Name:
Mr. Sean Jones
SCHOOL:
Saint Ambrose of Woodbury
CLASS:
5th Grade
SCHOOL PHONE:
651-768-3079
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.
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!