Introduction

Hello fellow ED 505 classmates! My name is Valerie Armbrester. I live in Munford, Alabama, which is a quaint little town located at the foothills of Cheaha Mountain. During this time of the year, the surrounding woods and forests are absolutely gorgeous with the leaves changing color. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Jason, for over 3 years. We are at the end of completing the construction of our new home and hopefully will be finished by November/December.

I am a first grade teacher at Munford Elementary School. I have been teaching now for over 7 years. My teaching experience includes 1/2 year in kindergarten, 3 years in second grade, 1 year in third grade, and 3 years in first grade. First grade has always been the grade I most desired to teach and now that I am in this grade, I couldn't be happier!

I began taking online courses with West Alabama back in January 2009 to obtain a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education. I now have 2 more classes to take, plus this one, and my comprehensive exam to be completely finished. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! One goal for obtaining a master's degree is to gain further knowledge in my area of concentration. I absolutely love working with the early childhood age because I feel if you can reach children early on in life and make an impact, you could really have a positive affect on their lives, both academically and socially. A second goal for obtaining a master's degree is to be a more highly qualified teacher. Since we live in the 21st century, so much has changed and  has improved since I received my Bachelor's degree that it would be shameful of me to not better myself and improve in my area of work.

Just in the past few years, I have come in contact with some very impressive forms of technology. I will say that this is, however, my first blog and I was a bit nervous starting one because of being unfamiliar with it. I hope through practice and learning that I will master the concept (not to mention that I hope I am doing this right!). My favorite technology would have to be an Interactive Smart Board that I use every day teaching. The Smart Board has absolutely changed the way I teach in just the past 2 years. I now teach my entire reading series using the Smart Board and hopefully by the end of this year, will have my entire math series created on slides for the next year. The children love getting to use the Smart Board during lessons and during stations. Instead of me trying to place each child in front of a computer to introduce or teach something, I now can have them all sitting in front of one gigantic screen seeing everything at one time. The Smart Board allows me to go beyond the 4 walls of my classroom to teach, giving me access to valuable pieces of information that could only be accessed with technology.

I am looking forward to learning a lot of new and innovative ways to use technology in the classroom. I am also a bit anxious in learning something new, so I hope with the help of everyone that we can all learn from this experience together.  Best Wishes to everyone and Good Luck!