The Process
My Story
This journey of pursing and completing my masters degree is just one piece of my overall story. I feel privileged and honored to be able to say that I have completed this program and can now go onto spread what I have learned and in turn make the lives and the education of many young people far better than what they are currently receiving. The journey for me began in my freshman year of college. I attended the University of San Diego, an overwhelmingly beautiful college located in sunny San Diego. It should of been the best year of my life, but unfortunately it was far from that. I struggled immensely with adjusting to college life, a life away far away from my family and friends. I felt like I was in a fog just simply going through the motions of attending classes, completing homework, and taking my exams. Then something shifted. In my second semester I had the opportunity to receive English credit for going to an elementary school three times a week and working in a 3rd grade classroom. It was as if the fog suddenly lifted. I began to look forward to those days with such enthusiasm and excitement. I just couldn't wait to get back to that classroom filled with the eager minds of a group of wonderful 3rd graders. From that point on I knew that I wanted to become an educator. I felt like I was making a difference. I was making connections with these children that would remember for the rest of their lives and that is something that is irreplaceable.
From that point on I went on to complete my undergraduate degree in Education followed by the Multiple Subject Credential program. I had the opportunity to work in a kindergarten classroom my first year as a teacher and it was there that I saw I could further increase my knowledge to better serve my students. This school site that I worked at was in a very harsh part of the city, with an extremely low socioeconomic population. For my students, school was their safe place and I was the one stable person in their life that they knew they could count on. I wanted to be the best teacher I could be for these students and for me that meant continuing my own education and to start pursuing my masters degree.
When choosing a graduate school program I wanted to do something that would make me a valuable asset in the classroom and I truly believe that technology will do just that. I have witnessed far too many educators that get stuck in their ways and don't want to embrace any kind of change. Yet, to be of any service to our students that is exactly what us educators should be doing; constantly changing and evolving in order to best serve our students. In particular I feel like technology is such a powerful tool and it is something that is increasingly getting faster, stronger, and better. Technology is in virtually every part of our students lives. The students of today's classrooms are part of the generation that knows how to get access to the answer to any question they may have. These same students are contently connected to their friends and are part of the generation that has grown up with the ability to share their every thought, idea, and important life event with everyone around them with just the click of the button. When you take those students that have grown up in a technology filled world where everything is high speed and only a click away and then put them in classroom where they are expected to learn by using simple paper and pencil and listening to their teacher talk, there should be no shock when they do not perform to the best of their abilities.
Through this program I have been able to learn multiple ways that I can provide my students with every opportunity they need to succeed. Technology can open so many new doors and opportunities for not only the students in today's classrooms but the teachers as well. Technology helps to make the struggles a little smaller and dreams a little bigger.
The e-portfolio
This e-portfolio is the culminating piece to a two year long process. I have completed an action research project at the elementary school that I am currently teaching at. My goal was to see how technology can be used to help English language learner students improve their language acquisition, in particular using the program Imagine Learning. As I take the time to reflect on the past two years I feel that I have done a tremendous amount of work and become a professional at multitasking. I work at Oneonta Elementary School five days a week, in addition I work as a private nanny to a family with four young children, I teach private swim lessons, and I have been working towards completing this iMET program. While at times this process has been challenging I am proud to say that I have completed it and I hope that it will benefit me in the future. The process of completing my action research was rewarding in many ways, mostly because I was able to see first hand the amazing power that technology had in helping these young students master their English language skills.
This journey of pursing and completing my masters degree is just one piece of my overall story. I feel privileged and honored to be able to say that I have completed this program and can now go onto spread what I have learned and in turn make the lives and the education of many young people far better than what they are currently receiving. The journey for me began in my freshman year of college. I attended the University of San Diego, an overwhelmingly beautiful college located in sunny San Diego. It should of been the best year of my life, but unfortunately it was far from that. I struggled immensely with adjusting to college life, a life away far away from my family and friends. I felt like I was in a fog just simply going through the motions of attending classes, completing homework, and taking my exams. Then something shifted. In my second semester I had the opportunity to receive English credit for going to an elementary school three times a week and working in a 3rd grade classroom. It was as if the fog suddenly lifted. I began to look forward to those days with such enthusiasm and excitement. I just couldn't wait to get back to that classroom filled with the eager minds of a group of wonderful 3rd graders. From that point on I knew that I wanted to become an educator. I felt like I was making a difference. I was making connections with these children that would remember for the rest of their lives and that is something that is irreplaceable.
From that point on I went on to complete my undergraduate degree in Education followed by the Multiple Subject Credential program. I had the opportunity to work in a kindergarten classroom my first year as a teacher and it was there that I saw I could further increase my knowledge to better serve my students. This school site that I worked at was in a very harsh part of the city, with an extremely low socioeconomic population. For my students, school was their safe place and I was the one stable person in their life that they knew they could count on. I wanted to be the best teacher I could be for these students and for me that meant continuing my own education and to start pursuing my masters degree.
When choosing a graduate school program I wanted to do something that would make me a valuable asset in the classroom and I truly believe that technology will do just that. I have witnessed far too many educators that get stuck in their ways and don't want to embrace any kind of change. Yet, to be of any service to our students that is exactly what us educators should be doing; constantly changing and evolving in order to best serve our students. In particular I feel like technology is such a powerful tool and it is something that is increasingly getting faster, stronger, and better. Technology is in virtually every part of our students lives. The students of today's classrooms are part of the generation that knows how to get access to the answer to any question they may have. These same students are contently connected to their friends and are part of the generation that has grown up with the ability to share their every thought, idea, and important life event with everyone around them with just the click of the button. When you take those students that have grown up in a technology filled world where everything is high speed and only a click away and then put them in classroom where they are expected to learn by using simple paper and pencil and listening to their teacher talk, there should be no shock when they do not perform to the best of their abilities.
Through this program I have been able to learn multiple ways that I can provide my students with every opportunity they need to succeed. Technology can open so many new doors and opportunities for not only the students in today's classrooms but the teachers as well. Technology helps to make the struggles a little smaller and dreams a little bigger.
The e-portfolio
This e-portfolio is the culminating piece to a two year long process. I have completed an action research project at the elementary school that I am currently teaching at. My goal was to see how technology can be used to help English language learner students improve their language acquisition, in particular using the program Imagine Learning. As I take the time to reflect on the past two years I feel that I have done a tremendous amount of work and become a professional at multitasking. I work at Oneonta Elementary School five days a week, in addition I work as a private nanny to a family with four young children, I teach private swim lessons, and I have been working towards completing this iMET program. While at times this process has been challenging I am proud to say that I have completed it and I hope that it will benefit me in the future. The process of completing my action research was rewarding in many ways, mostly because I was able to see first hand the amazing power that technology had in helping these young students master their English language skills.