Why I want to Teach

I realized I wanted to be a teacher when I went to Ukraine for Spring Break in 2008 to help teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to University students. I really enjoyed getting to interact with the students. However, my favorite part was getting to see the look on their faces when they finally understood something. It was like seeing the light bulb come on! I loved getting to show someone something new and joy when they understood. I also found that I was good at working with students.

During my last semester at Auburn University I realized I wanted to become a teacher. So I went ahead and graduated with a degree in Zoology, which worked out great considering what I wanted to teach was science. I love science and the hands on activities that come along with it. It is a subject that surrounds us in everyday life and is relatable to students’ lives.

I am getting a degree in Secondary Science Education so that I can teach 7-12 grade sciences. I would ideally like to teach middle school. I feel that at middle school age, students are still very impressionable. They can still learn to love school with the help of the right teachers. I want my students to see the importance of science and appreciate it. I also want to them to see how much fun science can be through experiments and hands on activities.

Technology in the Classroom

I believe that using technology is very important. Using computers and the technology that comes along with them are how the students are learning so that is how we should be teaching. Ideally, all students would have access to computers and there would be more that one student computer in a classroom. I plan on having a class blog set up so that parents and students have access to what is going on in class. This would also allow for another form of communication between the students and me. I would be able to post review materials, pictures and videos of the labs, students’ work, homework and projects.

I also want the students to learn to use different technology for projects, such as using Glogster instead of poster boards or using Animoto to make videos. I also want them to learn how to use Google Docs so they access their documents from anywhere and can share them with one another. Edublog would be great to use so that students can each have their own blog but I would still be able to manage it and edit it if needed. I would also love to have a couple of video recorders the students could check out to use for projects. In addition I want to use Skype to connect with classrooms and scientists all over the world. This would give students the chance to connect with many different students and would let them see what professional scientists do. Plus, I want to use videos provided by Brainpop and United Streaming for educational purposes. These Internet sites provide short videos on a variety of subjects. These videos could give the students a better understanding of what we are studying and give examples of real life application.

Teaching Style

I want to teach in a way that appeals to all learning styles so that all my students have a fair chance of learning. However, when it comes to teaching science I have found that the best learn is through experiments. In my science classes we did lots of experiments and activities that really brought the information alive. My students deserve opportunities to make projects in anyway they want, while still meeting certain criteria, so that they can use their different learning styles. I have seen this done in a 8^th grade science class and the results were amazing, the students were so creative because they got to choose how they did the project. I want my students to be free to be creative and explore and not bound by restrictions. As my favorite teacher, Ms. Frizzles says, “Take chances, make mistakes and get messy!”

Developing Problem Solvers

In so many classes today teachers just lecture from the book and the students are left to memorize the information. This is how I got through most of my middle and high school classes and I did great until University. It was not until high school that I got a few teachers who wanted their students to process the information and be able to apply to many different situations. Through these classes I learned to be a problem solver. I think we are doing our students a disservice by not making think and process information and questions. Once out of school no one is going to care how much you have memorized but they are going to care whether or not you can apply what you know to real life situations. I want my students to develop these skills from a young age so they will have an advantage later life. My classroom should be filled with thinkers not robots.

Technology I am Familiar With

• Promethean Boards
• Blogging
• Glogster
• Making Videos – Animoto
• Edublog
• Brainpop and United Streaming
• Skype
• IBM and MAC
• Podcasting

Teaching Experience

United States – August 2009 to present – substitute teaching in Baldwin County, Alabama

Ukraine – January to May 2009 – English as a Second Language teacher in Universities

India – June and July 2008 – cultural exchange experience and worked with students of various ages

United Kingdom – June and July 2006 – summer camp instructor for elementary students