Mr. Jones

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About The Teacher Label:


About The Teacher
Hello! This is my fourth year teaching at Saint Ambrose of Woodbury, and I am having a fabulous time! The students I have the opportunity to teach every day are amazing, and the parents and staff of Saint Ambrose have been friendly and supportive. What a great school community! My Education and Work Experience: I have a degree in Theatre Arts from Hamline University, and recently returned to Hamline to obtain my K-8 teaching license (with a 5th-8th grade specialty in Communication Arts and Literature). I am currently working on my Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Reading Instruction through the Murray Institute program at the University of St. Thomas. Through Hamline, I completed several clinical teaching experiences in the St. Paul Schools and student taught 4th grade at Highwood Hills Elementary in the Fall of 2005. Before coming to Saint Ambrose, I taught grades K-3 at Roosevelt Elementary on the West Side of St.Paul. While I am fairly new to classroom teaching, I am not new to the education field or working with children. For eight years I worked as a manager with the Minnesota Children's Museum, and I have taught theatre classes or directed youth productions at various community theatres and programs throughout the Twin Cities. This summer, I completed my 20th year working for the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth, a summer enrichment program located on the Macalester College campus in St. Paul. I have taught theatre classes at the Minnesota Institute for grades 5-6, grades 1-4, and for ten years was lead dorm supervisor in the 7th-12th grade program. Other Information About Me: I am a native of the St. Paul area, and attended the Mounds View Schools growing up. I have been married 8 years to my wonderful wife, Brenda, and we have a baby boy named Liam, who was born on Feb. 4th of 2008. We also have a 2 year old Yellow Lab puppy named "Nala" ( after the female lion cub in Disney's Lion King). "Nala Puppy" keeps us on our toes! We also recently took in a stray dog who we named Buddy. He is a three year old Golden Lab (and weighs over 90 pounds!) In my free time, I am a big sports fan. I love baseball and am a huge Minnesota Twins fan. I am looking forward to the start of Gopher Hockey, my other favorite sport to watch! When I am not watching sports, I like to read, spend time with friends and family, go fishing, play soccer, downhill ski, or travel. Since becoming a parent, however, most of my time is spent with Liam, which is just fine! He amazes me every day with what he learns. When we do find time to travel, the destination we travel to most frequently is Florida, because we have several relatives there, my wife and I LOVE Disney World, and because we love the beautiful beaches along Florida's Gulf Coast. Favorites: Color= Blue Number= 7 (It's lucky, and it's Joe Mauer's number. How can you go wrong?) Movie= Star Wars Sport= A tie between baseball and hockey Food= Pizza or just about anything I can grill Music= Just about any genre. According to my "iTunes", the artists I have listened to most frequently as of late are a local a capella group called Tonic Sol-Fa (They're Great!) and Kenny Chesney. U2 is another favorite. Books= Because of Winne Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, and Wait Til Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Mission Label:


Mission
I have entered the teaching profession because I want to make a significant, memorable and positive impact on the lives of my students. In order to accomplish this, I have several goals for our class: 1.) Students will learn the core skills and strategies necessary to become independent, successful life-long learners. 2.) Our classroom will have a strong sense of community. This will be the basis of a safe environment and structure where students feel free to take risks, explore, investigate, problem-solve, and create. This sense of community will also be the basis for a shared exploration of our sprituality, Catholic faith, and values. 3.) Through high expectations and varied learning experiences, students will reach new levels of accomplishment and strengthen individual gifts and talents. Students will potentially discover gifts they did not know they had. 4.) My students will know that I care not only about their academic success, but also thier happiness and overall well-being as individuals. 5.) Most importantly, I want to pass on to my students the same excitement, enthusisasm, and passion for learning that I have been fortunate enough to gain through my own educational experiences. I will do this by creating a classroom that is dynamic,engaging, hands-on, and makes use of multiple learning and teaching strategies. I want my students to discover that learning is fun!