My name is Brianna and I'm thrilled to be a part of this course with the awesome Dr. McVerry! I just graduated Southern last month with a double major in Special Education/Elementary Education Collaborative and a second major in Liberal Studies. I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I was that older sister that would give my siblings elaborate lessons and homework (next to my lined up stuffed animals). I love being a part of the learning experience in so many ways. Since graduating and being granted my certifications, I have been working on starting my official teaching career, hopefully as soon as this Fall.
At this time, I am working towards a masters in Special Education: Learning Disabilities. I chose this course as an elective to the program because I feel that I could benefit from additional strategies when teaching Language Arts. In my elementary education student teaching placement, I taught four classes of Social Studies and one class of Language Arts. After this experience, I can say that there is so much more for me to learn. It is not that I felt the education program didn't prepare me, but that I want to have enough strategies in my "teaching toolbox" to reach the needs of all students, at every level. My goal as a teacher is to be the most effective educator possible for my students and there is no better way to reach this goal than professional development in higher education.
