"you STILL want to become a teacher? Even after working with these kids?!"
My response would always be, "yes, especially after working with these kids!"
Throughout my college career, I felt a little bit like a lost puppy. Everything was so awesome and interesting and cool. I was performing solo pieces. I was doing readings of my creative non fiction. I was conducting interviews for my journalism classes. I was reading amazing work by authors I could only dream of ever becoming. But I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduation. I figured it would come to me at some point- I just needed to keep exploring. All of the sudden I was a senior, and I had a long list of things I didn't want to do after college. On the top of that list was becoming a journalist, which was pretty disheartening seeing as that was my major. I needed to figure out what I was going to do. I had all these hobbies and interests, but no idea how, and honestly, not much desire, to make a career out of any of them.
All I knew was that I was happiest when I was making other people smile. I wanted to help people. In December 2011, during my senior year of college, I was accepted to an Americorps program and was informed that I would be moving to San Antonio, TX from New York in August of 2012. I had gone to college less than an hour away from my hometown, so this was going to be a huge move for me and a big adjustment.
In San Antonio, I worked as an English tutor and near-peer mentor for freshmen at an underserved public high school. It was the most challenging and grueling year of my life, and I say that even as a current graduate student. I was not only learning how to work with high schoolers and adjust to a setting I thought I had escaped 4 years ago, but I was meeting students who were encountering and navigating through issues more complex than my middle-class, college educated mind could have previously fathomed. There were many nights I came home crying. Many days I felt like I had no idea what to do. Many students I wasn't sure I was reaching. But I had never felt so fulfilled. On the days I was running on 4 hours of sleep and 2 cups of coffee and most likely wearing dirty, wrinkled clothes I threw on 15 minutes before I needed to leave my apartment, the students I was working with gave me the energy and motivation I needed to continue. They were the reason I got up every morning, put on my uniform and came in with a smile, no matter how many tears I shed the night before. By the time my term of service was done in San Antonio, I was more than ready to commit to another year. I moved to Austin, TX (super fun city, by the way) to work with a program that helps low income and first generation students learn about college access and completion. I worked as an access coach, where I taught after school classes at a high school in Georgetown, TX to a group of mostly economically disadvantaged, first generation students. I was creating lesson plans, using icebreaker activities, playing educational games, editing essays, teaching about writing, reviewing SAT/ACT materials and most importantly, acting as a role model to some amazingly driven students.
Knowing I wanted to work in an urban school, I applied to several Urban Education programs, and was thrilled to find out Penn had accepted me. While I had a rich, interesting and entertaining undergrad experience, Penn GSE informed me that I was missing a few core classes needed for my certification as an English teacher, so I deferred from the program for a year to take some online classes while I worked to save up some money. I applied and received a job at a Title 1 school in Austin, where I was a TA/ College Prep assistant. The teacher I was working with left half way through the year to have her adorable baby and because of my knowledge and experience in the college prep field, I was asked to take over the class as an informal permanent sub. So for about a semester, I taught 4 sections of College Prep to high school seniors. I was a little unprepared, a little nervous and very stressed, but I made it through and helped some really awesome kids fulfill their dreams of going to college.
I have met so many people in education throughout this journey. Prior to coming to GSE, I had worked in 3 different high needs schools. There was at least one person at each school who, when finding out I was planning to get a master's degree in Urban Ed, would say "you STILL want to become a teacher? Even after working with these kids?!"
My response would always be, "yes, especially after working with these kids!"
Seeing my students has always been the highlight of my day. Interacting with, teaching and learning alongside the students I have met has always been the easiest and most enjoyable part of my educational career thus far. Many people have asked me why I decided to go to school, particularly such an expensive school, when with all my experience, I could have just gotten certified and jumped right into teaching.
I could have done this. Easily. I could have taken part in a alternative certification program and became a decent teacher. But the wonderful students I have met thus far, facing all the challenges they do, need more than decent teacher. They need a spectacular teacher. I don't want to be decent; I want to be great. And that is why I'm at Penn GSE's Teacher Education Program. I'm not just here to learn to be a teacher. Honestly, I already know how to do that. I'm here to learn how to be an amazing teacher. How to be the best darn teacher I can be, because not only is that is what "these" students need, I can tell you from experience, it is what they deserve.
Now that you know a little bit more about me, my journey into teaching, and what brought me to Penn, hopefully you will stick around to hear about my student teaching experience here in Philly and everything in between!
All I knew was that I was happiest when I was making other people smile. I wanted to help people. In December 2011, during my senior year of college, I was accepted to an Americorps program and was informed that I would be moving to San Antonio, TX from New York in August of 2012. I had gone to college less than an hour away from my hometown, so this was going to be a huge move for me and a big adjustment.
In San Antonio, I worked as an English tutor and near-peer mentor for freshmen at an underserved public high school. It was the most challenging and grueling year of my life, and I say that even as a current graduate student. I was not only learning how to work with high schoolers and adjust to a setting I thought I had escaped 4 years ago, but I was meeting students who were encountering and navigating through issues more complex than my middle-class, college educated mind could have previously fathomed. There were many nights I came home crying. Many days I felt like I had no idea what to do. Many students I wasn't sure I was reaching. But I had never felt so fulfilled. On the days I was running on 4 hours of sleep and 2 cups of coffee and most likely wearing dirty, wrinkled clothes I threw on 15 minutes before I needed to leave my apartment, the students I was working with gave me the energy and motivation I needed to continue. They were the reason I got up every morning, put on my uniform and came in with a smile, no matter how many tears I shed the night before. By the time my term of service was done in San Antonio, I was more than ready to commit to another year. I moved to Austin, TX (super fun city, by the way) to work with a program that helps low income and first generation students learn about college access and completion. I worked as an access coach, where I taught after school classes at a high school in Georgetown, TX to a group of mostly economically disadvantaged, first generation students. I was creating lesson plans, using icebreaker activities, playing educational games, editing essays, teaching about writing, reviewing SAT/ACT materials and most importantly, acting as a role model to some amazingly driven students.
Knowing I wanted to work in an urban school, I applied to several Urban Education programs, and was thrilled to find out Penn had accepted me. While I had a rich, interesting and entertaining undergrad experience, Penn GSE informed me that I was missing a few core classes needed for my certification as an English teacher, so I deferred from the program for a year to take some online classes while I worked to save up some money. I applied and received a job at a Title 1 school in Austin, where I was a TA/ College Prep assistant. The teacher I was working with left half way through the year to have her adorable baby and because of my knowledge and experience in the college prep field, I was asked to take over the class as an informal permanent sub. So for about a semester, I taught 4 sections of College Prep to high school seniors. I was a little unprepared, a little nervous and very stressed, but I made it through and helped some really awesome kids fulfill their dreams of going to college.
I have met so many people in education throughout this journey. Prior to coming to GSE, I had worked in 3 different high needs schools. There was at least one person at each school who, when finding out I was planning to get a master's degree in Urban Ed, would say "you STILL want to become a teacher? Even after working with these kids?!"
My response would always be, "yes, especially after working with these kids!"
Seeing my students has always been the highlight of my day. Interacting with, teaching and learning alongside the students I have met has always been the easiest and most enjoyable part of my educational career thus far. Many people have asked me why I decided to go to school, particularly such an expensive school, when with all my experience, I could have just gotten certified and jumped right into teaching.
I could have done this. Easily. I could have taken part in a alternative certification program and became a decent teacher. But the wonderful students I have met thus far, facing all the challenges they do, need more than decent teacher. They need a spectacular teacher. I don't want to be decent; I want to be great. And that is why I'm at Penn GSE's Teacher Education Program. I'm not just here to learn to be a teacher. Honestly, I already know how to do that. I'm here to learn how to be an amazing teacher. How to be the best darn teacher I can be, because not only is that is what "these" students need, I can tell you from experience, it is what they deserve.
Now that you know a little bit more about me, my journey into teaching, and what brought me to Penn, hopefully you will stick around to hear about my student teaching experience here in Philly and everything in between!