Teacher Candidate
About Me
Bio
My name is Cassidy Harris and I am originally from Zanesville, Ohio. Four years ago, I moved to North Carolina to attend Appalachian State University. While I was eager to attend college, I was lost as to what major I would choose. After many conversations and realizations, I took a chance on a major in Middle Grades Education, and I am so very glad I did. After four years, I am truly grateful for my time in Appalachian's teacher preparation program and will forever thank those who have prepared me to be the educator I now feel prepared to be today.
Education
While attending Appalachian State, I have participated in the Reich College of Education's teacher preparation program. My major is Middle Grades Education with concentrations in both English language arts and social studies. I will be graduating with my bachelor's degree in May 2020. In addition, I have been participating in Appalachian's accelerated admissions program. This program has allowed me to take graduate level courses during undergrad in order to obtain a master's degree in special education by May 2021. Along with my master's degree, I will also be graduating with certifications in Autism, reading, and emotional and behavioral disorders.
Teaching Philosophy
My ultimate goal as an educator is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all adolescents that enter into my classroom. Creating a space that fosters a developmentally responsive environment leads to a safe and orderly academic and social experience for all students. As a middle grades educator, it is essential to understand and respect the vast changes happening within each and every adolescent students' life. By understanding and respecting these changes, I am passionate towards implementing teaching strategies into my classroom in order to meet each student where they are on multiple levels of development. Whether that be holding routine group work activities to feed into students' social-emotional development of interaction or promoting higher order thinking to push for students' intellectual development of reasoning, it is essential to understand the diverse developmental characteristics of adolescents in order to produce a successful and nurturing learning environment for all.
