User:Mworr002

About Me
My name is Mary Worrell and I'm a student in the teaching licensure program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

I received my undergraduate degree at ODU in 2006, but I'm back already! I received my bachelor's in English with an emphasis in journalism and a minor in political science. I currently work as a reporter for a regional business journal. I love being a writer and reporter, but I'm looking for a change and teaching has me quite excited.

I'm pursuing my license in secondary education with an endorsement in English. I'm also pursuing an add-on endorsement in journalism. I would love to teach high school, the place where I discovered my own love of writing and literature.

When I'm not writing the day away at the office, I enjoy riding my bike around town, cooking for hours on the weekend and working with my hands as a part of the Norfolk Craft Mafia. No, I don't make cement shoes, but I do enjoy crocheting, working with embroidery and attempting to sew.



One of the overarching themes in my classroom will be connecting activities and projects to my students’ future places in the workforce. I want to apply everything to the “real world.” Students may not believe me when I say something will be important at the time, because my teachers used to say this to me often and I never believed them. But teaching is a long-term investment and my hope is they will realize the necessity of a lesson later on down the road.

I believe communication and organization are important keys in successful teaching as they are in the workforce and in personal relationships. I want to have multiple lines of communication with my students and their parents (phone, e-mail, in-person) to ensure I can be reached and that I can reach my students. And I want my classroom and its schedule to be organized and easy to understand. For me as a student in high school organized teachers were always comforting, because I understood what was expected of me

Which brings me to a point about technology. I believe technology, because of the prevalence of it in our lives, is not something to be ignored or to force students to ignore in the classroom. I want to use it whenever possible and to encourage my students to do so. If there is a powerful tool available to my students (i.e. Google), I think it’s foolish to avoid using it just because it’s not traditional. However, there is a lot to think about in this regard because not every home has a computer.

I don’t want my classroom to be a place where students fall asleep to the sound of my voice. I want to facilitate conversations between students and encourage discussions. I want students to work together to solve problems with me in the background.

When it comes to writing assignments I plan to use peer reviews so students not only get my feedback, but also the feedback and advice of their fellow students.

And I want my classroom environment to be one of encouragement. Every “mistake” will be an opportunity to learn. I don’t want my students to avoid taking risks because they fear embarrassment or punishment. Risks make life exciting and I want my classroom to be a place where students can practice diving right in.