Thursday, August 21, 2014

Practice Blog

Outline

I. Background
A. Who I Am
B. Where I am from
C. Education
D. Family
E.A Few Interests
II.Why I Chose Teaching
A. Rough Start
B. Soul Searching
C. Answering My Calling
III. Being A Teacher
A. 21st Century Teachers
B. Special Needs NEED Love
C. My Passion
D.Room For Improvement

Me and my brother Robert, a special needs student



Hello Everyone! Welcome to my EDM310 blog page. My name is Candace Harris, and I am a junior transfer student at the University of South Alabama. I am a 2012 graduate of Moss Point High School located in Moss Point, Mississippi, where I currently reside. I am also a 2014 graduate of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where I received my Associate's of Arts this past spring. After obtaining my Associate's degree, I rediscovered my passion for learning, and I decided to continue my education at the University of South Alabama. Now, I am extremely determined to set a great example for my younger brother and sister, who are both middle school students that look up to me. My older sister has already shown me an excellent example by obtaining her Bachelor's of Science degree, now I plan to follow in her footsteps as I obtain my degree. A few of major interests of mine are health and fitness, hair and skin care, and spirituality. I also enjoy art and poetry so my head is usually in a book or on my phone on Pinterest viewing new creations. I consider myself to be very family oriented, and I make sure that I do whatever I can to make things easier on them.

Since childhood, I have always known that I was born to lead and that no matter what path that I chose to take, I would do great things. However, I did not know until my midway through my freshman year of college that the path that I would choose would be what it is now. When I began college, I thought that my destiny was to become a doctor; however, after a rough freshman year as a Pre-Med major, I was at a breaking point. I had job shadowed behind doctors, as well as taken math and science classes, and I just knew that the medical field was not for me! My gpa was decent enough for the medical field, and I could pass the classes; however, I knew deep down in my heart that being a doctor was not for me. So, I began to soul search, and after much searching, I felt that I had finally found the perfect career for me: an elementary educator. Now, the problem I faced was telling people. I was quite nervous to tell my parents because all while growing up they encouraged me to pursue a medical career, and I felt that choosing teaching would only disappoint them. So, as my sophomore year began, I finally broke the news to my family, and to my surprise, they were very supportive and still motivate me to this day to chase after my goal of being an elementary teacher. Now with their support, I plan to finish my last two years strong with a high grade point average, as well as a great reputation that will help me in my future path as an educator.

Currently, I am a K-6 Elementary Education/Special Education major, and I am beyond excited to see what the future holds for me in the field! I feel that in the 21st century, passion, patience, and sincerity are the most important qualities that an educator should have. Think about it, who wants a teacher that lacks passion for knowledge and does not want to better his or herself for the sake of their students? I think no one does. Educators should always be willing to step outside of the box. The more innovative, the better. Students now a days are not being taught the same narrow minded way that a lot of the previous generations were brought up with. They are branching out more and more ant I feel that teachers in this day and age must follow some trends, in order to continue to impact students.

As far as passion goes, my passion lies in special education, and I would love to get better at working with special needs students. My younger brother is a special needs child who suffers from Mitochondrial disease, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, and Autism. I would hate to think that his teacher did not care enough about making sure that he soaks in all the information that he can. After being educated in a school system in which so many of my teachers lacked passion, I see the importance in truly loving what you do. I plan to be a teacher that constantly improves; there is always room for improvement, and if not, then I will make room, especially for my skills with special education students. My brother is definitely my biggest motivation, and I cannot wait to teach other children that deserve as much love and attention as he does! Special education definitely is my soft spot, but the truth is, I love children in general because they truly are the future. I am that one person who goes to a park and gets all the kids involved in a huge game of tag or hide-and-go-seek, and I plan to always be that person. I hope that through this class, my classmates and I are able to gain knowledge that not only helps us pass with an A, but that we gain knowledge that we can utilize to better our student's future educational experiences. I hope this semester is a great one and I can not wait to begin more posting.
my brother Robert & I



Until Next Time,

Candace Harris

1 comment:

  1. Glad to know that I am not the only one in th class that is a transfer student. I think you will be an excellet teacher.

    ReplyDelete