Hello and welcome!
My name is Jesika Miller; I am a teacher candidate trained through the College of Education at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. I started my journey with GCU in September of 2013 and graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Secondary Education with an English Emphasis in April 2018.
As a student at Grand Canyon University, I completed a number of courses based in my content area including:
- Shakespeare
- The Novel
- English Grammar and Linguistics
- British Literature
- American Literature
- English Composition
- English Rhetoric and Analysis.
- Classroom Diversity
- Classroom Management
- Instructional Technology
- Adolescent Literacy
- Reading and Literacy Strategies
- English as a Second Language Instruction
- Special Education
- Educational Psychology, Educational Sociology
- Curriculum Development and Assessment
- and Data-Driven Pedagogy and Analysis
During my education-based courses, I completed well over 100 hours practicum observation and participation in a variety of settings including:
- Pueblo City Library through their English Language Learners Adult Education Program
- Colorado State University-Pueblo through their English Language Learners Program
- Carlile Elementary School through their ELL program and their Autism Resource Room
- Central High School under the Science and ELA departments
- East High School under the ELA and Drama departments
I completed my Student Teaching Semester under Terri Pacheco, the ELA Department Head at East High School during the Spring 2018 Semester where I spent a great deal of time developing units, implementing those units, assessing those units, and reteaching some aspects of those units as necessary. I also participated in state-level standardized test proctoring, regular Professional Learning Community meetings, regular faculty meetings, and all teacher in-service days. Following my final observation and while completing my contact days, I sat with other teachers in the department including Jacqueline Riggs who serves as East's drama teacher as drama and performance are two topics that also sit close to my heart.
On a more personal level, I graduated from Sand Creek High School in Colorado Springs, CO, in 2009. I currently live in Pueblo, Colorado, with my high-school-sweetheart-turned-husband and our three beautiful children.