About Me
Hello my name is Shannon Helmricks, I was born in raised in Newport, Oregon. My parents divorced when I was only two years old and my mother remarried when I was eight years old. Growing up with separate families allowed me to have the small family experience when I was with my dad with only eight people at holiday dinners and the large family experience with my step-family having over fifty people around for holiday dinners. When my mom remarried I gained two step-sisters that lived with their mother. My step-sisters only came around for big family events as well as well as holidays, this helped keep us close in the way that every time my sisters came to see us we would do big vacations or shopping trips that made me love having them visit us. Outside of having family visits I grew up as only child that was very very close with my mother. My mom and I have become best friends through growing up and is always the one I call on when I need a person to talk to.
Growing up in Newport I had the same group of students in my classes all the way from kindergarten to senior year of high school with a graduating class of one hundred and fifty seven people. In elementary school I discovered my dream job to be a teacher in the first grade, I had the teacher that inspired me and made learning fun which made me want to teach. In middle school I changed my career dreams slightly to wanting to be a middle school math teacher due to my love of doing math, this career dream changed in high school again. Once I reached high school I started taking child psychology classes that lead me to volunteering in the elementary school down the street. Through all this volunteering I brought my dream job back to teaching elementary school. Having this small town base I did not want to travel far from home or leave to a large college that I would get lost in that had a strong program for education. These thoughts lead me right to Western Oregon University for my undergrad degree where I majored in Early Childhood/Elementary Education with a ESOL/Bilingual endorsement. During my undergrad studies I traveled to Costa Rica to study spanish as well as to Spain to study the spanish language and culture. Through these experiences I grew so much as a person leaving the comport of my family and the small towns I had been living in.
After graduating from WOU I have struggled to find a teaching job in the current economy but have found a job Coaching Cheerleading at WOU and have chose to return for my masters, so I am not returning to WOU for my graduate studies in which I am pursuing a Masters of Science in Education with a Literacy endorsement.
Growing up in Newport I had the same group of students in my classes all the way from kindergarten to senior year of high school with a graduating class of one hundred and fifty seven people. In elementary school I discovered my dream job to be a teacher in the first grade, I had the teacher that inspired me and made learning fun which made me want to teach. In middle school I changed my career dreams slightly to wanting to be a middle school math teacher due to my love of doing math, this career dream changed in high school again. Once I reached high school I started taking child psychology classes that lead me to volunteering in the elementary school down the street. Through all this volunteering I brought my dream job back to teaching elementary school. Having this small town base I did not want to travel far from home or leave to a large college that I would get lost in that had a strong program for education. These thoughts lead me right to Western Oregon University for my undergrad degree where I majored in Early Childhood/Elementary Education with a ESOL/Bilingual endorsement. During my undergrad studies I traveled to Costa Rica to study spanish as well as to Spain to study the spanish language and culture. Through these experiences I grew so much as a person leaving the comport of my family and the small towns I had been living in.
After graduating from WOU I have struggled to find a teaching job in the current economy but have found a job Coaching Cheerleading at WOU and have chose to return for my masters, so I am not returning to WOU for my graduate studies in which I am pursuing a Masters of Science in Education with a Literacy endorsement.
My Philosophy of Education
I want to be a teacher because I love working with children and watching them grow through the process of discovering and learning. As an educator I want each student to grow on their own and retain when they have learned from their own discovery of information. My ideal classroom is in a Title I school with first grade students. I was lucky enough to students teach in two different Title I schools in the Salem/Keizer school district that lead me to knowing my passion was for being there for the student and not for the money from a job. I enjoy having students come in everyday wanting to be at school and not dreading their time in the classroom. I love having students of various backgrounds that make the classroom our very own culture and community.
I believe students learn best from discovery and their peers. Students should be given time to find the answer through their own discovery and interest before being told the answer. Through this process they remember the information for longer periods of time rather than just for the up coming test. The discovery process I feel develops through gradual release of responsibility to the students; guiding the students as an educator, working with the students as a group, having the students collaborate in groups, and finally having the students work individually to help the student find their own answers and retain the information; all of this occurs through the time spent on the discovery!
Along with students discovery I want them to also take responsibility for their own actions in the classroom and school environment. To develop responsibility I want to use a stop light, classroom management technique. Every students starts on the "classroom road" on which they are moving along smoothly in the daily class; upon classroom disruption or breaking of school/classroom rules the students is addressed by the teacher who requests the student take responsibility for their actions and move their car to the green light . Moving of students name by the student makes them aware of their actions and serves as a warning being on the green light. Each repeat offense in a day moves the students name higher on the stoplight; yellow indicates owing time out of recess and red causes the student to be removed from the room to a buddy room or principal's office as well as letter written to parents by the student explaining their classroom behavior. This classroom management technique lets students take responsibility for their behavior as well as makes students aware of where they are each day regarding their behavior.
I believe students learn best from discovery and their peers. Students should be given time to find the answer through their own discovery and interest before being told the answer. Through this process they remember the information for longer periods of time rather than just for the up coming test. The discovery process I feel develops through gradual release of responsibility to the students; guiding the students as an educator, working with the students as a group, having the students collaborate in groups, and finally having the students work individually to help the student find their own answers and retain the information; all of this occurs through the time spent on the discovery!
Along with students discovery I want them to also take responsibility for their own actions in the classroom and school environment. To develop responsibility I want to use a stop light, classroom management technique. Every students starts on the "classroom road" on which they are moving along smoothly in the daily class; upon classroom disruption or breaking of school/classroom rules the students is addressed by the teacher who requests the student take responsibility for their actions and move their car to the green light . Moving of students name by the student makes them aware of their actions and serves as a warning being on the green light. Each repeat offense in a day moves the students name higher on the stoplight; yellow indicates owing time out of recess and red causes the student to be removed from the room to a buddy room or principal's office as well as letter written to parents by the student explaining their classroom behavior. This classroom management technique lets students take responsibility for their behavior as well as makes students aware of where they are each day regarding their behavior.
When students need to be assessed I do not want to put them in a stressful testing style environment but rather try to treat it as a daily assignment whenever possible. I as a student would do worse if I knew i was being tested rather that doing and assignment in class. The less stress I have to put on a student the better I feel they will do in the classroom. Knowing I will never have a a perfect classroom where every student is the same in their learning styles I am glad I got and endorsement in English Students of Other Languages (ESOL) studies, this endorsement helped me look at how to teach every student the same materials at different developmental levels. I enjoy taking pride in giving each student the materials and help they need to accomplish each days learning and assingments. If there are students that need to verbally telling me a story as I write it down for them because they are still working on their writing skills I want to try and give them the time to do so, or allow a student to use manipulatives during a math assignment allows me to see the student understands the assignment but just does not have the skills to complete the assignment. I want every student to succeed whether they need additional assistance with the assignment or additional challenge with the assignment.
I want to be the best teacher I can be knowing that the world of education is ever changing and challenging for educators.
I want to be the best teacher I can be knowing that the world of education is ever changing and challenging for educators.