Ruining the Best

When I read "What the Data Won't Show," a blog post written by Susan Lazear, I was horrified. She starts to describe this striving student, Autumn. Autumn is very sweet, wants to become a nurse, but just can't pass a standardized test. She works with Autumn time after time, but Autumn continues to fail the test. Her score is consistently within 25 points of passing, yet she cannot break the passing score. She comes within one point of the passing score, yet she is not able to pass.

Autumn did get to walk with her graduating class, but she did not receive a diploma. This drives me insane! She was within ONE point of the passing score, yet this holds her from going to strive in her future. She is held down by this test, taking it over and over again. She even considers giving up to get a GED instead- because of this one test.

Anxiety sets into Autumn's system, she is put on medicine, and still cannot pass this test. We can obviously see what negative effects that these tests have on students. Why are we holding them back from having a successful future because of ONE point? Why are we destroying their personalities and giving them mental health issues because we test them over again until they pass? Can't we test for progress and not just one standard?

This system is frustrating and the consequences are very real for many students like Autumn. I guess my question is why can't we all decide together on a better testing system? They have no effect on the students' future... If a student cannot pass this test and wants to go into construction or become a personal trainer, what difference does it make? They are not going to use this in their lives... Sure, they need to know how to read and write and do basic skills, and show IMPROVEMENT. But one standard to set back all of these striving students...we might be hurting more than helping.

Here is a LINK to a small article about test anxiety... Which can be developed because of these tests, as we see in Autumn's case.

Standing Up to the Test

In "You Gotta BE the Book" Wilhelm wrote about a time that he stood up to the faculty and staff. They were talking about standardized testing- he decided to go on a total rant of why students cannot be fairly evaluated by these tests. He leaves off with the thought of why a majority of educators agree to still use standardized testing.

I personally think this is because teachers don't want to spend extra time to evaluate the students themselves. It is an easy way out- just give all of the students a test that they do not have to grade. Only teachers that are really invested in their students do not want to use them. We need to start rising up and get rid of these things! (see how easy it is to rant about testing)

He goes on to talk about teachers being researchers. Teachers learn from research done in the past, but they learn the most from their own classroom. "They are continually evaluating, interpreting, and making decisions..." Wilhelm shares his personal experiences of how teachers are constantly doing research... All students are different, year after year and we learn something from each of them. He shows that teachers must go beyond teaching for comprehension and these tests, and they gain skills as they do so.

Why can't we use these skills to evaluate our students' progress? We can clearly see that it is an unfair system. Teachers themselves have greater capability to evaluate progress than a sheet of bubbled in letters. If all teachers decided to invest their time and skills into their students, I feel that we could get rid of this system. This might result in greater improvement in all students.

Here's a LINK to a great read about standardized testing.

Illustrated Works

In "You Gotta BE the Book" Wilhelm brings in illustrated works for students to read. They became very interested in them, wanting more to read- even though before they did not have much interest in reading. He has a great thought written in his journal, "I just have to wonder if school conveys a very limited view of literature that does not include picture books and comics, and if this limited view of literature contributes to how bummed out and distanced many of my student readers become from literature and the literary experience."

They were reading "Maus" which was actually the common read this year at WMU. I felt very alike the students that read it in this book. I remember thinking, "Wow! This book is amazing. I actually understood what was going on. I also learned more about history than in my history class." The illustrations helped to engage me and helped me to understand the story. In comparison, I read many text books without pictures in history, and learned much less.

Going back to the thought he had written in his journal... We are not exposed to this type of literature in school as much as we should be. It took me until my freshman year of college to read a book like this. And I wish I had read many more WAY earlier.

The students in this book felt this same way. He then takes this style of literature and asks the students to illustrate different stories. This is a great idea to get the students thinking about how all stories would look if they were illustrated.

Here's a LINK about the benefits of illustrations :)

Drama Usage

While reading chapter four in "You Gotta BE the Book" I really connected with the section on reluctant readers. My first years of high school, I was a slow reader, had not much interest in reading, and did not connect reading to myself as a reader. I saw reading as something required. This section talks about students alike how I was. Using drama helps a reader to connect the dots in reading.

I became more interested in reading when I class I took used a LOT of drama. We read everything out loud and acted them all out. I began to understand what was happening in the plays and could connect it to myself as the reader. Because of this, I began to be able to think about my reading more creatively rather than just reading when it was assigned.

This section talks about how drama is used to build relationships with characters, taking other perspectives, and thinking about the setting and world of the story- basically engaging students in the story. It really helps lower level students, like myself, to succeed and get something out of the reading for themselves.

Another section also discusses passive reading, which ties in directly with this idea. Wilhelm states that "students' past reading experiences and schooling appear to have given them a reductionist, information-transmission view of reading." Incorporating drama with these students helped them see that the book has a message for each individual and gave them a better experience with reading overall.

Wilhelm gives many examples of drama he used in the classroom- I am putting a few here to reference at a later time and to show what he experimented with :)

1. Revolving Role Drama: take on role of a character; switching roles with a partner
2. Dramatic Play: use a prompt from the story, enact what would happen
3. Guided Imagery: imagine scenes and write about them as they mentally picture them (with guide of visual description/musical accompaniment)
4. To Tell the Truth Game: students play character roles and are interrogated by "judges" about their character lives; who becomes the most convincing character? they win!
5. Missing Scene Scripts: identify what is missing from the story and have students elaborate on what could be happening in these gaps

Here's a cool LINK of why we should use drama texts in the classroom (so we can exercise the creative side of the brain!)

Comparing Author to Reader

In the same chapter as my post before, one specific section really struck me. Comparing and evaluating yourself as a reader and the author.

The students were asked to do this as their last step. Ron saw that when his thoughts on reading differed from others, he could see a whole new way of the reading. When he thought the same as someone else, it was like "being fans of the same winning team." Due to this self evaluation, he could see how to collaborate with others. He stated that how people read books shows what we care and think about.

That statement is very accurate- most students (or teachers) do not realize this... People do not take away the same things from reading, nor should they have to. It is about self-discovery, which Ron did a lot of here.

Joanne wrote about the author in her journal, mostly questions. She starts to question the author and where she comes from, comparing her thoughts and feelings for and against what the author believes. Many students do not read their assignment and start thinking "is the author wrong?" like Joanne did in her journal. We do not give students a reason to do so because they are just reading for information on our quizzes and tests. Isn't seeing these journal entries much more rewarding to us then marking a 10/10 on a quiz with 10 questions and 10 correct answers?

This really amazed me as I read; the steps he had to take in order to get the students to this place of self-discovery and gave them a voice. How can we do this? It will be a process but we need to start changing the teaching and evaluating of reading one teacher at a time. If we as teachers begin to give students a voice and take away what is important to them, we will be producing smarter, happier kids. (proof that they will be happier is in this LINK)

Research & Connect

Wilhelm really knows what he's doing... Well, he probably didn't feel that way in the beginning. We all start somewhere. As I continued to read his book, many things popped out at me. Here's a big one:

His "Think-Aloud Protocols" really interested me. Having students talk about what they were reading helps students to express themselves and what they take from their own reading. He discovered that you had to prompt the students to stop and talk at certain parts of the reading in order to get better responses.

These were the dimensions he named as he worked with students and connecting them with literature:

1. Entering the story world
2. Showing interest in the story
3. Relating to the characters
4. Seeing the story world
5. Elaborating on the story world
6. Connecting literature to life
7. Considering significance
8. Recognizing literary conventions
9. Recognizing reading as a transaction
10. Evaluating an author, and the self as reader

It is very intriguing to me that he named these specific steps and categorized them into evocative, connective, and reflective- the process of students' thinking. These 10 steps can be used to make assignments (I'm definitely stealing some ideas). They had commentary as they began the first two steps, engaging them in the story. I feel that this is a fair way to evaluate reading... Their own thoughts and feelings about what they decide is important to them. I do not feel as if the stages were rushed either, but they had space to choose their own pace. This whole project is basically a prompted journal, and he received very intellectual responses- ending with an evaluation of their own self

More importantly, I feel that I learned more about how to connect with students... As he studied his students he became more aware of how to work with them. They began to exceed his expectations and connect with him. When you take the time to study your students as you teach them, you are able to discover who they are as a person and not just a face in your classroom. I know I cannot take the time to do such an extensive process with all of my students, but I can definitely use some of the ideas. Here is a LINK of other ideas to connect with your students: my favorite is the "first five minutes"!

Validity of Reading

In "You Gotta BE the Book" Wilhem makes us think about how reading can be valid. He states how reading can "lead to self-discovery and learning." Is this what makes reading valid? I think that if students read and get something good for themselves out of it, it is very valid. Not everyone will get the same piece of information out of a reading as the student next to them.

I think the harder question is how do we get students to the point where they will do the reading for themselves? According to Hobson in THIS ARTICLE, only 70% of students in college will not do the assigned readings. If more of these students had been taught that all reading can apply to them in some way, I'm sure that percentage would be more like 50%.

If the students ARE reading but still not getting anything from it, is it valid? My thoughts on this are maybe too simple... You have to get something, just SOMETHING out of it to be considered valid. If they realize this at a younger age, they will be more likely to want to read what is assigned. Here are some of my ideas:

Take away reading quizzes; start a journal of application; talk about things important to the students; let them read on more of their own schedule- due dates have to keep a class together, but not a chapter per day; talk about how the readings make the students feel

The article I mentioned above talks about teaching in college, but has some good ideas you could apply in high school as well. One idea being that you make sure texts are being used how they were intended- this is important if you are using curriculum from another teacher. Another good point is that not every class needs a textbook- teachers need to think out of the box to engage the students. Maybe choose smaller texts instead- typically speaking, it is easier to connect to a novel or article than a huge textbook with small writing.

Encouraging students to apply reading to their own life will be the challenge I take out of this. Maybe not get so frustrated with a student who said they didn't have time to read, but encourage them to catch up and work with them so that they do not get discouraged and give up. I want to remember this especially when I am first starting a class; it starts with the first impression you make with a class.

Let Them Read

As I started to read "You Gotta BE the Book" what really struck me was aesthetic reading. Here he talked about how he had not realized that students were just reading for information. This is how students become bored of the reading. We have been brought through high school skimming for useless information and not really required to read the actual story. It shocked me that teachers would not realize that is why students are not interested in reading on their own.

I did not enjoy reading because we had to read books that were just to get the information for filling out packets or basic questions. He journaled about one student who read for fun at home, experiencing the aesthetic side of reading. This is when they get to live through their reading and the stories. I wish that I had been taught in a different way to engage in the stories, much like young kids do. We grow up loving books and wanting to read more...maybe just to avoid going to bed, but even the girl he read to knew the story as if she was actually part of it... Then we stop doing this, and do more searching for information.

He then talks about how Rosenblatt never said specifically what strategies to use in engaging students with the reading. This has been a struggle for me as I read through books like this. They tell you what not to do, but not specifically what TO do. I share this frustration with him a lot! You go on to learning what works best for others and yourself in your own classroom. I plan to use his two big points: teaching with clarity of purpose and being more social in the classroom. They are vague, but reminds you that the students need to know what to get out of the reading and why they are doing it. It also helps them to engage with each other, giving them time to experience the reading with others and connecting to it. This way students can get much more out of the reading, "a need to learn relationally from characters, author, and experts through their transactions with various texts."

Here is a LINK that talks about why students are bored in class... This can connect with reading as well. It talks about sitting too long and the teacher talking too much- this can be avoided by using more social work in the classroom. It also talks about directing too much, and observing too little. This can also be a factor of why students aren't living through their reading- because teachers aren't giving them the space to be their own person and think their own thoughts.

In Clearing the Way,  this quote really captured my attention. "As English teachers our major responsibility is to enfranchise student in our classes to such a degree that they think of themselves as writers, as those who use written language to both discover thinking and communicate thought, who boldly try varied forms of writing, using them to meet their needs." I thought that it was a little overwhelming... Like who am I to influence students in a way that makes them want to think of themselves as writers. What if I fail and turn students away from reading and writing. What if I don't equip my students with these 'varied forms of writing' in order to make each of them successful?
As I continued to read, these thoughts calmed. Romano gives plenty of ideas to begin to give these varied forms of writing... He says we are responsible to allow the students to engage their creative side throughout their writing processes. The many ways he discusses need to be incorporated in lesson plans about the reading you are working with. He talks about how writing about a dramatic encounter leads students to creative and realistic thinking. Prose is also another way, which takes many forms such as journal entries, profile of a character, editorials, prequels or sequels. Songs can be written to be more engaging and fun. Poetry gives students a chance to write in a way that they may want to- many poetic forms. This LINK shows many possibilities for poetry writing, and some books that you could use while teaching poetry.

I realized that there are endless possibilities when it comes to writing; I will just have to learn as I progress with each student. Using a variety of writing styles aside from essays will help to engage students in their work and make them excited to do more. You just have to keep them on the edge of their seat!

Conferencing

After I read Clearing the Way chapter 7- "The Crucial Role of Conferencing," I realized how much conferencing mattered in my own development as a reader. 

How to conference: sit down next to your student (not in front of, to avoid eyes on the student), talk about how their writing is going, read through it, do not correct the grammar or spelling, work on pointing out what is powerful and what they can focus on in a positive way, be available to talk to the students about their writing when they need it.

This LINK talks about the process of conferencing. At the end it also has sheets attached to use in order to keep track of the conferences you have with each student. (Great idea for younger kids.)
Romano works with one specific student on a poem she is trying to write throughout her entire process. Due to how he pointed out the strong points of her poem, good work choices, and gave feedback in a constructive way, she continued to come to him to seek advice for her writing until it was a finished piece. When you do conferencing this way, it encourages students and makes them feel good about what they are writing.

In my AP English class, I was first exposed to this conferencing. I had never met with any teacher to go over my writing; I just wrote, turned it in, and got a grade. When I was able to meet with my AP English teacher, I started to improve my writing skills. I learned how to pick out the strengths of my writing and how to bring them out. Conferencing definitely is something that I want to include in my teaching career.

Cardboard Boxes

I read Cajas de Carton by Francisco Jimenez, and really enjoyed it. The narrator was originally the one that did not want to leave because he was comfortable with his home in Mexico. They headed off to find work elsewhere and Roberto was upset that he would no longer go to school while the narrator was able to. As soon as the narrator had become excited about schooling and the progress he was making there, they packed up to leave.

This is a good aspect on how teaching English as a secondary language can be. The teacher has to be very patient and willing to build a relationship with the student. In this story he struggled to catch up on new English grammar due to the fact that he did not hear English very often. His family spoke Spanish to each other as well. As a teacher, you have to understand that students may speak a different language in their home and you need to be able to connect and understand them. (Here's a LINK to a cute website of games for ESL children). 

Teachers need to build a relationship and be familiar with other cultures, respecting their language, and engaging them in different ways. This is mentioned in Reading, Writing, and Rising Up as well. When you scold a student's writing or speech that is practiced within their own home, you can cause a student to be silenced. Once you silence a student in their writing, it is hard to open them back up again. Being aware of different cultures and understanding that everyone comes from different backgrounds helps to bridge this gap.

This short story visited how the narrator and Mr. Lema connected. Mr. Lema took extra time to help the student to be successful because he was not as familiar with English as the other students may have been. His background was much different but Mr. Lema supported him, and even went above and beyond saying that he will teach him to play the trumpet.

Advice learned: be open, be honest, be aware, be prepared

Being the Teacher's Shadow

Today I went to Portage West Middle School and shadowed an English Language Arts teacher. She is primarily sixth grade but also teaches one class of seventh graders. 

When I arrived at the school I signed into the office, found the teacher in the computer lab. She was excited to meet me and ready for questions. She talked a lot about her decision to become a teacher. She was unsure of what to do, went to KVCC for a few years, then came to WMU and started to study business, learning shortly that it was not for her. Then she took a career exploration class which helped her to realize that her good influences were within the school system. She had had a great English teacher that had opened her eyes to really loving English. When she became a teacher, this same woman became her mentor within the school in her first years. She has been teaching now for fifteen years! I asked her a few more questions, but I want to save them for my paper :)

The first class was called six plus, which was basically the regular English class. She has this same class first and third hour, which I found very interesting, so that they can have a break from the class. (To keep them engaged!) They were working on grammar such as the use of commas and were typing a novel. This was a biography of someone over the age of thirty that they had decided to interview and write about. The finished product will have six chapters and is a project that takes quite a long time in sixth grade. I got to engage with the students, helping with formatting and spelling. This definitely was exciting for me, although I wanted to take over the class!

One huge difference from the middle school I attended was the diversity. There were many different races, languages, and types of children. They all got along, respected each other, spoke in different languages to each other, and I was intrigued because this was not normal in my school years. 

I also sat in on a class called FLEX, which is a reading program for kids that need extra time to work on their reading skills. There were only seven students because after you meet certain credentials, you graduate out of the class. The teacher set up three stations: one with her, one with a teacher aid, and one for an online reading program. The students spent about thirteen minutes in each station to work on fluency, speed, and comprehension. I really enjoyed working with these struggling students because it was rewarding to see them improve even within the hour.

Lastly I sat in on a class with a teacher that was new to middle school, but had taught at an alternative high school for eighteen years. We did not get any time to chat, which I would've loved to. In this class sixth graders were starting to read Esperanza Rising. They had learned a little background on Mexico and talked about a painting. Then she handed out a paper that had personal questions that would later come up as they read the book.

Overall my day was a great experience. I would love to do it again, and I am so excited that this will be my future career. I cannot wait to see how much of an impact I can make in students' lives, no matter how big or small. :)

Curriculum

After reading the chapter "Curriculum" in Early Career English Teachers in Action, it raised a few concerns. First of all, in the introduction Lindsay Ellis talked about how she did not have many teachers that shared their curriculum due to a small school size. She spent a lot of time writing the curriculum on her own, which scares me. There was a teacher Nancie Attwell that had a great curriculum and was very confident, yet it did not work for all of the students. I do not feel that I would be prepared to do that coming in as a first year teacher and would definitely need some direction. 

I learned in David Jagusch's story that curriculum is something that you learn to develop over time. You have to be open and willing to change it according to where you are, who your students are, and what works the most successfully. Every group of students you have has to be treated in a new way, and none are the same. You have to care to get to know your students for who they are, observe other teachers, and learn from your own experiences. This is also worrisome because it is a lot of trial and error which takes time. Check out this article, it talks about the importance of curriculum in all aspects of the teaching realm.

Sierra Holmes was lucky to find a school system that valued what she did- whatever works best for the students. I loved that she was more concerned about improving the students' writing and gave them back their paper with comments instead of a grade. She was able to take away grading and gave the students credit for improving and working hard on their writing. I think that the flexibility she had and the allowance that the school had lead to better results. The students actually wanted to work on their writing and ended up improving much more than they would if a grade was associated. This also worries me, though, because not all schools systems are allowing of this. I need to remember to ask about the goals of the school staff when interviewing for a job.

I am excited for this part of teaching, but it may be the scariest part for me because I am not formally trained for it yet... :)

What will make school better?

After reading the article "How to Make Schools Better For Kids" by Alexandra Sifferlin, I have a few questions. What will make school better? (beyond the levels you see on WikiHow) This article gives many options but how do we know which things to change, or if they will actually work. Are they reasonable? It raised many thoughts and questions...
"Ditch Traditional Homework"- I think this is an excellent and reasonable idea. When you give choice, students are more interested, therefore will succeed at a higher rate.
"Make Recess Mandatory"- I always had to go out for recess and think that it is sad that schools are shortening this time. If they shorten recess, they will only go home to sit on the couch or play on their computers. I think recess is very important!!!
"Screen Kids for Mental Illness"- This is a very touchy subject with parents because they do not always want to know if their kids have a mental illness. I really have no opinion on this, but it should be up to the parents and not the school system. Also the school system would need to have programs to accommodate these mental illnesses.
"Design Cafeterias that Encourage Healthy Eating"- This is very important because it is hard to make healthy choices when there are mostly unhealthy choices. Obesity is rising so promoting healthy eating is only helping. But how would you do this cheaply? And what options would they give for variety?
"Promote Diversity"- I can see how you could attract students from different backgrounds, but how do you promote diversity in a community full of 80% white people? 
"Turn Discipline into Dialogue"- This is an interesting way to handle your students and disruption in the classroom. I think that it might almost be more distracting to have students stand up during class than if they were not able to sit still. Would this encourage students to behave better or would they feel like they could get away with more?
"Let Students Customize Their Curriculums"- This would work well for students that learn decently on computers. Many students though, would much rather learn on paper. This can be challenging to use this concept with- would it actually help?
"Start Classes After 8:30am"- I do not agree with this at all. You start cutting time from after school activities and make it harder for the family to be together. Those things all help the student to be well-rounded while if classes started later, they would not have as many opportunities for that.

I really enjoyed this article but it raised more questions than it answered. They were good proposed ideas but no thorough explanations... I would love to learn more about customizing curriculums and turning discipline into dialogue. 

How to be a cool teacher...:)

We were asked to make an "ideal teacher." Here are some of our important things! (his mustache says "funny") Anything we missed? Sarah and I are proud of our creation :)

Teacher Identity

While reading the section "Teacher Identity" in Early Career English Teachers in Action, I began to realize what my future was coming to. The intro explains that an identity is both how others view you and how you see yourself. Developing a teacher identity is extremely important and only comes through experiences that shape you as a person. I really enjoyed how Lindsay Ellis broke down the identities as a teacher in all aspects of the job; not what you would think about as a first year teacher.

The stories were all very interesting but two stood out to me the most. "Integrity" by Amanda Brown was the first one that resonated with me. We share common characteristics such as being women of faith and being true to ourselves and what we believe in. Her situation is definitely something that I may come across my first years of teaching. I just need to remember that no matter what happens, do the right thing. If I do something that will leave me feeling guilty, I need to fix it. She could have easily not told anyone about the use of calculators on the test, saving money, time, and probably better results on the test. Instead she knew that she would feel guilty and reported it, staying true to herself. In the end she had better relationships with the staff and was more confident in herself. I strive to hold myself accountable like this as well. 1 Kings 9:4-5 shows us that God will deliver when we are people of integrity. Alike how God holds to his promises to David when he is a man of integrity and does not hide, Amanda was shown this delivery by the love of her boss and security of her job when she remained true to herself

The other story I loved was the very last one by Tracy Meinzer. When she said that she was a crier, she won my attention over. I am a total crier as well which made this story very relatable. I think that she saw how important relationships with students is, realizing that we do not know what they are going through at a fragile time in their life. We were all there once, and we don't always look back and notice how they are just in that stage. I need to keep this in mind especially teaching in a middle school... It's an awkward, self-exploring, self-finding age where they need a lot of support. The exercise she did with the class would be an awesome idea with a class that does not relate to each other well. The class opened up and saw that others were going through things alike or even worse than themselves.

Overall, this book is going to be super helpful and I will definitely be taking down ideas and advice for the future... :)

Nothing but the Truth...

I just finished reading Avi's Nothing but the Truth. I enjoyed reading this quite a bit. I had previously never read a multi-genre book and I did not know much about them. This style is something that I would definitely read again. It catches your attention, lets you see into the head of many different characters, and is an easier read. I think that if I had been introduced to this style of writing earlier in high school, I would have written more like this or taken the time to read multi-genre books.

Enough about the style, let's talk about Phillip. I am not fond of this kid... He basically stacked the deck to be on his side. Miss Narwin was clearly not out to get Phillip, but truly only wanted to help him exceed. Once he realized that he needed to do well in her class or get moved into another class, he started to get people on his side. Starting with his parents, then the neighbor, the newspaper, and then the rest of the world followed. He realized that he was guilty but didn't want to give in as everyone was already on his side. UGH. He should have just confessed. 

I did not like how he got away with this, basically forcing Miss Narwin to retire. She deserves better. Yes she may have overreacted a little about the singing and could have talked to him... But Phillip was definitely out to get her. Also his parents, don't you think as a parent you would want to know the teacher's side as well? This book was frustrating and I feel for the teachers... Kind of scares me for what could happen in my teaching career :O Maybe start with building positive relationships with students as said here. Miss Darwin should have reached out to build a better relationship with Phillip...


Overall I really enjoyed the book and couldn't put it down :)

Hey all!

Well everyone, this is my first blog... I'm not entirely sure how much I will love it but I am definitely ready to try it out. 

So here's a LITTLE glimpse of deciding to major in Secondary Education... :)

I grew up in a Christian home, Christian school (check it out, it's an awesome place). I had a GREAT education. Small schools definitely are not always fun but undoubtedly have more singled attention from the faculty. I did not always enjoy being in high school with the same people from kindergarten, where everyone knew everything about everyone. But it made me who I am today.

In this small school called Kalamazoo Christian, I grew very close to students and faculty. I was always talking to and bonding with someone. Since I was young, I was told by many teachers that I was going to make an awesome teacher someday. I did not want to teach because that is what they all told me to do. I wanted to find my own path. I did have an interest though, as I graded many papers for a teacher that was very dear to me. I helped students in her class, graded, organized, made copies, whatever she needed and I loved it. But I had my mind set on finding another career to be my own... 

My senior year I helped in two first grade classrooms every morning.

(Some of those awesome first graders are pictured on the right; they called me Miss Megan, so cute.) I came during their reading and writing time, often pulling them aside in groups to tell time or do math problems. Although I did not particularly love the age group, I realized how much I loved English and teaching it. This interest was also evident in my high school English classes. I went off to college not necessarily knowing what to do for a career path.

A month or so into my college journey, I went to career counseling and took a test and talked with a counselor. Guess what was on my top 8 jobs? Teaching. Whether it be elementary, middle, high school, school coach, or even being a school counselor. That is when I admitted to myself that I needed to give in to what others have been telling me my whole life, JUST BE A TEACHER. And now I can say, I am SUPER excited. 

It takes awhile to realize these things, but now I have nothing more to say... These teachers and other faculty pushed me to be my best my entire life. Now I am going to do what they did for me. I hope to inspire children to work hard, find themselves for who they are, and help them reach their potential. I am so grateful for these teachers, the office ladies, the principal... for teaching me, for being an example of how I should live my life, for the glory of God. I am so grateful for them and the potential I am striving to reach because they believed, loved, and cared for me.

Oh, and WMU is changing my life like crazy now! I love this school, the opportunity it brings, the openness of the students and faculty, and I am so blessed to be here. This is the start of a new portion of my life, following God's plan that He has in store for me, here at WMU.

GO BRONCOS!