Alyssa Myers

EDU 201

November 14, 2013

Artifact #3

Becoming a teacher had never been a thought in my mind when I was

growing up. I wanted to be a Veterinarian and help animals…that all changed

when I started my first job with the Clark County Parks and Recreation Safekey.

Working as a program assistant for Safekey at Ruben P. Diaz Elementary School

has changed my life and future forever. Working with these kids has changed

my mind about what I want to be. I have grown so fond of my students and my

job, I have decided that I want to be a teacher because the experience I have

and working in schools is a warm environment. I love it! My students call me Ms.

Alyssa right now, soon I will me Ms. Myers and that is my goal.

By working with children from kindergarten through fifth grade, I have

learned how to adapt from kindergarten talk, and kindergarten activities, all the

way to how fifth graders interact and what their interests are. When I become a

teacher, this will help me when I am assigned a grade. I will already feel

comfortable in what I will be in for and have some activities in mind for my age

group and grade. Knowing teachers, staff, and teacher aids will benefit me if I

ever have any questions, I know they will help and support me in my journey to

become an educator like them.

 The field observation gave me more insight into special education and

pre-k. I have an understanding that the class I observed is different from regular

classes. I think the teaching environment will change based on the school and

the principal. The way the school runs, the success of the students is based on

the staff and administration.

As for my beliefs about education, I believe education should be child-

centered rather than focused on the teacher or the content taught. (p. 128) I

believe if we as educators capture the students' ideas and interest, they would

be more interested in learning and will have fun at the same time too. I believe

that is the key to reaching our students and helping them succeed if we put

them first and have knowledge of who they are; I feel that they will care about

their education if we care. I implement a progressivist teacher and believe this

could be the best way to reach our students who are struggling.

I have realized from history of education, when educators focus more on

the curricula and rules of the schools, the students success rates have dropped

dramatically. Especially when Sputnik was launched into space, we changed

our whole curriculum in the schools in the country and we focused on what was

being taught instead of focusing on the students. After that had happened, we

were called, "A Nation at Risk." This event from the past should be an eye-

opener that when we put our focus on other stipulations, success rates are low.

On the other hand, when all of our focus is on our students, success rates rise!
 In my teachings, I will implement games into some lessons so my students

will enjoy what they're learning. I think students will also benefit from learning

from each other too. Centers will be perfect to make everyone involved and

busy in class.

For the students who feel left out or shy, they are shy because they are

too uncomfortable in one big group. With centers, it will help them talk to other

classmates and eventually feel comfortable and involved instead of being left

out. This also applies to the students who don't know English; centers will bring

equity and diversity in the classroom.

Since our country is so diverse and there are many language barriers between

teacher to students, and teachers to parents, I know I will need to take a

Spanish class so that I can understand. Miscommunication can cause a lot of

discrepancies and I sure do not want that. An Interest I have is to learn sign

language. I would love to learn those two languages! It would benefit me in the

long run and make me more applicable in this career and other jobs too.

Right now I am taking baby steps into this career and I know I have a long

way to go. My journey has started by working in a school for Safekey. My next

interest and step I'm going to take are to apply to be a teacher's aide. That

would give me more experience in classrooms and work in a school full time. I

think it is the second best after being a teacher.