Connie Conover

State:

Indiana

Years with PLS:

Since 1995

Education:

• BS, Ball State University 1971
• BA, Ball State University 1975
• Certification in Learning Disabilities added to my license from the College of Mount St. Joseph, 1988
• I have 45 hours past my Master's degree

PLS courses I teach:

• Achieving Student Outcomes Through Cooperative Learning®
• Building Communication and Teamwork in the Classroom™
• Classroom Management: Orchestrating a Community of Learners®
• Differentiated Instruction for Today’s Classroom™
• Purposeful Learning Through Multiple Intelligences®
• Reading to Learn: Comprehension Instruction™
• Successful Teaching for Acceptance of Responsibility®
• Teaching the Skills of the 21st Century®
• Teaching Through Learning Channels®

Why I love teaching PLS courses:

PLS changed my own teaching and I love sharing the skills and strategies in PLS courses with other teachers. I watch teachers leave my classes at the end of a week excited and energized! Instructing other teachers allows me to share my enthusiasm for teaching, and I have the privilege of meeting interesting, creative, caring professionals who spend a week interacting with others just like themselves. I believe PLS courses make a difference!

Teaching experience:

I have taught for 27 years in grades K-7 with the exception of first grade. I spent one year in grades 6/7, two years in second, one year in third, sixteen years in fourth, and seven years in fifth. My kindergarten experience was two summers spent teaching in a program for kindergarten children. I presently teach fifth.

What I love most about teaching:

I love the fact that every day is different. I love that each year brings new students with new challenges. After 30 years of teaching, I’m still learning, growing, and perfecting the art of teaching.

My favorite moment in teaching:

My favorite moments in teaching are when I see a student succeed or demonstrate their own personal “aha” moment. The most recent moment was a young girl writing a letter to me in her Reading Response Journal. She explained that you really like the character after you meet her. This reluctant reader had just said to me that she finally understood what it is to be part of the story!

Personal information:

I love reading, scrap-booking, shopping, chocolate, and IU basketball. (Not necessarily in that order!) I have two grown daughters. One daughter has a family and a teaching career in the Goshen, IN area. The second daughter is an attorney in Indianapolis. My husband and I enjoy traveling especially when it involves visiting our two grandchildren.