Introduction and Expectations

Hi my name is Denea Rice. I am originally from Prescott Arizona, but I have lived in Northern Virginia for the last 12 years. I have been married to my husband for almost 14 years, we met while we were serving in the Army together. We have 3 children. Our daughter is 10 and  our sons are ages 8 and 6. I love working with children and I have a heart for the little ones. I have a BA in Child and Family Development. My preferred age group is the younger elementary aged children. I am really drawn to children with special needs and I am planning on getting a certificate to specialize in that area once I am finished with my masters. In the future I see myself working with special needs children in either an elementary education setting or an early intervention setting with children that are infant to age three. I am hoping to learn how to effectively teach my own classroom and how to make lesson plans that work. I have seen others teach and I have created lesson plans, but I haven't had the chance to teach on my own or use my own lesson plans exclusively. I have always worked with children (except for my military career) my first job was at a daycare center. I worked as an infant and toddler specialist at my last job, and I love working with children. Teaching them new things and watching as they learn is one of my greatest joys.  I am hoping the student teaching experience will hep me understand how the school district balances the standard for the children to learn with the need to address each child as an individual.  In addition I am looking forward to getting more experience with lesson planning and fully running a classroom.  My overall expectations will be to determine what grade level I am most interested in teaching.  I look forward to sharing my experiences and learning from the other students as well.