Meet+Your+Teacher

Hello Everyone! Since we will be spending the next year together I thought you might want to know a little about me. My full name is Ashley Anne Gariner. I am a native to this wonderful state and love living in Colorado. Below you will find some interesting facts and information that will help you get to know me.



Here are some things I love to do when not teaching:
 * **Reading**: I love the [|Harry Potter] series, [|Lord of the Rings] Trilogy, and anything written by [|Michael Crichton]. One of my all time favorite books is //Pride and Prejudice// by [|Jane Austen].
 * **Cooking**: My specialty is desserts, cakes, pies and cookies!
 * **Traveling**: My family traveled a lot when I was growing up and I have been to almost all the states.
 * **Camping**: Since the mountains are so close the opportunties for adventures are endless!

As a new teacher the one thing that I can not stress enough is that teaching is not about me, it's about the students. My job is not how I can teach the class, but how I can help the students learn the best. I understand that every student is different and what works for one student might not work for another. This is why I feel it is important to have a variety of ways to teach kids and figure out what will work best for that class so that every student succeeds and no one is left out. If you would like to read the full copy of my philosophy statement you can read it in the following document. [|Educational Philosphy statement.doc]

One of the great tools that modern teachers today can use is technology. It almost seems like kids are born with an I-pod in their ear and teachers need to recognize the importance and significance that technology can play in classrooms today. Kids seem to either love history or hate history and my goal is to get everyone to atleast appreciate history and be willing to keep an open mind about delving into the past. Technology presents us with the unique opportunity to make history come alive, to not only tell kids what happened any why it is important, but show them. Just think of how you were taught history. Many people would probably say that the teacher stood in front of the class and lectured for 45 minutes to an hour and sent the kids home to read their textbooks. What if a student could listen to a podcast about the boston tea party as they walked home? What if they could watch a youtube video about the revolutionary war in between the "cute cats" videos and their favorite video blogger? Do you think students would enjoy this more and take away more than sitting at home reading? The answer I hope is YES! I look at technology as a window to the past, a way that students and teachers can learn together and make their educational experience extraordinary. With that being said, technolgy can only get you so far. Bombarding kids with technolgy is not necessarily a good thing. Podcasts, video blogs, and other technological tools need to be integrated to the point that they are just one of the many tools in a teachers learning "tool box." Their is a balance between traditional teaching and the new tech centered classrooms of the futures. I hope to help achieve that balance in my classroom.


 * __Why you should hire me!__ **

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