Making Connections

What is the LeADERS program?

Old Dominion University’s LeADERS program connects students to courses and real world experiences in the areas of: Leadership, Academic Internship, Diversity, Entrepreneurship, Research, or Service Learning and a recently added area called Writing Intensive. This LeADERS eportfolio shares how my experiences in the areas of Academic Internship, Diversity, and Writing Intensive have supported my personal and professional development.

I joined the leader’s program because I was impressed that I could build a portfolio for my future employers by completing courses that I had to do to complete my degree-with the exception of the diversity portion. I completed that during the pandemic. The pandemic was a challenge that I faced during my leaders’ courses. I completed the alternative Egyptian diversity assignment and the STEM class in 2020. Life was hectic and different than it had been in 2019. I was actually able to complete the alternative diversity assignment because I went from working five days a week at the elementary school to one day. It allowed me the time to complete that assignment. My leaders’ courses/assignments have caused me to stretch my view on issues that I once thought I understood. They also showed me that despite the pandemic, struggles in my personal life, and heavy class loads, I am able to overcome anything that I put my mind to. All of my LeADERS classes link to each other. The Stem class showed me the importance of technology. I kept that knowledge in my mind as I wrote the research portion of the lesson plan for my Foundation 415 class. And the diversity project included both research and technology due to the fact that it was created on adobe. 

Looking Forward

After graduation, I would like to become a stay at home mom for at least a year. After that, I would like to get a job in Special education where I can apply the skills that I have learned in the leader’s program to the way that I teach and lead my classroom. I would like to use technology in my classroom. I want to keep abreast of trends and changing technology tools that will better help my students to learn material that is hard for them .Additionally, I would like to work as a co teacher with my peers as I say demonstrated during the SPED 415 internship program at Hermon L. Horne Elementary School. I would also like to consistently analyze myself and my teaching practices to ensure that I am include different diverse viewpoints in my lessons.