Introduction

     God’s blessings to all of you, and welcome to my blog! My name is Jess Harris and I am a 2009 graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, IN. I have a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education as well as a Bachelors Degree in General Studies. I have a minor in the Development of Human Psychology and a concentration in the Fine Arts, which includes music, visual art, and dance. I spent two months of 2008 going to school at Liverpool Hope University, and teaching in a year six classroom at Much Woolton Catholic Primary School in Liverpool, England.  Upon returning to the USA I began my student teaching in a second grade classroom at Blue River Valley Elementary School in Mt. Summit, IN.  During both of these teaching experiences I had the chance to write and implement not only individual lessons but also entire units. If you would like to look at some of these, please check out my Googledoc (Please excuse the disorganization, I haven’t learned how to move files around yet.)

     I treat my classroom as a community. Therefore, the students will aid in the creation of the class rules and expectations, as well as having daily jobs to complete. In my classroom I am expecting the students to experience some new and exciting things. I am a constructivist teacher and will take the knowledge your students have and build upon that. I also have a variety of new information to introduce the students to. Along with this new information I have new and interesting ways to approach the core subjects. Students learn the best when subjects are delivered to them in a way that they relate to. Therefore, music, hands on exploration, art, and kinesthetic learning are all part of my everyday lessons. I will try and adapt the lessons to each of the students learning styles in order to reach the maximum level of success for everyone.

     Now that you know a little about my schooling and professional development, please allow me to delve into some of my personal interests.  I was born and raised in Valparaiso, IN where I am a devout Lutheran and worship weekly at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. While at Prince of Peace I have participated in the choir as well as teaching the music portion of Vacation Bible School. Incase you have not guessed yet, music is very important to my life. I have been classically trained into  the collegiate level in Viola performance as well as vocal performance, and have taken many years of guitar lessons. I try to incorporate music and art into as many lessons as I can because I feel they are very important to the development of my students.

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to beg, borrow, and steal anything I've posted. I am a believer in utilizing all resources, and that includes each other.