Work Samples

Filed under: Uncategorized — Samantha Edwards at 10:01 pm on Wednesday, January 2, 2019

English 400 Proposal:

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Education 310 Lesson Plan: 

Infographic: 

[embeddocurl=”http://blogs.longwood.edu/samedwards/files/2019/01/Global-Warming-2.png” download=”all”]

Resume Page

Filed under: Uncategorized — Samantha Edwards at 3:37 pm on Friday, December 28, 2018

My name is Samantha Edwards and while I am currently only 21 years old, I have taken on numerous jobs as well as leadership positions thus far. More recently, I have been pursuing a degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Earth science at Longwood University. The numerous jobs as well as leadership positions I have held while at Longwood and in my earlier life have instilled in me a vast amount of knowledge, and skills necessary to be effective in the workforce.

 

I have held many leadership positions while at Longwood University  and even outside of the University. Specifically at Longwood University I served as the Vice President of Scholarship for Sigma Kappa Sorority where I was required to collect, track, analyze and review data, through the use of Microsoft Office, on the chapters grades through the years. My ability to work with a diverse group of people stems from my time as a head swim coach for a community pool in my hometown. I was required to collaborate with my assistants while I also managed positive relationships and networked with the parents and swimmers on the team. I work very hard to achieve excellence, and always put my best foot forward. I am a passionate and reliable worker who has gained a variety of knowledge through my involvement in different jobs and organizations.

 

[embeddoc url=”http://blogs.longwood.edu/samedwards/files/2018/12/Resume.docx” download=”all” viewer=”microsoft”

Data Analysis Project

Filed under: Uncategorized — Samantha Edwards at 12:17 am on Thursday, December 27, 2018

This May I will be graduating from Longwood University with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Studies and a minor in Earth Science. Since graduation is quickly approaching I decided that I would analyze data on housing costs as well as annual income based on level of education. I currently live in Henrico, Virginia and I plan to live here for a few more years once I graduate, because of this I felt it was appropriate to find the average cost of housing as well as annual income based on level of education in the state of Virginia.

My first graph shows the monthly housing costs based on a person’s annual income. For example, people who make less than $20,000 a year usually spend about 1,081 a month on housing. For the most part I felt the amount of money spent on housing a month would increase as annual income increased; however, I found that people who make $20,000 to $34,999 actually spend more a month on housing than those who make $35,000 to $49,999. I did not find it hard to believe; however, that people who make $75,000 or more annually spend the most on housing costs. While the data displayed for the most part that as annual income increases a persons housing expenses do as well, my second graph showed some different information. On my second graph I found that in Henrico, Virginia 3,354 homes cost between $1,000 to $1,499 each month. This was the largest amount of homes, while only 715 homes costs between $3,000 or more each month. This therefore proves that there must be more middle class citizens in this area than there are upper class citizens.

On my third and fourth graphs I wanted to also find out about earnings based on the level of education one obtains. For both male and female it is evident that as one’s level of education increases so do their annual earnings. While there was no information available on the median earnings of a woman with less than a high school diploma, it can be assumed that those medial earnings would be less than the earnings of a woman with at least a high school degree. It was also very clear that men had a medial earning in one year that was much higher than women. For example, the graph shows that a woman with a graduate or professional degree has a medial earning of $53,304 while a man with a graduate or professional degree has a medial earning of $78.152. This totals out to a relatively large difference of $25,848.

The purpose of analyzing these two sets of data was so I could gain a better understanding of annual salaries and housing costs in the area I will be living in once I graduate. I feel that obtaining housing information on the area I want to live in, as well as the average amount of money I will be likely to make based on my education helps prepare me for my future expenses.

I chose to design my charts as bar graphs because I felt that format did the best job of displaying the information in an organized manner. This format also made the information  easy to read and interpret. I also felt it was important to include the labels, and the lay out of each of my charts made it so the labels were easy to read compared to other layouts of the other charters that were available.

References:

Household Income:

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF

# of Homes that Pay a specific cost: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR0x4UVkAzADjtZ_auIowsRnp9IhyX0HR0qBxTuIN4FfqNfGauwRxxyFcQFbfp9rI3yhYu2AKC–cE2/pubchart?oid=1601123908&format=interactive

Housing Costs Based on Income: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR0x4UVkAzADjtZ_auIowsRnp9IhyX0HR0qBxTuIN4FfqNfGauwRxxyFcQFbfp9rI3yhYu2AKC–cE2/pubchart?oid=911830488&format=interactive

 

Educational Attainment: 

https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF

Male: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSs5hwMb7pxk3aQeGOCm8yhK3e_UTXUYwG1T13XTTRfkavdzu4rYaVxe8wnUM544_CapnFG5fggmf75/pubchart?oid=240212101&format=interactive

Female: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSs5hwMb7pxk3aQeGOCm8yhK3e_UTXUYwG1T13XTTRfkavdzu4rYaVxe8wnUM544_CapnFG5fggmf75/pubchart?oid=1531968805&format=interactive

Coursework

Filed under: Uncategorized — Samantha Edwards at 6:24 pm on Monday, December 17, 2018

I have been at Longwood for four years now and these are just a few of the very beneficial courses I have taken. In one way or another each of the classes listed above have helped me develop into an expert in the fields of science and human relations. My science courses, Exploring Science in Our World, General Chemistry, Fundamentals of Life Sciences, The Dynamic Planet, Conceptual Physics Hydrology, and Environmental Geology have helped me gain knowledge about planet earth as well as how human interactions can alter our planet for better or for worse. To better understand these interactions humans have with the planet I have a lot of courses in the field of education and development as well as real life experience. Specially, my education courses, Human Growth and Development, Introduction to Teaching Profession: Practicum, Survey of Exceptional Children, Introduction to Ethics and Practicum Integration have helped me learn the ins and outs of how various people think and act. My Human Growth and Development course taught me the various processes and changes children undergo as they develop into full grown adults. My Exceptional Children course taught me the various kinds of disabilities and needs of children, and my Ethics course taught me moral principles. Both of these courses helped me to gain knowledge about not only peoples individual needs, but also how to teach people what is right and wrong and why it is either right or wrong. In my introduction to teaching profess: Practicum course as well as my Practicum Integration course I was able to put this knowledge to use in an actual real life classroom setting.

Courses: 

  • Human Growth and Development
  • Exploring Science in Our World
  • General Chemistry
  • Fundamentals of Life Sciences
  • Introduction to Teaching Profession: Practicum
  • The Dynamic Planet
  • Conceptual Physics
  • Survey of Exceptional Children
  • Introduction to Ethics
  • Hydrology
  • Environmental Geology
  • Practicum Integration

About Me

Filed under: Uncategorized — Samantha Edwards at 6:19 pm on Monday, December 17, 2018

Throughout my four years at Longwood University I have taken not only a variety of courses, but have also taken on various leadership positions. The courses I have taken have taught me a variety of information regarding human relations as well as science. The leadership positions I have held have furthered by human relation skills as well as my understanding of the discipline as a whole. In turn this combination of courses and leadership positions has helped me gain a substantial amount of knowledge in the field of science and human relations as well as helped me develop my own personal philosophies on leadership and work.

A few particular courses I have taken that I feel have helped me become incredibly knowledgeable l if not an expert in these fields are Human Growth and Development, Exploring Science in Our World, General Chemistry, Fundamentals of Life Sciences, Introduction to Teaching Profession: Practicum, The Dynamic Planet, Conceptual Physics, Survey of Exceptional Children, Introduction to Ethics, Hydrology, Environmental Geology, and Practicum Integration. While a majority of these courses have consisted of mainly classroom lecture, Introduction to the Teaching Profession: Practicum and Practicum Integration have actually allowed me to put the knowledge I have learned in the classroom to use in the real world.

My time spent in the classroom learning these various bits of information and skills as well as my time spent actually applying the information and skills has helped me develop my own philosophy on leadership and work. I believe that leadership either comes naturally or it is developed overtime. It is; however; not something that certain people do not have. Everyone is capable of being a leader. While I was in high school I never held any leadership positions, when I went onto college; however, that changed. In college thus far I have held two leadership roles in Sigma Kappa Sorority, Vice President of Scholarship and Assistant to the Vice President of New Member Education. I never saw myself holding leadership positions of any kind before I entered college, but as time went on my feelings changed and I excelled at the positions I held. They required me to work with all different kinds of people and taught me that you simply cannot please everyone.

In regard to work, my own experiences in the workforce have helped me develop a philosophy that hard work pays off and the harder you work at something the better you become at it. Two particular jobs I have worked were as a lifeguard and as a swim coach. When I first started these jobs I was just a regular employee, after two years; however, I was promoted due to my hard work. I believe that you should work hard at your job no matter what you position is.  The philosophies I have developed through these two work experiences as well as my leadership positions I will carry with me into my future career. I hope to develop more and even better philosophies as I progress through my future career.

Helping Homeless Students

Filed under: Uncategorized — Samantha Edwards at 6:52 pm on Monday, December 10, 2018

In the year 2018 there has been an  increase in student homelessness in Washington State. While there are many factors that can lead to homelessness, one of the main factors in Washington State is the lack of affordable housing.  This year in Washington, roughly 1 in 25 public school students will experience homelessness and in Seattle it is 1 in every 13. These students lack of a stable home makes it hard for them to focus in school, get their homework done, or even attend school.

“‘If you don’t have a stable place to live, and you don’t have secure food, the learning is so minor in their priority array,’ says Superintendent Chris Reykdal, who was elected in November 2016 and assumed office in early 2017.”

To improve this issue, one effort taken by Washington is an increase in transportation. Local grants have made it possible to provide transportation so students can still attend the school district they once attended before they became homeless. Another effort made by Washington is called, “Community in Schools.” Money received from grants funds networks of support for students whose families are homeless. This way the families have access to things such as dental checkups and they are able to eat a meal on the weekends. 

 

Chris Reykdal Superintendent of public instruction.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-11-02/washington-state-works-to-meet-homeless-students-needs