User:Asimm018

 ABOUT ME

Hello and welcome to my introduction page. My name is Andrea Simmons and I am a stay-at-home mother of two. I have a three year old daughter, Abby, and a one year old daughter, Annslea. I have been married for eight years to my husband, Tim. He is an operator trainee at Dominion Virginia Power Yorktown. We have two beagles, Jody and Bud.

We spend most of our time as a family running our oldest daughter to preschool, dance class, gymnastics, and Riverview Park. When we are not busy with our oldest, we are chasing the youngest who loves to test fate anyway she can.

This is my second semester at Old Dominion University as a transfer student. I received my Associate's degree in Business Administration from Thomas Nelson Community College in May 2005 and took time off to start my family. I am currently taking four classes.

I once thought my ultimate goal would be to teach a younger group of children such as preschool or kindergarten age. However, since I began my observation in a second grade classroom, I am contemplating teaching at a higher grade level.

 MY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

I LOVE to learn and make connections between different ideas. I expect my students to put forth their best efforts. I understand not every student can be on the same academic level, but those who don't excel in a particular subject area need to discover their strengths in other areas. Everyone posses certain gifts and our job as a teacher is to help them uncover and hone those gifts.

Also, every person deserves a fighting chance. Without the aid of a high-quality education, individuals lacking the appropriate communication skills will not prosper in our global economy. As an educator, it is these pupils I most want to reach. It is not that they are incapable of completing the tasks, but they have never been taught the skills necessary to succeed. If I can reach these learners through the use of evidenced based instructional strategies, it will transform their lives. These students often overlooked because of their social awkwardness can avoid the special education label, strive to surpass their peers, and ultimately achieve lasting success with a little extra effort from an educator.