EXPERTISE
Student-Centered Instruction Lesson Plans
Real-World/Project-Based/Inquiry-Based
Measurement & Evaluation
Reflective Teaching
21st-Century
FACULTY PROFILE
"Teaching at Governors State University has been fulfilling for me professionally and personally. Working with non-traditional education students has been enjoyable. I was the first to graduate college in my family and I worked all four years of college until I started student teaching. I understand how hard it is to work and accomplish academic obligations and aspirations. Education has gone through some tremendous changes with the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards being implemented. I’ve found these new challenges to be professionally motivating and has encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone which is what I ask of my students to do as well. Teaching my students to become reflective learners so they can help future generations to become global citizens is one aspect of teaching that I find rewarding.
I graduated with a B.A. in Elementary Education from Northeastern Illinois University. I then completed my M.A. in Teaching and Leadership from Saint Xavier University. I began my career teaching Kindergarten at Child Care with Confidence in Lincolnwood for 2 years. Next I taught Kindergarten at Everett Elementary School in Lake Forest where I became Lead Kindergarten Teacher for 2 years. I mentored new Kindergarten teachers, organized “brainstorming “sessions with our neighboring Preschool teachers, helped develop testing procedures for early admission to Kindergarten, and helped administered the test. I also helped to organize the Lake County Kindergarten Conference.
From there I moved and began teaching at Flossmoor School District 161 in Lake Forest. I taught Kindergarten for one year and then spent the rest of my career in Flossmoor as a Second Grade Teacher until I decided to stay at home when my daughter was born. I helped develop the reading curriculum and revamped some of the science curriculum. I published Motivating Students to be Self-reflective Learners through Goal-setting and Self-evaluation in support of Master Degree. My students participated in lessons that were used to compile information for the book. I was involved in helping to write a collaborative paper with colleagues: Modifying Curriculum in Inclusive Settings: A Case Study in Successful Team Collaboration which was presented at the 1997 National Reading Conference.
I began my next career with Governors State University in January of 2011. I’ve taught EDUC-3320-01 The Future of American Education, EDUC-3321-01: Effective Teaching for Diverse Students and Teaching Laboratory, EDUC-4404-01 Educational Psychology in Action, ELED 4460-01 Methods of Teaching Elementary School Science, ELED-4402 - 01 : Teaching Laboratory II, EMED-3425 - 01 : Professional Development Seminar II, EMED-4999 - 04 : Field Experience III Student Teaching, and was a guest lecturer for ALTC601-Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) in the content area of science.
My community service at GSU happens every Spring with “Let’s Go Science”. Students from neighboring schools participate in interactive science experiments with my pre-service teachers who plan a discrepant event as part of an assignment. The experiments are "hands-on" as the students manipulate science materials, explore, ask questions, and observe the properties of science. The students then participate in “Let’s Go Science” in the Performing Arts Center. I also attend workshops and seminars at GSU and in the community to keep updated in the field of education."
- Judy Cunningham