Professional Qualifications
Concordia University Nebraska (Fall 2014-May 2019)
- B.S. in Secondary Education - Biology and Middle Level Natural Sciences Endorsements
- B.A. in Biology
- Graduated in May of 2019, GPA 3.55
- Biology 7-12
- Middle Level/Science 5-9
- Expiration Date: 08/31/2024
Professional Experiences
Teaching Experience
- Thayer Central Community High School - 7th-8th Grade Science; High School Biology (2019-2020)
- Bruning-Davenport USD - 5th-8th Grade Science; 2nd-8th Grade PE (2020-present)
- Milford Public School - 6th Grade Math and Science
- Concordia Jr/Sr High School, Omaha - Middle Level Sciences and High School Biology
- Bruning-Davenport USD – 10th grade Biology
- Taught the introduction of genetics, graded exit tickets, and introduced a “Create a Baby” lab
- Used PowerPoint and lecture, along with a variety of vocabulary techniques with graphic organizers
- Seward High
- In a physiology class, over-saw a lab on CO2 diffusion, graded papers, projects, and labs; led review sessions over the male reproductive organs and homework questions
- In a computers class, assisted students with Microsoft Word
- Culler Middle School
- A volunteer for their after school program, organized kids before activities and clubs, monitored behavior and organized the Fitness for Fun club
- Seward Middle School Team Meetings
- Visited a 6th and 8th grade teacher team meetings
- His Kids Camp – Camp Luther
- Volunteered at a camp for adults with special needs, helped two buddies
- Led meal time prayers, assisted with crafts and activities
- Nebraska Association of Middle Level Education Conference in York, NE
- Little Blue Natural Resource District summer help, 3 years
- Vacation Bible School leader, taught music for 3 years
Professional & Educational Goals
Higher Education
- The best way to become a better teacher is to keep going to school! Obtaining a Master's degree won't only move me over on the pay scale, but I will learn new strategies to use in my classroom. These strategies will help me reach all of my students, and keep them engaged throughout the entirety of my lessons.
- I would love to be able to use more technology in my classroom to enhance learning. Of course I use technology in my classroom. There are great tools out there, being able to use them properly would greatly assist the learning of science. The thing about science is there are multiple things to see and to dive into, being able to use technology more than to reiterate a tough concept, would be much more beneficial to the students.
- I truly believe it is possible to engage all students. Science can be a tough subject for some students. I want to be able to reach all of my students in some way, shape, or form. Science is a great subject to have hands-on learning. Teaching 4 different grades of science, makes it difficult to have hands-on learning daily for all of them. I would love to find way to make this an easy flowing process. Learning new and effective strategies will help me accomplish this goal.
- Collaborating with other (science) teachers, parents and people in the community, as well as businesses around the areas to get the best professional advice, keep everyone involved, promote our little towns, and to seek out possibly opportunities for students. Collaboration is key as an educator. There are many positives in knowing the right people as a teacher: pass along ideas, projects and sharing questions or concerns. Hearing about new ideas would help me become a better teacher.
Technology Use
Review Games
- Kahoot is a great game for competitive classes. Most of my students are very competitive who love to play this because they love to be on top. I usually create my own games so I know what is on there and for my students to see what they really need to know.
- Quizizz is also good for competitive classes, and for ones that need differentiation. Each student can go through the questions at their own pace, so they can really take their time on the questions to get it correct.
- Pear Deck is fun to do with vocabulary words. The have to draw out the vocabulary words, then they are able to judge each other's drawings to determine if it makes sense with the word's definition.
- Gimkit is also a competitive review game, where the kids answer questions for money. They can then use that money to either buy power ups or "hurt" other players in order to stay or get in the lead.
- YouTube videos are a great way to introduce content. I also like to use YouTube videos to reiterate tough concepts and processes in the science world. Having a video that animates processes is always good for students to visualize what is going on.
- Edpuzzle videos are also a good to introduce and review content. You can find any length of videos with questions imbedded into the video to keep the students thinking during the video. They cannot skip parts of the video but they are able to re-watch the section if they are stuck on a question. It sets the students up for success.
- Nearpod slides are helpful for students who need things explained in a different way. These are great for a supplemental service to the kids who need a little extra reinforcement on a specific topic. It is also helpful to the students who would like to learn even more about the content at hand.
Experience with Diversity
My first two years of teaching have been two small town schools within the same county in Nebraska. In both schools, I saw a wide variety of levels of income. This affected my teaching when I assigned homework. I could not assign homework on the internet or computer because some families did not have access the the internet at home or some of the students were not allowed to take their school computers home with them.
The variety of income levels became quite the challenge when the school was shut down for COVID in March of 2020. Especially as a first year teacher, not knowing many of the student's parents, made this very difficult to reach all of my students. Lesson planning naturally became harder by teaching through a pandemic, but this diversity added to the difficulty.
Volunteering at the after school program at Culler Middle School, there was a lot of diversity. Since I grew up in a small town, most of the diversity I was used to was income related. At Culler, we were experiences all kinds of diversity. Overall, it gave me a better understanding of how to be empathetic and grateful.
The variety of income levels became quite the challenge when the school was shut down for COVID in March of 2020. Especially as a first year teacher, not knowing many of the student's parents, made this very difficult to reach all of my students. Lesson planning naturally became harder by teaching through a pandemic, but this diversity added to the difficulty.
Volunteering at the after school program at Culler Middle School, there was a lot of diversity. Since I grew up in a small town, most of the diversity I was used to was income related. At Culler, we were experiences all kinds of diversity. Overall, it gave me a better understanding of how to be empathetic and grateful.
