Nicoline Ambe is a special education teacher. She currently works as a Resource Specialist, providing remedial and intervention services to general education students in grades K-5.
A former law professor, Nicoline’s experience in education and instruction spans 17 years. She has worked with students of different age groups, skill levels and cultural/racial backgrounds in universities, colleges and elementary schools across Canada and the US. These varied experiences affords her a deep understanding of student psyche as far as teaching and learning are concerned, as well as theoretical and practical issues in education.
As a parent and aunt to many, Nicoline understands the unique challenges that parents face, and the kind of help they need to instill academic excellence in their children.
--> Education
My journey as a teacher began in 1992 when I immigrated to Canada from Cameroon, Africa to pursue a Master’s Degree in Law at Queen’s University, Canada. That Degree opened doors and led me into a doctoral program at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada where I later obtained a Doctorate Degree in Law. It was then that I began teaching various law, political science and women’s studies classes at various Canadian Universities while simultaneously pursuing a Doctorate Degree. In 2000, upon completing that degree, I accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship as an International Law Fellow to teach International Human Rights law at American University, Washington College of Law. Thereafter, I obtained a second Master’s Degree in American Legal Studies from Whittier Law School, Costa Mesa, California.
With a growing family and an increasing focus on the American public school system, I decided to walk away from academia to teach elementary school. That was a great decision! I enjoy every minute I spend with society's "littlest" ones.
Outside my many degrees, I'm simple and down-to-earth. I resist being defined by degrees because the power of God is so much more superior than what I have. In God's eyes, I am as wretched as they come. I love to laugh and I love to give. I'm grateful for a wonderful family of 4 kids and a great husband.
--> Welcome to Growth Mentality!
As a teacher, I see parents who struggle everyday to foster growth in their children.
In today's society, parental involvement is CRUCIAL to student learning. Our children are distracted by the very things that are supposed to improve their lives. Computers, video games, TV and peer pressure coalesce to take student's focus away from learning. Each day I come to class, no matter how hard I teach, there is always a child who is not motivated to do anything, having slept at 3am watching TV the previous night.
This blog offers strategies that parents could use at home to help their kids succeed in school.
Once a week on Sundays, I post articles on topics of interest to parents who want to bolster their child’s academic performance and shake them off the status quo of limited motivation.
My philosophy:
1. Every single child has the potential to succeed, no matter their perceived or apparent 'disability.'
2. In today’s world, parents must be intricately involved in their child’s life and academics.
3. A parent does not have to be educated, or even literate, to have a child who succeeds in school.
4. How parents communicate with a child, and the kind of vision they paint for their future, is fundamental to inculcating a growth mentality and raising an autonomous child.
5. Parenting takes inordinate patience and sacrifice. Those who invest in it, win.
--> The Village!
"It takes a village to raise a child." African proverb.
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