1. Introduction 1 Week 1: Introduction Brandy Williams EDU695: MAED Capstone Instructor: Anthony Valley November 09, 2015

2. Introduction 2 Hello, my name is Brandy Williams and this is me and my Husband, best friend, and business partner, Frank Williams.

3. Introduction 3 These are our 6 amazing children. My oldest son is Alex, he is 13. My youngest is Moses and he is 4 years old. Our middle son, in the red polo, is Ace and he is 6. My oldest daughter is Brooklynn and she is 10. My twin daughters are Emma Hope and Audrey Grace and they are 8.

4. Introduction 4 This is my passion and hobby, as well as lifestyle. My family and I live on a 79 acre farm here in Dallas, NC. I inherited this farm from my grand parents and it is the same farm that I grew up on. We work the farm daily and have 36 head of cattle, both black Angus and Holsteins. We have 26 hogs, Yorkshire, Berkshire, and Tamworth. We have over 400 chickens and 200 ducks. We also raise Alpine and Nubian goats, as well as miniature donkeys. We also have 6 potbelly pigs that are just pets. I also have 2 horses who are my babies, Luna and Eclipse.

5. Introduction 5 All About Me and My Demographics I live in a small rural community of Dallas, NC. My community is a farming community, and yes we are farmers by choice. My family has a strong connection to nature and animals, my mother is a born and bred NC farm girl. Her parents are originally from Bryson City, NC. My father is a North Carolina native as well, however he is from Cherokee, NC. My father is Cherokee Indian. My Grandfather lived on the tribal lands in Cherokee, NC until he married my grandmother back in 1947. I am of the Christian faith, brought up southern Baptist. My parents were very traditional and very strict. I attended public school until Jr. High school and then had the privilege of attending a private Christian School until graduation. My faith and religion are very important in my life as my faith plays a large role in every decision I make in regards to the way I raise my children and the career choices I make. In my home we speak Tsalagi (Cherokee) and English. My husband is Thai/American, however he does not speak Thai. We want our children to understand all of their heritage so since I do still speak Tsalagi and so does a large part of our family we have passed that on to our children, although our primary language is English.

6. Introduction 6 I chose to pursue my Masters in Education because children are my life and watching them grow, learn, and explore is my absolute passion. My specialization is in Family and Community Services as community and family play a large part in education. I have taught 2 nd and 3 rd grades as well as was a preschool teacher for 3 years. I have worked as a Para educator for children with disabilities as well as an in home care specialist that trained CNA’s on how to use assistive devices such as chair lifts. I hope by obtaining my masters and then my doctorate I can eventually open my own private school with scholarship programs for special needs students and low income families with support from grants and the community. So far my MAED has opened the door to my current position as first year teacher over the K-3 EC program at my children’s school, which I am enjoying greatly. MY GOALS PERTAINING TO MY MAED

7. My MAED Coursework Challenges Introduction 7 The greatest challenge I faced throughout the coursework was once I went back to work in the fall semesters trying to start back the school year in my classrooms and keep up with my online school work as well. This often became very overwhelming. The way I overcame this was I used all of my free time at home to study and do school work on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. The rest of the week I had to devote to grading paper and keeping up with lesson plans in my classroom. It actually worked out very well as long as I stuck to my schedule. I actually had to wait until kids went to bed as well but I was able to devote from 8pm until 1am on those nights and some afternoon time on weekends. As far as the experience sharpening my knowledge and or skills in teaching and learning it reminded me of how stressed students an become and of the true diversity of learners. It has made me a more patient teacher and I am more watchful as to the signs that my students may not be understanding or fully engaged in an activity so I may change things up to gain their attention and participation.

8. Introduction 8 My Symbolic Quote to Represent My Belief of 21 st Century Framework “Articulating the skills that matter is only the first step. States and Districts cannot assume that teachers can break out of the 20 th century box without sustained professional development (21st century skills: Book study quotes, 2011)”.

9. "We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man's estate, is the gift of education." Rousseau, Jean-Jacques and Barbara Foxley (Translator). Emile: Or, On Education. 1762. ( Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Quotes, 2012). Introduction 9 A Quote to Live By, None are Perfect, We All Need Something

10. Introduction 10 Sources: Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Quotes. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.egs.edu/library/jean-jacques-http://www.egs.edu/library/jean-jacques- rousseau/quotes/ 21st century skills: Book study quotes. (2011, November 14). Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/lmontgomery67/p21-book-study-quotes