User:Mbiernot1979

Hello everyone!! My name is Melissa Biernot and I live in Chesapeake, VA. I have had the pleasure of residing here, as have most of my family, for my entire life - all 28 years. I am married to a wonderful man and together we have 4 children. We also have 2 cats and a dog - all of whom are spoiled rotten and think that they belong in our bed - whether we have room to sleep or not!!

After completing my MS in elementary education, I hope to start a career as a teacher in the 4th-6th grades. Although I love interacting with all children, I think that this age group is extremely impressionable and quite unique in their views of the world. I feel that I will have much to offer them, and they will surely have much to teach me.

As for my teaching philosophy, I think that simplicity is best. I want my classroom to be one that values openness, honesty, and respect for each other. I feel that if all of these areas are held sacred, then the classroom will be a fun, interesting, and interactive place to learn.

I feel that all students should be treated equally and expected to perform to the best of their abilities. For this reason, most of the work my students will be responsible will be lecture and solo project based material. I feel that group work tends to highlight the ideas and creativity of a select few in the group.

It would be my hope that parents are involved in their children's education as well as in the classroom. I would provide my email and home phone number for parents to contact me, and I would contact them at least weekly concerning the performance, behavior, and future expectations of their children. I would also stress a high level of teamwork for all of the teachers in my grade level, so that great ideas are shared and used schoolwide.

I would like for my students to be able to use all technology that they could - computers, calculators, overheads, microscopes, etc... These things enrich the lesson and keep it interesting. After the lesson, they would be assessed using standard testing methods such as fill in the blank and true/false, and also with presentations, book reports, and projects.