First Post

My name is Angela Drake. I am a third grade inclusion teacher at Gilliard Elementary School in Mobile County. It is located on Dauphin Island Parkway. My class consists of mostly special education students. I have taught inclusion classes each year that I have taught school. I have been a teacher for eight years. I taught for five years in Pensacola, Florida, in an inner city school. I taught for one year in Baldwin County. This upcoming school year will be my third year in Mobile County. I cannot wait to teach with my friend, Alphonse Allen, for a third year in a row!!!!

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Education in Instructional Technology, both from the University of West Florida. I started working on my doctoral degree in Instructional Design, but decided to put this on hold to focus on family more and to look into National Board Certification Candidacy.

After graduating from high school I went on to college to pursue a degree in Court Reporting. Just before finishing that degree, I realized that I did not want to spend the rest of my life in that field. I was working for an attorney at that time and did not enjoy the atmosphere. My mother and grandmother were teacher's aide's for a special education school in Pensacola and I enjoyed being around that environment. Although I did not take that route in education, I chose to go into elementary education.

I am looking forward to using technology quite a bit more this coming year in my classroom to enhance the learning environment for my students who are falling behind in the system.