I graduated from Michigan State University’s five-year program with a degree in Child Development and Elementary Education. I completed my internship year at Cumberland Elementary in the Lansing School District where I taught 22 kindergarten students. In 2008, I completed my Master's Program in Curriculum Development and Teaching at MSU. I have taught in the DeWitt School District since 2006 at Schavey Road Elementary and earned tenure in the spring of 2010. In 2016 I accepted a position with Greenville Public Schools at Walnut Elementary. Although I have spent many years in Michigan, my roots reside in Cincinnati, Ohio. The reputation of Michigan State’s education program brought me up north and I am very proud to say that I bleed GREEN!
During my first 4 years at Schavey Road, I taught 1st grade and looped with the students to 2nd grade. This continued for 2 cycles. After my fourth year, I decided to stay in 2nd grade rather than looping back down to first grade. In 2016 I returned to my first grade roots when I accepted a position in Greenville. I have been blessed to remain with the lower elementary students and enjoy the little things that young minds bring to the classroom.
On July 2, 2011, I married Sheldon Fahner at the MSU Alumni Chapel. While I love my maiden name of Reifenrath, I did take his last name making me Mrs. Holly Fahner. So if you see either name, please note that it’s me! We spent 2 fabulous weeks in Maui for our honeymoon where we swam with sharks, sea turtles, eels and other tropical fish. We loved the culture and laid back attitude on the island, but quickly snapped back to reality. We are excited to continue our new lives together and have already enjoyed the little quarrels that come with being married.
On August 31, 2014 Henley Anne Fahner made her entrance into this world. She amazes us every day and we feel so lucky to have her as part of our family! She LOVES nature and is one curious explorer, which keeps both Sheldon and I very busy.
Myself, as a Student
Before we begin our journey together, I think it is important for you all to know a bit about my personal experiences as a student. I grew up in a very diverse community of learners and was blessed to have many creative and engaging teachers throughout my educational career. I also loved learning and welcomed the challenges my teachers offered. As I continued through school, I came to realize the positive and negative effects of various types of instruction. I flourished in the areas that allowed me to be creative, to step outside the box, and to make the project my own. I shied away from the tasks that were concrete, pencil and paper and a duplicate of every other students’ work. Due to these experiences, I strive to find various means of teaching that allow for each student to become intrinsically motivated. I try to keep away from the assignments that disregard creativity or personal touches and I welcome suggestions and constructive criticisms given by my colleagues and my students.
What You Might See In The Classroom
To accommodate the needs of all learners in my classroom, I provide a variety of opportunities where children are actively engaged in large group, small group and individual learning. I create these learning environments because I have experienced the power each one of these environments has on different learners. For example, I learn best when those who surround me are excited. When I can make “real world” connections to the information and discuss these “ah ha” moments with peers, I feel that I engage in higher level thinking. As a student, I enjoy hands on activities for exploration. I enjoy class discussions to deepen my understanding. In addition, I enjoy working independently to showcase my knowledge. From these experiences, I understand that students’ needs may cross a wide range of learning opportunities. Therefore, it is my responsibility to determine what learning environments work best for each student.
Assessment Tools
In addition to classroom instruction, I believe children deserve to be measured through a variety of methods that accurately reflect their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. As a “poor test taker,” I began dreading each standardized test that I had to take throughout school. I was anxious, nervous and frightened on test days due to the pressure that was placed upon me. In between standardized tests, I felt that many of my teachers used paper and pencil exams to assess my knowledge of the subject matter. It was quite frustrating when the only form of assessment was a written one. I can remember memorizing facts upon facts the night before the test just so I could ace it. Well, I have found out the hard way that I had to re-learn much of that information because I was just memorizing. When I got into college and began implementing various forms of assessments in my practicum classes, I realized just how much information young students could retain if given the right opportunities to showcase their knowledge. I now understand the benefits of creating authentic assessments such as verbal and written responses, hands-on activities and presentations to showcase their understanding and misconceptions over specific concepts.
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