Reich College of Education

My Road to Becoming a Teacher

I am a junior who is pursuing a degree in elementary education.  One of the best decisions I have ever made was my decision to come to Appalachian State University.  I am so blessed and fortunate to attend this university, and the Reich College of Education does a phenomenal job of preparing their students for a future career in education.

Fall semester of my sophomore year, I took three of my major courses.  One was Curriculum and Instruction in the Digital Age which introduced me to all the different technologies that I can use in my classroom.  I also had Critical Perspectives in Learning and Teaching which is a foundations class that highlighted the true diversity that is in every classroom and how to reach all of my students.  It was eye-opening to learn of the ways that teachers are bias towards students without even knowing it.  There are studies that show teachers tend to call on boys more than girls and now that I am aware of this I will work hard to be more conscious of my actions as a teacher.  The third class was Psychology Applied to Teaching which was taught by a former school psychologist who did a fantastic job of explaining concepts to help us better understand our students.  She was able to give real-world examples from her experiences in school.  Alongside this class, I was placed in an after-school program to help children with their homework and tutor when needed.  This field experience gave me the opportunity to work with an English Language Learner on their alphabet, spelling and reading.   I also taught a lesson to the students about farming and how to correctly plant a seed. 

A very impactful class I have taken thus far was World Literature for Children where I was exposed to the many genres and purposes of children’s books.  I became fascinated by the many books with varying topics and messages included.  In this class we were encouraged to buy the books required to read, so I bought them and now appreciate this as a start of my own classroom library.  We were given many books to consider for our classrooms and I have compiled a lengthy wish-list of the books I hope to have for my students.  In this class we learned about children’s books, but we also learned activities to do with them and how best to engage our students.  It is very important to foster a love for reading in a child because a bad experience could lead them to begin to not like reading, closing off so many possibilities for them.  Reading is so important to me and I could not imagine not finding joy in getting lost in a wonderful story.  I want my students to have the opportunity to find the books that they love and learn the value of a great book.  My teacher for this class went above and beyond to give us ideas for our classrooms in skyping with a class who was reading the same book, Road to Tater Hill.  We had the opportunity to talk to the students about their favorite parts of the book and questions that they had.  It was wonderful to hear the same book we had been discussing in class from the viewpoint of a third grader.  I learned so much in this class that I know I will apply in my classroom.

Currently, I am enrolled in my Block One classes that include Learner Diversity focusing on English Language Learners, Foundations of Literacy, Investigating Mathematics and Learning, Integrating Technology and Creating Inclusive Learning Communities.  These classes are teaching me the content I will need to know for my classrooms, but more importantly the way I will teach this information effectively to my students.  In my literacy class, we have been discussing how interrelated many skills are to achieve the ability to read.  The beginnings of reading such as the alphabet, phonemic awareness, spelling and understanding sentence structure are needed.  I was not familiar with many of the terms and concepts used when looking at our language that I am now fully aware of what they mean and their use.  I have been learning strategies that I can use in my classroom to make the language I use accessible to students who are learning English.  I have been retaught concepts in mathematics with strategies I was not taught in school that make the material more understandable and will allow students to truly understand the math that is included in a problem.  The classes I am enrolled in now are greatly impacting the way I think about the material that I will be teaching.  I now have many strategies that I will be ready to use in my classroom to help my students learn.

Not only has Appalachian prepared me through academics, but also through the extracurricular programs I am involved in.  I am a scholar in the Appalachain Community of Education Scholars Program where we have many opportunities to work with children and local schools.  A year ago, my class of ACES took a trip to Washington D.C. to visit inner city schools.  The first school we visited was Sacred Heart Catholic School.  This school is set-up as a two way immersion bilingual school.  The students who attend will be taught both Spanish and English and the long term goal is for each student to graduate bilingual.  We were given the opportunity to go around the school and see the different classrooms and sit in as the lessons were being taught.  It was amazing to watch all of these students learning in Spanish and then switching to English.  The second school we visited was Luke C. Moore Alternative Academy.  Luke C. Moore is a high school that provides what their students need.  If a student struggles in a regular high school, then they are given a second chance here.  When we arrived we went to the auditorium where the principal and a student panel were ready for us.  Each student told their story and a little bit about themselves.  Some of the students were caught in the wrong crowd at their other schools and got into trouble while others dropped out because of pregnancies or financial reasons.  However, they came to Luke C. Moore and did a complete turnaround.  It was so great to hear from these students and the faculty we met.  They really care about their students and go above and beyond to help them to succeed and be prepared for their future.  We were also able to see the many historical monuments and visit the museums in our nation’s capital as well.

I am also Vice President of Appalachian Educators which is a club on campus made-up of future educators.  In being a part of this club I have had the opportunity to hold leadership positions that have prepared me for being a leader in my classroom.  Our club is broken up into committees who all have certain areas that they coordinate events and organize volunteers. 

One of these committees works with our outreach visits, and we have many visits throughout the year from students all across the state.  Some come for campus tours or science demonstrations with one of our professors, Jeff Goodman, or to the Eric Carle gallery and read with college students.  I have participated in many visits including a Pre-K group this past semester where I gave them a tour of all of the Eric Carle paintings and read them their choice of an Eric Carle book.  I love to see their enthusiasm in reading these beautiful books and their excitement when they see the paintings of the Very Hungry Caterpillar on the wall.  All of these visits have helped me to practice many skills I will use in my future classroom, such as, reading aloud, scaffolding material, asking critical thinking questions and keeping the students’ attention.

Appalachian Educators hosts a Shining Light Party the first Friday in December for children in the community to come eat dinner, make crafts, and take a picture with Santa.  We take their wish list of gifts and people in the community help to buy their Christmas presents that we pack in the parent's cars that night.  It is such a wonderful event and I have been able to meet some of the sweetest children through this outreach. 

A new program that has been started in the College of Education is the Four Plus One.  I have just recently applied and been accepted to be able to start my Masters in reading this summer of my Junior year and take three graduate level classes before I graduate.  Then upon my graduation with my Bachelors, I will start graduate school full-time and take classes from summer to summer.  I will graduate in 2017 with a Bachelors in Elementary Education and a Masters in Reading.  I am thrilled to be a part of this program and given this wonderful opportunity to be even more qualified to help my future students. 

Appalachian has made so many opportunities available to me to truly prepare me for my profession.  I cannot wait to be in my own classroom soon and start putting all of these skills and lessons to work.