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About Me Page

Erris – Grade 5

 

Missouri Elementary School

 

 

               

 

                                                                                                               

 

 

                                           

                                                                                                                                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                   

 

My name is Lana Laureen Erris. This is my first year working at Missouri Elementary School. I am from Northwest Indiana, where I began my college education in elementary education at Purdue University North Central – Westville campus in 1995. I did community service working with children, ages pre-K through 8, as part of my education program in Portage Public Schools located in Portage. I also worked at the Valparaiso Boys and Girls Club in Valparaiso, Indiana with children grades 4-8 teaching a cooking class. I have been living in Missouri for the last eleven years. I have attended classes at Metropolitan Community Colleges and University of Central Missouri as I worked toward a BSE in Elementary & Middle School Education.

 

I have organized food, clothing, and necessity drives for the community's needy. My commitment to education is solid as I have been pursuing my degree for the last 12 years. I have experience in developing strong community partnerships. I was the Vice President of the Longview-Metropolitan Community College's Reentry Club for Nontraditional students. I was on the President's honor roll at Metropolitan Community Colleges for 4 semesters. I graduated from MCC with honors in a Business Management Certificate program. I received the Curriculum and Instruction Dept. of UCM Achievement Award for two semesters. I am a member of the Missouri State Teacher’s Association. I am a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. I am also registered in the 2007-2008 Cambridge Who’s Who Executive and Professional Registry.

 

I am a person who has worked with children of various ages for the last two decades. I have community service experience through volunteer work. I worked with preschool children in projects that promoted self-esteem. I worked with middle elementary children at the Boys and Girls Club in a cooking class. I worked with Campfire Girls in promoting community awareness. I worked as a teacher's aide in a first grade classroom at Christian Ott Elementary School-Independence. As a student at the University of Central Missouri, I had field experiences as a Reading intern at Leeton Elementary School, Johnson County Christian Academy-Centerview, and Knob Noster Elementary School. I also worked as a Science intern at Martin Warren and Ridge View Elementary Schools-Warrensburg. I have worked as a substitute teacher in the Center, Grain Valley, and Raytown School Districts. I have also worked as a substitute teacher at the charter school, Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy. I have worked as a Communication Arts teaching intern in at Crest Ridge Middle School in seventh and eighth grades and at Pleasant Hill Intermediate School in fifth and sixth grades. These experiences helped me to develop a teaching style and build a good relationship with the students that I worked with.

 

I want to teach my students to challenge themselves and monitor their own learning. I want to teach them to always seek out knowledge for personal growth. I want them to think outside of their own families/towns and into the world/society. I want to teach them to appreciate/respect people of different cultures. I want to know as much as my students and their parents are willing to share with me. If a student needs help, then I do want to know more about them in order to help solve their problem as it relates to and affects their ability to be successful students in my classroom. Two core strategies that I utilize most in the classroom are the modeling strategy that teaches with demonstrations followed by guided practice with feedback/reinforcement from teacher and the inquiry strategy of teaching in which students are challenged to figure things out for themselves as much as possible, which includes reflective thinking and student-centered learning.

 

I look forward to sharing my classroom knowledge with my students. Reading is a fundamental skill. Without it, a person could hardly function in the world today. I will work to help my students to develop language-rich intermediate reading skills. I hope to give any of my struggling students the opportunity to achieve reading skills that match those of their peers. I thank you for the opportunity to work with your child.  I look forward to working with you and your children. I look forward to meeting with you this year. Please feel free to come by our classroom at any time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Send email to me at lerris@comcast.net

 

Please feel free to contact me anytime. I am available for phone calls from 1-2 p.m. or

you can leave a voicemail and I will return your call as soon as possible.

 

The school’s phone number is 816-555-1234.

 

This page was last revised on Monday, May 26, 2008.

 

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