When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt.Henry J. Kaiser (1882 - 1967)
I hope my work speaks for itself...
Well, I have to tell you about my first week of classes! What a weird semester I am going to have. As I already told you, my monday class only meets until the end of september. Great! My Tuesday night class, Linguistics with the Tree Killer, (more on that later) only meets 5 out of 11 weeks and my Thursday class of course meets every time with tons of work. My Monday and Tuesday classes are being taught like an independent study class. The Tree Killer was telling us that this semester has the most students in Linguistics that ever has been. It's been independent study because it's only ever been but just 1 or 2 students. Oh well. She totally outdid herself this past week. I ususally see her walking down the hall with 2-3 paper grocery bags full of handouts but we were all shocked when we walked in and saw 6 bags full of handouts for the first night of class! I had to get a seperate folder just for her handouts in addition to the one I have in my spiral notebook. oh well....
I have tons of homework to do this week and am only half way done. I had to write a self-assessment paper and will attach it if you would like to read my life story and philosophy on education.
Peace out....going to help Adam with the yard
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Self-Assessment (I'm warning you it's long!)
Self-Assessment Paper
My name is Jessica Q. I am the oldest child of three. I am 26 years old. I have a sister, Jenny, who is 24 and a sister, Shelby, who is 8. I am married to Adam Q, age 26. We were married on May 21, 2005. I have a wonderful Mother-in-law, Father-in-law and 2 brothers-in-law. I grew up in Lubbock, TX most of my life. When I was in the 4th grade, my family moved to Flower Mound, TX. After one year, we moved back to Lubbock, TX because my Mother did not want to raise us away from our extended family that was here in Lubbock. Moving back was a great thing. I was raised around my Grandparents, Cousins, Aunts and Uncles. They were able to help me understand at an early age that family is the most important thing in life. We were always getting together for barbeques, birthdays and holidays. I love having a big family, 25 of us in all. We are still very close as we continue to grow, adding husbands, wives, nieces and nephews.
In life, my hobbies include being with my family and friends, reading and sleeping. I enjoy reading for fun, when I get the chance. I recently finished reading Tuesdays With Morrie. Every teacher should read it because it’s a great story of a relationship between a student and a teacher. I also enjoy playing poker. This is a new hobby of mine. My husband and I play every Sunday evening with friends. It’s an interesting hobby and one that challenges my brain unlike school work and we enjoy it. I say I enjoy sleeping because I value the time I get to spend in bed on Saturday mornings watching TV.
Like most girls, my work experience began when I started babysitting the kids next door. I would keep them for a few hours at night and soon learned that I got paid well to do this. All I had to do was watch TV while the kids slept. It was easy money! I started contributing to my retirement when I was 15. I got a job working at a brand new Italian fast food-like place in Lubbock called Fazoli’s. I enjoyed working there as a “bread girl” but the only drawback was I smelled pasta no matter where I went. The smell stuck in my nose and it soon turned into a not so fun thing. I worked there for a short time and moved on to work at United Supermarket. I started out bagging groceries and enjoyed doing that. I got a good tan in the summer and kept my skinny figure by being up and moving all the time. I worked for United for most of my high school career and began checking at the register my senior year.
High school was a normal experience for me. I was a good student; made mostly A’s and B’s. I was in the band all 4 years. I enjoyed playing my clarinet but enjoyed being on the flag line more. I loved the challenge of something different and that not everyone could do. I was soon spinning like the seniors and did very well. I was a captain on our flag line my sophomore year and loved every minute of it. Fall Guard was fun but Winter Guard was much more exciting! We got to travel to places like Dallas, Houston and even Ohio to compete against other guards. We were pretty good and it was a fun time in my life.
I entered college at Texas Tech University in the fall of 2000 as an English major. Following my experiences in high school, I joined the Goin’ Band from Raiderland. I was on the flag line there also and joined the band sorority, Tau Beta Sigma. Through this organization, I met my husband and my life long friends. Two years into college, I decided to change my major to business. Don’t ask me why, it seemed like a way to make a lot of money. After a year of business classes my third year at Tech, I decided that was not making me happy and left Texas Tech University.
During my time off, I worked a lot. I began working at Bath and Body Works and soon moved up in that company. I was encouraged by my mother to return to school and in the spring of 2006, I enrolled at South Plains College. I knew my passion was to be a teacher, and I was going to work toward that with everything I had. After taking every education class I could at SPC, I enrolled at Wayland Baptist University. That was the best decision I could have made. I am in my senior year and am so glad I went back to earn my degree in teaching. If I had not, I would not have been doing what I was meant to do, and that is to teach.
I have substitute taught and worked teaching an enrichment class and know this is where I am suppose to be. I will student teach in January of 2009 and graduate in June of 2009. I am very excited and feel that my determination and perseverance have help me get to where I am now.
When it comes to traveling, I am like most people I have traveled to all the states surrounding Texas. I have also traveled throughout the south and most of the 13 colonies. During my senior year in high school, I had the opportunity to travel to the US Virgin Islands to watch my Aunt and Uncle get married. It was a very unique experience that I wish to repeat some day. My husband and I took a cruise for our honeymoon that took us to places such as Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Belize, and Costa Maya, Mexico. On our trip we saw the aftermath of such hurricanes as Frances that hit in the beginning September of 2004 and Ivan that hit toward the end of September 2004. Grand Cayman was the worse hit and we could still see the small Caribbean island struggling to get back on its feet as a tourist destination.
When it comes to my work ethic and what I want to accomplish as a teacher, I am very hardworking and determined to succeed. Through my work at a local elementary school, I was able to attend many workshops that contribute to my understanding of teaching students. I have been privileged to hear speakers on topics including differentiated instruction, motivating students, new technologies, behavior management and special education programs. One of the conferences I went to last summer was about Positive Behavior Support (PBS), a program that motivates students to understand that their behavior contributes to their education. One of the speakers trains orca whales and has developed a motivational speech that pertains to students and animals. The speech was mainly about behavior and rewards in ‘training’ students. I was very interesting and I learned so much from his experience with whales.
Through my experiences I have learned that to be a good teacher you must be willing to try new things. To be a great teacher you must be innovative by creating challenging experiences for your students to discover learning. My philosophy is that of a progressive nature. I follow the theories of Dewey and Piaget. I believe children should have the opportunity to learn by doing and interaction. I believe that I can give my students information but until they do something with it, they do not fully understand it. I will create an understanding for my students by giving opportunities to interact with each other and the concept.
I also follow a constructivism approach in that my students are partners in their education. I will guide them toward understand by helping them form their own understand and opinions about their learning. I feel it’s very important for students feel they have the freedom and knowledge to come to their own conclusions and formulate their own understanding of material. They will achieve this in my classroom through free discussion and thinking. All viewpoints are important to me and will be encouraged in my room.
Many characteristics come together to make an impactful teacher. I feel that my personality traits will make me a good teacher. I am energetic, fun, spontaneous and creative. My personality will be my flair and finesse that my students will enjoy about being in my classroom. I will be open to new methods and innovations to teach my students. My goal in teaching will be that my students will succeed. Every child can succeed and any achievement, big or small, will be celebrated.
I am especially open to new technologies that will enhance my teaching. I enjoy working with programs, such as, Microsoft PowerPoint, Publisher and Word to create exciting lessons and handouts for my students. A skill that I cannot wait to use in my classroom is creating Web Quest activities that use the internet as a tool for gathering information and constructing a project. With the invention of things such as Smart Boards, new projectors, Dana Carts and CPS quizzing tools, classrooms have the opportunity to utilize technology that will equip our students with experiences that will benefit them in the coming years of their lives.
The preparation I have received from Wayland Baptist University has prepared me to be a great teacher. With graduation just around the corner, all of my hard work is coming to a great culmination that will springboard me into a life long career of teaching and learning. Soon I will be doing what I was meant to do in life, teaching others.
