During my first semester at Longwood, I was able to attend the FLAVA conference.  At the conference, I was able to connect with school systems asking questions about the types of skills and certifications they were looking for. After collecting a few business cards, I attended several workshops on resources available, new techniques used in the classroom, and specific activities with high success rates. Most of the workshops had Spanish and English components with many attendees having a native language other than English. I was able to connect with these individuals and build my perspective on ELL students from their stories. After attending the conference, I have a better idea of what certifications will best benefit me and what I need to learn and improve on to provide my students with the best educational opportunities available.

During my second year at Longwood, I attended workshops at the Virginia Children’s Book Festival. While there, I was able to ask current teachers and parents about their approaches to literacy. I was also able to inquire with a few authors as to how they work with schools and what kind of outreach they regularly perform. The information I gathered will be useful later in my career as I search for ways to interest my students in reading and writing. Often times, bringing in experts and authors can motivate students by seeing how the professionals work. It shows the benefits of the work students will be currently producing and give them a possible vision for what their future can be if they continue to work hard on their studies.

During my third year at Longwood, I attended a Study Abroad conference where I was able to connect with other students and schools who have had similar experiences. While at the conference I was able to revise my resume to better reflect my new experiences and skills that I had to offer over other potential applicants. Additionally, I was able to attend a panel where professionals in different international fields shared their stories and experiences that helped them attain success and a better quality of life. Finally, I was able to connect with a Peace Corps recruiter and ask questions about how I can become involved after graduation to fulfill my goal of making sure every person has access to education.

In my senior year, I had my student teaching semester. During that time I worked in a split placement between elementary and high school. I learned to break down tasks into manageable chunks by age and knowledge of prerequisites. I had the opportunity to use a variety of teaching methods. For many lessons I used direct instruction; however, in my science lessons, I had the foresight and ability to create exploratory experiments. This allowed the students to discover how different substances interacted for themselves. I then stepped in to provide age-appropriate explanations and background information. In the high school setting, I trained in online teaching providing digital lessons. Then to ensure all students received an equitable education, I created alternative methods of delivery and response to accommodate students who lacked internet access.