User:Jlhogan22

Introduction
Hello, my name is Jenny Hogan. I live in a small county in Southwest Virginia, called Giles County. I am 23 years old and have been married to my husband Patrick for a little over a year. We currently do not have any children, but we do have a Boston Terrier puppy named, Memphis.

I graduated from Radford University in 2007 with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work. Since then I have been employed with Giles County Department of Social Services as an Adoption/Foster Care Social Worker. I like my job, however I want an opportunity to work more closely with children. I decided to go back to school this summer. I should obtain licensure to teach PreK-6 in the Spring of 2010!

Teaching Philosophy
I'm sure my educational philosophy will not only change over the course of this semester, but also over the course of my career as a teacher. I plan to teach in Giles County, a very small area with very little diversity. I want to teach my classroom that there is diversity in other areas, and because of this they need to learn a variety of topics. I think English should be the primary language taught, however, I believe the children should also be exposed to another language. Based on my education and work experience as a Social Worker teaching "at risk" students is something I will be aware of. In my opinion at risk students do need to be handled in a different fashion. There are circumstances when these students may not be able to complete assignments or be in class for a variety of reasons. I plan to have a more open mind for these students, but at the same time I do not want to ostracize these students from the others in the classroom.

I want to have a very open classroom, where the students feel they are a part of what they are learning. I plan to do this by having the students involved in the assignments. For example, having the kids teach the class something they have learned. I want to be able to openly talk to my students, and be able to explain to them the importance of a certain topic. By doing this, I believe communication with their parents is essential to their learning. I hope to know what the child learns in the home environment to be able to connect that to the school environment.

In regards to the curriculum, I know that there are certain guidelines that need to be followed. I believe there is a time and place for everything. It is important that the children learn academic content, but values and culture are also an important aspect of teaching. As I said before I want my children to be involved in the classroom. I want to be able to keep their attention, and I believe by adding some interesting topics and assignments they will be more open when they need to listen to the basics. I would like to see a curriculum based on aspects of the community. I know from experience that students from a small area do not have the same mind set as students from a much larger community. For this reason, I believe that a nationwide curriculum may not be a realistic expectation. On the other hand, the students do need to be prepared for the "real world".