Who I Am Amanda Hoss EDU 671 Jessica Bogunovich 5/10/2016

**MY FAMILY**

My family moved from Texas to Minnesota 3 years ago! I was born and raised in Texas, met my husband in Texas, had my kids in Texas and all of my family is from Texas. My husband was born and raised in Minnesota until he joined the military. After 18 years in, he was finally ready to move home. We’ve now been married 8 years, I adopted a handsome young man as a step son and have two beautiful children of my own. I’m always open for a change and we thought it was time to move back closer to his family (which still lived in Minnesota). Although the weather, culture and atmosphere are completely different than what I am used to, it was the best decision we’ve made for our family for multiple reasons!!

I love spending time with my kids, reading, camping/fishing, listening to music, and putting together any type of puzzle!

Professional Background & Experience I currently work as a paraprofessional and cheer coach for the local high school. I am basically a para and teacher for a self sufficient colony and I run all grades 9 th thru 12 th. The class, right now, consists of 2 seniors, 2 juniors, 2 sophomores and 6 freshman. They are enrolled into an online school and I am there to guide them, answer questions, assist with tests, and unlock assignments as needed. It is truly an amazing experience to work with students who are otherwise shut off from what I know as reality. Coaching Cheer is another experience I thoroughly enjoy. My squad usually ranges from 10 to 18 high school girls, depending on the season, so it has its challenges but I love it. inspiring students to excel in academics, athletics and as an all around person is the sprinkles on top of the job! However, the paraprofessional job is coming to an end because it only consists of working two days a week. Starting next week, I am moving to a full time job as a business office manager (which is all my work history) so I am looking forward to that. Once my Masters in Education is complete, I’ll look back into teaching!

I knew when I was young that I wanted to be a teacher. When I was 9, I used my bed as a classroom and passed papers out like I was a teacher. As I grew and remained a straight A student (which led to being a peer helper/tutor), I saw that I wanted to be the person teaching everyone. I wanted to be able to spark an imagination and help students build a foundation for their educational journey. I want to be the change that makes a difference for students and the person that puts together all the pieces for them to learn! The hard part right now is that I’m unsure of what grade I want to teach. I still haven’t made a decision between Kindergarten, middle school Science or high school English.

Mrs. Crockett Mrs. Crockett had a huge impact on my early education. Her class was a favorite of many peers because she did fun and exciting things before it was a ‘normal’ thing to change things up. She cared deeply about every student in her class and openly communicated with anyone passing by in the hallway between classes. She utilized creativity to enhance learning and was always looking for new interaction ideas to keep the class working as a whole. She acknowledge, knew and understood every individual factor on every individual student. It made her classroom welcome and fun on a daily basis.

My Degree Plan I’m currently enrolled in the MAED degree program. I hope to become a Special Education teacher after graduation. And even further in the future, I would love to run my own special education program. The impact I believe my Master degree will have on my future endeavors is preparing me for any and everything possible as a teacher. With the knowledge I would like to become the main director over the special education department within the school. Having my Masters degree will put me in a position to be able to accept a position of that caliber.

Early Understanding Action Research Researching a plan to find a solution. Traditional Research Researching a solution.