Meet+Natalie

HELLO, & WELCOME I would like to introduce myself. My name is Natalie Larson and I will be your teacher this year. This will be my first year teaching, and I am so excited about this. We are going to have so much fun this year learning about new things, learning about one another, going on field trips, and helping out our community  and school. I cannot wait to meet you in just a few days and kick off our fun and exciting school year!

On the first day of school we will be doing a "Get To Know You" activity where we will learn about one another. I am so eager and excited to get to know all of you.

**A Little About Me ...**

I am not from Colorado, I grew up in small town in North Carolina. After marrying, my husband and I moved to Denver six years ago. We have been so happy in Denver and feel so fortunate to call Colorado home. Some of my favorite activities in Denver are running, skiing, spending time with my husband and friends, and of course, taking care of our pets. We have three cats and one dog. As you continue reading you will see a short slideshow of some of favorite pictures and Millie, our dog, is in many of them.

**What are some of your favorite activitie ****s? **

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**__My Teaching Philosophy __**  There are many reasons for the purpose of schooling with the most prominent being academic mastery, however, there are other reasons for schooling. Students attend school to acquire and expand their social skills such as respect, compassion, and encouragement. Working with others is a vital component in life and school is the basic building block for establishing such skills. Another purpose of school is to allow students to explore who they are, what they enjoy doing, and what they excel at. School is such a haven for creativity as it offers students so many different areas of exploration. Because of school we are not only able to learn about different subjects but we are also forced to learn about ourselves and others. While I have been a student at Metro I have had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at a local "Expeditionary Learning" school and this has really helped me establish my educational teaching theories. When students learn through expeditionary learning they work outside of the classroom to better understand academic concepts and furthermore, they also have the opportunity to learn about themselves and others.

 Participating in hands-on activities is one of the many components that helps student build character and recognize what they truly enjoy doing. And this is the type of teacher I will aspire to be. I understand that every activity cannot be hands-on and there will be many times when I will be lecturing but if the opportunity of active learning presents itself I will welcome it with open arms. During my elementary school years I did very little hands-on learning and I feel that this is the reason I had some difficulty with certain subjects. I am such a visual learner and I want to convey this throughout my teaching because I think that students not only enjoy this type of learning but they get so much more out of it, not to mention, it can help tremendously with understanding a concept. In the past, hands-on learning has primarily been associated with science but I want to incorporate this type of learning throughout my curriculum. Whether it is taking a field trip to a berry farm to kick off a nutritional unit or working on the computer and Smart Board to teach a reading lesson. I hope to involve my students in an abundance of active learning techniques.

 I plan to teach all of the required subjects but it is also a goal of mine to teach social skills such as respect and compassion. I feel both of these can have such a positive impact on students. I also want my students to learn the art of encouragement as it is such a wonderful feeling when someone approaches you and tells you what a wonderful a job you are doing. Moreover, critical thinking is something else that I would like to implement in my teaching because it is concept many students struggle with. I want my students to really think about their work and the reason behind their thinking. What motivates them and why does it motivate them? Alongside with critical thinking, I

 Even though I am an advocate for active learning this is the not the main focus of my teaching. First and foremost, I am striving for a safe, trusting, respectful, physically and emotionally supportive, and inspiring classroom. Of course I want my students to excel in their academics but it is also important that they feel supported in my classroom.

After reading my philosophy on teaching I hope you are able to recognize the type of educator I am aspiring to be. Academics through active learning is extremely important to me and I hope I have portrayed this by describing various types of learning I will integrate into my classroom. Allowing the students to explore and understand their academics through different techniques can have such a big impact on student success and school appreciation.

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." -Albert Einstein