Education Biography

The Inclusive Early Childhood program at James Madison University prepares me for licensure in early childhood education (birth-five) and pre-kindergarten to third grade. I have majored in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies and minored in Inclusive Early Childhood Education. Throughout my undergraduate career I have had the opportunity to explore a wide variety of subject matters but I chose to focus on humanities and social sciences. I do believe that being exposed to such a range of information has provided me with many tools that are necessary to be a well rounded teacher.

I have worked in a preschool head start program within Harrisonburg City Schools, a preschool setting, and a classroom for children who have parents that are still attending High School. All of these practicum experiences have been so different and I have learned different lessons from each one. Every time I have the opportunity to work in a new classroom setting there is so much to learn whether it be from the teacher, the students, or simply, the environment. I have also spent the past five summers working in special education classrooms as a teacher's assistant in Loudoun County Public Schools where I hope to return once I graduate.  Having worked for LCPS over the past five summers I have gained invaluable experience working with children with a range of disabilities and delays. It was during those summers that I was able to take on more of a leadership role in the classroom. I have completed lesson plans, worked on classroom management and setup, and of course, worked with children in both one on one and group settings. I have first-hand experience of how different each learner truly is and I truly believe the job of the educator is to find what works for each one of their learners which will help to help unlock their true potential.

Throughout all of these experiences and in my courses at JMU I have learned how important the classroom environment is for the success of every single student and for the success of the teacher as well. A positive classroom environment in early education will set the tone for how children feel about learning for the rest of their lives. That is why early childhood education is so important. Children learn to love learning when they have positive experiences in the classroom and I hope to make that type of impact on my students someday.