Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Newsletter EDUC422







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Subject Area Interests of Kristen Bennett


     I have recently decided to work towards my masters degree after I achieve my Liberal Studies degree, for I wish to become a middle or high school counselor. I will be able to assist the students in their direction of their schooling or if they are having personal problems. I enjoy more administrative work. I remember when I was in high school, that my counselor created my schedule for the next semester, along with many other students she/he was in charge of. I will have many responsibilities outside of the classroom.
     Also, I have a strong desire to work within the classrooms. However, I wish to only assist within the classrooms. The responsibilities in which a teacher acquires is more than I would want to bare by myself. I feel more comfortable handling students one on one, for I feel that I can make a bigger difference in more students lives that way. Although I wish to work primarily as a counselor at a high school level, I wish to assist teachers in elementary schools. I believe young children have so much to teach the average adult in so many ways, and I believe they would be able to keep my perspective of life at a fun level and keep me young at heart.

     However, aside from taking a more administrative route in education, I have a strong interest in health education. Mostly, I like to learn more about how to simply live healthier by ways of eating and light exercise. I personally am a busy person, therefore, heavy and long workouts is difficult for me to incorporate into my daily life. I would like to educate students how to fit in a healthy lifestyle into their chaotic lives. 

     In general, my subject areas are simply about helping students, or the younger generations, get through their day to day lives the best way can with my help. I want, and will always be, a lifelong learner, it is just apart of my natural nature to do so, and who else better to learn from than the young, the ones with the biggest imagination I know of. 

 

       

 





Subject Area Interests of Rebecca Kuhl

    

I have volunteered in classes ranging from 2nd to 4th grade.  From my experience thus far I have realized that I enjoy being in the 2nd grade class the most.  There are many subject matters that interest me.  With my tutoring experience I have the most experience in teaching math and history which are the two subjects I enjoy the most.  

    If I didn't do 2nd grade I would want to do special education.  From elementary school through high school my best friends were in RSP. Hanging out with them in school I have seen them struggle with academics and watched them be discouraged on a daily basis.  I have realized knowing them that special education is not as powerful of a program as it can be.  My friend told me the other day that through her entire academic life only three teachers have ever encouraged her to continue on with school while many others said that school was just not for her.  I want to be the one that makes a difference in these students' life, the one who makes them realize anyone can pursue their dreams.

    I realize that by doing special education would, in some ways, be more work but I would be willing to do I can to get progress from these students and help get them mainstreamed.  I believe that they main problem with the special education program is that teachers teach these students as if they are stupid.  However, they are not stupid but just learn differently from the average student and need to be in this program so that they may be taught with students who learn similar to them so that they can succeed.  This misunderstanding discourages students from trying and succeeding and I want to be able to change that.  I know it takes the patience of a saint to do special education so I would volunteer in a special education class before deciding to do it, but I hope one day I can change these student's lives. 

 

 





Teacher Biography of Kristen Bennett

 

     When I was in the seventh grade I had an English teacher that guided my interest in teaching to the next level. She was so dedicated to her students learning. She gave all her students the chance to improve their learning any way possible, including freeing time outside of class to assist any needs of her students. She knew how to keep the students attention and still be a fun teacher all around she kept the students engaged with her humor and great sense of what interests a student at that age. She really did her homework. 

      However, for myself, getting more and more involved in the aspect of teaching, I have come to realize that this isn't my calling. I feel that if I took a postion in teaching that I would be taking up a spot for a greater teacher to fill. I want to be the one in the backgound, organizing the students, and putting them where they can exceed in their education to their highest level of achievement, which is more than they let themselves believe. Teachers make a difference in many students lives everyday, but I know their are people behind the scenes as well that encourage the team around them to do whatever possible to create lifelong learners out of the students, and to encourage them to work to their highest ability, which is to the sky and beyond. My view of teachers is more than what I could ever do for a student, I am so amazed by the teachers that change a student's life everyday. 

     I grew up in a small town in LA county, and had the chance to grow in a quite community. I would have to say, growing up, for me, was much easier than others, for i lived in a highly well rounded community. Many succeeded and few failed. Being an after school program leader in a low income community when I was 21 was a huge eye opener to what I could face in the future. These students were viewed and respected as a low income group instead of a group with so much potential. The way the community and the communities surrounding it spoke about the reason why the students and schools were the way they were astonished me. They don't encourage the students beyond their abilities, because they see them as almost hopeless for something much bigger than what is set before them in their homes. 

     Working within any school no matter what my position or where the school is located, I know a great teacher can make a great impact on its students and its faculty. I was told recently that "a good teacher within a bad school can make more of a difference than a bad teacher in a good school." this statement made me realize how just simple organizing of teachers in certain schools can make such a difference in our commmunities. Teachers and schools should work as a team instead of against each other. 

     My only hope for my future is that I make a difference in someone's life. However, i'm hoping much more than one person's life.  

 

Contact me at:



     

 

 




Teacher Biography of Rebecca Kuhl


    I probably was about 10 years old when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher.  I throughout my life have had friends who have struggled with school and I have always been more than willing to help them out.   I found myself enjoying teaching my peers and realized that being a teacher would be a career that I would love.  I loved it when I knew I helped my friends and when they would begin to understand the material because of the time I spent helping them.   I have always been interested in a student's growth and I loved watching my peer's progress.  I began tutoring my junior year of high school and the first person I taught was in RSP working their way to be mainstreamed.   Although it would take a lot of patience to tutor I was dedicated and wanted to see them do better.  When their grades improved I was thrilled and am even more excited that they are now mainstreamed.  I continue to tutor and now tutor many students. 

     Because my best friends were in RSP I learned two valuable lessons.  One is that we need to do everything we can to teach these students in the ways that satisfy the type of learners they are.  Second, we need to keep encouraging them and let them know they are not stupid rather just different types of learners.  I have watched all of my friends in RSP want to give up and be discouraged because they believed they were stupid and incapable. However, I think if they realize that they were indeed capable we would see a lot more RSP students graduating from college.  There is this common belief in many of these students they are doomed before they even try.  It's as if when you say to a student that they belong in RSP that you are saying to them that school is too difficult for them.  I think it is very important to let them know that they can do anything they want and are just in a program so that they can be taught the way they need to be, that it is not them but rather the way the are being taught that needs to change.

    Im unique as a teacher candidate because I have helped a wide range of learners and have seen that they all have different needs.  I know from having the friends I have the weaknesses in many schools and how a teacher can make a huge difference on a student's life.  By personally seeing students struggle on a daily basis not only in the classroom but working on schoolwork at home I know why it is important for us to do everything we can as teachers and teach students individually rather than as a whole. I am passionate about this and because of that I will do beyond what is expected from me as a teacher to help every student that walks in my classroom walk out of it with so much progression.  

Contact me at:






 







 

 




FOOTNOTE:

February 11, 2009





Image5 Kristen Bennett: personal documents

Image6 Rebecca Kuhl: personal documents





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