My Journey to Become a Teacher

I didn't always want to become a teacher.  I have been very indecisive in my life about what I want to be and what I want to do for my career.  Picking a career is a very big decision since that what you are going to do for the rest of your life.  If you do not like what you are doing, then you are not going to have a happy life.  With that being said, I had a lot of pressure on myself to decide what I want to be.  

In high school I took an accounting class, and I absolutely loved it.  I loved my teacher, and she said that I could make a career out of it.  She taught accounting classes at Manchester Community College and she would tell me to take her classes.  I was seriously considering it because accounting just made sense to me.  I loved doing it.  But then I started working at my mom's law firm.  I was stuck in an office all day four times a week and it was miserable.  I started to rethink my decision in being an accountant because I could not just sit down all day.  I still work at the law firm three years later and I still hate it.  Offices are not my cup of tea, and I can't sit still all day.  I am glad I got the job at the law firm because it was a wake up call for me.  I needed to think of another career choice for myself.

After I decided I did not want to be an accountant anymore, I wanted to be in the criminal justice profession.  Being a cop was always a dream for me too.  Everyone always laughed at me when I said I wanted to be one because I am small and no one would take me seriously.  I feel like that made me want to become one more.  I am close with a lot of cops in my town and my grandfather was the chief of police.  I loved going to the station and finding out what was happening.  I knew being a cop would be a dangerous job for me because I am so small, but that was what I was going to get my degree in.

Then I became a cheerleading coach for a team of eight year olds.  I literally fell in love with the kids and I started doing cheer camps for little kids and going to my moms's friends day care.  I fell in love with it.  I really connected with every child in the room every time I went there, and I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  Teaching young kids is an amazing job.  Children look up to you and are excited to learn.  I wanted to be a role model for them, and I have never been so happy to say that I am going to become a Kindergarten teacher.  It was a long journey to this decision, but I am ready.  I am excited to get my degree and make a career out of it.  I can honestly say I will be happy to go to work every day.

For the Future...

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One of my favorite things to do is think about what my future classroom is going to look like.  I love going on Pinterest and looking up first grade classroom set ups. There are so many different ideas for set ups in the classroom.  I personally believe that a nice and organized set up is important for both the teachers and the students.  If the classroom feels organized, then the students are going to feel more comfortable.  I came across this picture on the left, and I love this classroom!  It is so colorful and organized.  I feel that the classroom will be very productive in this set up.  I'm sure the students love it as well!

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       The classroom should look nice and colorful for the students.  But more importantly, it should feel personalized for the students.  There work should be hung up (pictures, drawings, writings, etc).  This is the students classroom as well, so they should be represented!  Again, I found some really good stuff on Pinterest for examples.  This picture on the right is for students birthdays.  When children are young, birthdays are a big deal to them! So there birthdays should be displayed and celebrated. 

      Pinterest is where I get most of my ideas.  It is great site because that is where most teachers post their blog pictures.  Once you click on the picture, it brings you to the blog the teacher posted it on.  But looking at these classroom organizations and ideas makes me so excited for the future.  I hope that I am in a school lucky enough to allow me to decorate it for the students.  I know that visuals are important to students, and I want to make sure the classroom is a fun and inviting environment.  I would highly recommend Pinterest to anyone!  If you want to get your ideas rolling, then that is the perfect way to start.

Technology & the Future

As a student I did not have much experience with technology.  I am from Goffstown, NH, and we really didn't use much technology in elementary school or middle school.  We occasionally went to the library, but we never really learned how to research.  In high school, we had only three mobile carts with laptops in them, so we never got to use them.  Half of them didn't even work.  

I did get more time on computers in high school.  Although, we never learned how to research properly.  We just could not use Wikipedia.  I was never taught how to know if a resource was credible or anything like that.  I suppose we were lucky enough to have a library with computers and mobile carts, but I feel that the school could have taught us more how to use them.  We never got into deep websites, only Google mostly. I think that if we did learn how to blog or use different websites other than Google to search information, then maybe we would be more technology inclined.  

I did take a class in high school called CADD.  I don't remember what it stands for, but it was basically just learning how to use a computer program to build things online.  For example, we built locker organizers and cars on the computer.  That was the most confusing class of my life.  That was the first time i ever got deep into technology.

I am planning on teaching kindergarten or first grade.  I would like my students to be into technology because that is what the world is about these days.  I hope that I am lucky enough to work in a school that has technology available.  I feel that technology, such as computers or iPads, could have benefits.  There are a lot of games children can play online or on apps that will help them with their math, reading, spelling, and so on.  I observed in a Bedford elementary school in a kindergarten classroom, and those students had an iPad cart that was available to them.  All the children did enjoy using them.  At first I thought these students are too young to be playing with these and how could this help them.  I thought that because growing up, I did not have any of that.  But, after seeing them use the apps and games for learning, i realized that it helps the students.  I hope I can bring that into my future classroom so my students can learn from many different ways, such as, technology and me.  

What Brings You to SNHU?

I am a commuter to SNHU.  I have always wanted to stay close to home, so finding a university that was in the next town over and has a really good education program was lucky.  I am a sophomore here, and this will be my third education course.  I have taken EDU 200 and 270, and neither of them really talked about technology.  I am excited to learn the new ways technology could be incorporated in lessons.  I can do basic technology, but this blogging will be new to me.  I think that I will be able to get a hang of it quick, and I hope that it can become useful to me in the future!