NAME:
Julie Vlosky
SCHOOL:
Northeast
CLASS:
4th grade Room 105
SCHOOL PHONE:
203.977.4470
My name is Julie Vlosky. This is my fourth year teaching 4h grade at Northeast
School. I am thrilled to be teaching at Northeast and love being with your
children. I am a graduate of Denison University and received my masters in
childhood education from New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture,
Education, and Human Development. Before teaching at Northeast I worked in
several different New York city public schools. Prior to entering education
school I worked in the fashion industry in New York as a buyer and allocator
of luxury handbags. Talk about a career change! I was born and raised in
Northeast Ohio and consider myself to have good, Midwestern values. I love to
read, see movies, spend time with my family, and travel. I have lived in both
Australia and England and I think its important to show kids that Stamford,
Connecticut is just one tiny part of a huge, wonderful, interesting, and
amazing world! Please always feel free to contact me about anything regarding
your child. Email is the best way to reach me.
“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.”
-William B. Yeats
I believe that to be the most effective educator, one must create a
safe environment that is interactive and collaborative as well as one that
promotes problem-solving and critical thinking. I believe that I am a learner
right alongside my students. A classroom should be a community of learners,
thinkers, action/risk-takers, and solution-finders. In order to establish this
community, a child must feel safe, respected, and capable. The classroom
environment should be student-centered, not teacher-centered.
I believe that children need to hear positive reinforcement as well as
constructive criticism and effective ways to improve their skills. Pointing
out that a response is incorrect is not enough. Children need to be taught
strategies to correct their mistakes and strengthen their skills. In a desire
to adhere to standards and curriculum, I believe it is essential to remember
that each child learns differently. Differentiating instruction may be the
most difficult yet vital aspect of teaching. With this in mind, I consider it
to be crucial to be self-reflective as a teacher. I ask myself, as well as my
students: Did this lesson work for you? Why or why not? What could I have done
differently to make the learning better?
When a group of children leave my classroom after ten months of
working together what do I desire for those children to have learned, in
addition to academics? I hope they have developed into people who possess
strong minds,are effective problem solvers, and are involved citizens of
their communities. I want children to have learned to be able to stand up for
themselves because they have the skills to negotiate conflicts in a positive
and effective way. I hope they have come to care about, respect, and be
interested in other people and cultures, including those who are different
from them. I want them to know that education is power, that not knowing
something is only temporary, and that they have the ability to change that. I
hope my students think of learning as a life-long journey that can take them
anywhere they want to go as long as they keep learning. I believe in this
philosophy and pledge to make it a reality for every child- not some, not a
few, not half, but for every child I teach.