Why Teaching?

"Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education."
- Martin Luther King Jr. 

Hello, my name is Katie and I am a recent graduate from a teaching program in southern California.  I am currently working as a Kindergarten Intervention teacher and loving every minute of it!! I feel very fortunate to have had experience student teaching in both kindergarten and fifth grade.  I gained a great deal of experience and knowledge from working in two very different classroom in two very different schools.  One of the schools is classified as Title I while the other school is located in an affluent neighborhood within the same district.  During the kindergarten placement, I had the opportunity to work with a large number of students who were learning English as a second language.  While, in the other placement  I was able to work with almost ten GATE classified students.  I could not be more grateful for my experiences working with these two classes and under two AMAZING master teachers! I learned a great deal which I have carried with me into my new job.  

Here is a little bit about why I chose to embark on this adventure of becoming an elementary school teacher. I have always LOVED school!! I never wanted to stay home and miss school!  When I was in elementary school I would always be that student who wanted to help the teacher in any way I could.  When I got a little older and began contemplating what major I wanted to purse in college I revisited the idea of becoming a teacher.  At that time, I had had some wonderful history teachers and realized that that was my favorite subject!  I decided to major in history and possibly pursue a career as a high school history teacher.  As I neared the end of my time in my undergraduate studies I began reconsidering a career as an elementary school teacher.  So I enrolled in some elementary education classes that allowed me to volunteer in local elementary schools.  After beginning some of these classes I knew that elementary education was where I wanted to be! 

I contacted some universities near my parent's home and began taking their prerequisite classes before I completed my undergraduate education.  I also needed to take the CBEST and CSET.  By the time I found out that I had completed all of my prerequisites and passed the exams, it was too late to apply for the upcoming fall term.  So I graduated and moved home, intending to take a year off and apply for the following fall. However, after some encouragement from my mom, I decided to contact the admissions offices of three local universities and see if their was any possibility of me finding a position in their fall programs. To my my amazing surprise one university had a recent opening for the fall.  I just needed to gather a few more documents in order to complete my application for consideration.  I was thrilled that I was accepted into the program! I found out Friday and began the following Monday!  It was a great program and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with such wonderful professors, teachers, and peers throughout my time in the teaching program.  

After completing the program, in which we earned and Master of Science and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, I accepted a position as a Kindergarten Intervention teacher and that has been my most recent adventure! 

In this blog I will share a few of the lessons and experiences I am gaining along the way as I continue to pursue a career as a full time elementary school teacher.  I hope you enjoy reading about some of these lessons and experiences!!