense of Trauma" seminar that provided me with fantastic intervention and coping strategies when dealing with students who have/had trauma occur in their lives, as well as how I can facilitate and model self regulation for these students.

Experience:

• Kindergarten / Junior Kindergarten Teacher- I taught in this position for six months in 2021, where I encountered first hand skills and knowledge that I can draw on in future experiences. This was everything from lesson planning, classroom set-up, communication with parents, teaching/instructing strategies, etc.

• Student Teaching Placement / Substitute / Voulnteer in the Classroom Setting- provided me a view to the vast range of different teaching styles that could be employed. Additionally, it showed me different ways to incoporate all components of being an effective teacher. I have also been exposed to a wide range of class levels, making me flexible and adaptable in where I end up.

• Head Lifeguard / Swimming Lesson Instructor- I have gained great strengths over the 7+ years I have been employed. Instructing swimming lessons has brought me awareness to the fields of: child development, personality differences that I may encounter in my classroom, and the differentiated rate of skill aquisition. Being a head lifeguard has allowed me to put forth problem solving skills, and acquire leadership.

Personality/Skills:

• Work Well With a Team- while I am an effective individual worker, I always look forward to working with a team. I think this is important for teachers, as we can learn from each other. I also plan to use the team for support, especially as a first year teacher looking for guidance. I also think it is important to work as a team in the students learning process, by involving them and the caregivers collaboratively, in order to put forth the best process you can.

• Time Management- I have effective use of my time, always making sure due dates are met. This will be critical in the classroom as I will need to be able to manage how much time to spend on each outcome / area of focus, the crunch time of report cards, and meeting all other required deadlines for documentation.

• Communication- I have outstanding communication skills that has been developed over the years. This will be an assest when collaborating as a team with collegues, providing my students with feedback, conducting parent-teacher interviews. 

• Patience- I have mastered the technique of patience when helping a child that does not understand a problem.

• Devoted/Driven- I am very goal focused, and dedicated to helping a child reach their full potential as a student.

• Leadership- I have always been a natural leader who acts a model for others. I also have a great deal of experience with this as a head lifeguard for four years. These leadership skills will enhance not only my role in the classroom, but as a member of the school community. I will use it to execute effective classroom management skills, and bring new, unique, and exciting attributes to the school team.

• Organized- I am a very neat and tidy person, who likes a clean work space. This will be important for designing the physical space of my classroom. I envision it to be warm and welcoming, but not too over bearing that it will serve as a distraction, or be overwhelming for some students. My organizational/planning abilites was displayed in my Kindergarten teaching position, where I was able to map out a yearly plan, and transfer that information into: unit plans, weekly plans, and then focus in on the day-to-day operations.

• Creative- I love to think outside of the box, and I am always up for a challenge. I think it is important to implement this in the classroom when creating engaging and distinctive activities for the students. This really ties back to the differentiated instruction idea and promoting student-focused learning.

• Approachable- I am an easy going person and always positive, welcoming, and friendly. This is a great skill to have for fostering relationships and connections with my students, parents, and collegues.

• Empathetic- ultimately, I just really care about my students and their wellbeing. I would never want anything but the best for them, and each day I would be 100% focused on them.

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I am fortunate to have had many blessed opportunities that I can learn from, reflect on, and use to my advantage. There are many aspects that make a great teacher, and all teachers have strengths that differ from others. Above all, I am proud of the strengths that I possess.