Marley Hambacher
Professional Portfolio
B.S. Elementary Education
Minor in German
Appalachian State University
Email: mh58186@appstate.edu
Phone: (704) 661-2385
After graduating from Appalachian State University, in May of 2008, I plan on immediately going into teaching in a public elementary school. I would like to move back to my hometown, Charlotte, and work for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. As of right now, I would like to teach in one of the Kindergarten through second grade level, but I am open to the older grades.
After a couple years of teaching, I hope to go back to school and obtain my master's degree. I am interested in possibly getting a master's in Special Education or Elementary Education.
I have always been blessed with wonderful teachers throughout my education career. They have made me see what sort of classroom I would like to have and not like to have. I believe in having a classroom environment that has more positive outcomes rather than negative ones. Students will be responsible and respectful to the people around them. This idea will help the classroom run very smoothly. The students will also be able to help form the classroom rules. By doing this, students will believe in and understand them and be more willing to follow them. I also plan on having a classroom environment that will be one community. This means that everyone will be together and work together on things. I plan on having groupings of desk so students will automatically be in a community and they will share responsibilities. I want to have a classroom that will hopefully be like a second home to them. The classroom will be the safest environment possible for the students to learn in. They will feel comfortable to ask questions and take part in all activities.
Teachers have the highest responsibility to challenge and encourage all students to learn. I think that working together and actively working is very important. I feel that as a teacher, I have the responsibility to get to know my students on a personal and educational level. This will allow me to connect their learning with real life experiences. By having students’ interests included in lessons, they will be able to have a more meaningful learning experience. Learning about students’ interests will be a big thing for me.
By getting to know all of my students, will also allow me to learning about all of their learning styles. All students have different learning styles, which makes no student alike. By having multiple learning styles in my classroom, I will be able to use multiple teaching styles to cater to everyone. I plan to integrate content areas into each lesson. This will give the students the ability to see how things in the world are related. There are many resources around teachers and I plan to use them to help with teaching my students.
One day, I hope to have a classroom with love and support throughout it.
During the fall of 2007, I interned in Mrs. Barnes’s third grade classroom, at Blue Ridge Elementary. Through this internship, I was able to form relationships with the students and teachers around me. I was also given the opportunity to teach a series of lessons to a broad level range of students. This opportunity let me see more into ‘real life teaching.’ Blue Ridge Elementary had a wide range of technology for me to utilize while teaching. I used the Smart Board daily and gained knowledge from it.
During the spring of 2008, I student taught in Mrs. Mullen’s second grade classroom at Olde Providence Elementary for about 10 weeks. This gave me an opportunity to teach in a wonderful classroom setting. This class was composed of well-behaved and talented students. The teachers around me were very supportive and helpful. Once I was teaching this classroom, full time, I was able to experience what a “teacher’s life” was really like. For the last five weeks of my student teaching experience, I went down to Nicoya, Costa Rica and taught English to elementary students. This took place in a small school called San Ambrosia. This gave me the opportunity to experience a different culture and a different education system.
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