Running Head: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

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Autobiographical Essay Joy Black Instructor: Jonathan Lord Educ. 201: Foundations of Education Online Course, spring 2013

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Autobiographical Essay Life seems to be running circles around me. I guess it will continue to do so, but now I feel as though my purpose to teach can help slow life down. Teaching, to me, is something that I have always wanted to do, but my dreams of teaching got put on the back-burner until later in my life. For me, I finally found a way to make my dreams come true by taking the steps needed to be a successful, meaningful, and purposeful teacher. Teaching to me is more than a career; it is a path that lets me be monumental in childrens lives. My life decisions, work history, education, and personal experiences have made this path possible. Now I have the potential to be the kind of teacher I want to be and to be remembered for. Educational Background Education has given me the skills and experience needed to be a successful teacher. My education started when I was 4 years old, when I attended pre-school at Head Start in Twin Falls. I then started kindergarten when I was five at Lincoln Elementary. In first grade I went to Lincoln and Bickel Elementary, second grade I went to Bickel and Hansen Elementary, and in third grade I went Lincoln Elementary. In fourth grade I was living in Texas, so I went to a school in a very small town, and the school was called New Home Elementary, I started fifth grade at this school, but then went to yet another new school called Tahoka Elementary. I finished my entire fifth and sixth grade at Tahoka, and then I went to Ed Irons Junior High in Lubbock, Texas for seventh and eighth grade. I started ninth grade at the same school, but during the year I moved back to Idaho and went the rest of the year at Robert Stuart. Tenth grade started my journey at Twin Falls High School; however, this was also my last year in school. I quit school this year, due to medical reasons. When I was seventeen I went and obtained my GED

ABE 3 from CSI, then I got my CNA license when I was eighteen. In 2009; I started at CSI to obtain my Associates degree in Elementary Education. I have two more semesters, then I plan to transfer to ISU to obtain my Bachelors degree, then my dream of teaching will finally come true. School was not always easy, especially when I was always the new kid. Even though I had a hard time socially in school, I did well academically. It was very frustrating when I did not finish high school because I wanted to be the first one in my family to graduate. However, it did not work how I had planned and now I will do what I can to be the first one in my family to graduate from college. This will be huge accomplishment for me and finally my dream of being a teacher will come true. So while my education has not been traditional, it has given me the drive to complete my goals and strive for a better life. Work History Although education has helped me start on my goal of becoming an educator, it has not been the only thing. I would have to say all the experience I have working at different places has also increased my knowledge at what it takes to be the teacher I want to be. At the age of twelve I would say my work history started, even though it is not something you would find on my resume. At 12, I was a babysitter and had many families in Texas I babysat for regularly. When I moved back to Idaho, I still babysat, but also found my first job at a business. This job, however, was still about watching kids. I worked two days a week at the Bowladrome in the nursery watching kids while their parents bowled in leagues. This was a fun job and I continued working there until I was eighteen. The perk was the ability to take my daughter with me therefore eliminating the need for a babysitter for her. When I was eighteen I worked in a nursing home in the evenings. I worked there in the evenings so my husband could be home with our daughter. I was there for about one year,

ABE 4 working with the patients. While the work was rewarding it was also very difficult at times and heartbreaking. After working for the nursing home I went to work at an assisted living facility for a short time. It was a great job, I got to work with the elderly and make sure they were safe and got their medications. However, I soon left this job because my husbands new job took him out of town and he was no longer able to stay home with our daughter. So we decided it would be better if I stayed home with her since daycare would cost more than I got paid, so I stayed home with her for the next 2 years and let my husband be the sole provider for our family. When I was 22, I decided to get another job, because while I loved staying home and now had two children I felt the need to get out of the house. I found a job at a daycare/preschool and thought this job would be perfect for me since I would be able to take both of my kids to work with me and pay a discounted price for child care. I was hired on as a head teacher and was the one who ran the three year old class. I was able to plan activities to do with the kids and teach the kids colors, shapes, numbers, and the alphabet. It was a great place to work and I was there for five years. I left this job due to the fact my family and I had moved to Jerome. My son was starting kindergarten and I needed to be close to pick him up after his morning class every day. At the same time I left the daycare, I started to sub for the Jerome School District. I subbed in various grades K-6. I had only subbed for about only a month, when the lady who called me for my subbing jobs told me there was an opening in the developmental preschool in the district. I applied for the job and two days later the Special Education Director called and said I was chosen for the job. So then I was no longer a substitute, I was now an actual district employee. I worked under a teacher, working with children ages 3-5. These children had developmental delays and handicaps, so this was a new and intriguing experience. I stayed at this position until

ABE 5 last year, because I wanted to work in an actual elementary school. So now I work at Horizon Elementary School as a paraprofessional with children K-3rd. This change has been a great one because I have found that through this experience I can learn from the teachers I work with. I feel very lucky to be working where I am because the teachers give me a chance to teach lessons to the class, find materials or activities for the classes to do, answer any questions I may have, offer advice on what I need to know, and through all this I get to observe them when they are teaching. I think observing them is a great opportunity for me, because it gives me insight on how or what I would do in my own classroom to give my students the best learning experience I can. So while my work experiences vary slightly from elderly to children, I believe all my experiences are intertwined and have given me the way of finding myself and helping me accomplish the dreams I have made. Service and/or Extracurricular Activities My extracurricular activities involve spending time with my family, doing whatever it is we do together, whether I am helping my kids with their homework, chauffeuring them around, playing games, camping, fishing, cooking dinner, or just talking with them. Just because I am not part of any clubs, sports, or anything that would be considered extracurricular, the time I spend with my family is my extracurricular and I am very proud of it. I believe these activities, and the time I spend with my family, help me as an educator. They reveal I balance many things well and it is possible to multi-task, and get the work done in a timely and efficient way for my job, my family, and myself. Reasons for Choosing Education as a Career

ABE 6 I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a kid and this is why I am working on achieving this career. One reason is when I used to go to my friends house; she and I would play school with her sister. I would be the one to try to teach us math facts, how to write cursive, or anything else we had learned about in school. I thought it was fun to pretend to teach them, even if I didnt know all the answers. It is one childhood memory that upholds my goal of becoming an educator. Another reason I chose this career is because I had great teachers such as Mrs. Eldredge, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Squire, Mrs. Keith, and Mrs. Ballard. These are some of the best teachers I had throughout my schooling. They not only taught me, they showed me that connecting with the kids in your class makes them feel special and willing to learn. I admired these teachers, they were there for me in many ways and I hope I can be the teacher that students will remember just as I remembered my special teachers. Professional Goals My professional goals at this time are to continue working my way toward a degree at both CSI and ISU so that I can get the teaching certificate I have been working so hard to attain. I also plan on continuing to work at my job with the school district so I can gain the experience to be a great teacher like the ones I work with. I also plan in the next year or two to transfer to the other elementary school in my district to work with 4th -5th graders, so I can have experience in all the grades. I think this experience will give me a better understanding to the profession I am going into. Personally, right now, I love the 3rd grade and would love to teach this grade. However, I will not have any guarantees to teach this grade, so to continue experiencing all the grades will be beneficial to my professional goals.