Graduation Speech : Elementary School

Hello, I am Sadè Stanton, a 2ND grade teacher at M. Agnes Jones Elementary School. Per our conversation, the second grade team will be coming to the King Center on Friday, May 6, 2016 at 10:00am-12:30pm. This will be approximately 80 students, 5 teachers, and 10 parents. If there are any further questions, please feel free to contact me at (404) 748-2261. If you need to contact the school, the number is (404)802-3900. Thank you in advance for what I know will be an amazing experience.

I started writing my first real essay in the Eighth grade, and I never knew why I was given such an awful task. I am a terrible English/Writing scholar and I never could comprehend the concept of writing. I put a lot of work and heart into my first essay, but that still didn’t get me the grade that I wanted. Needless to say I got a “D” on the essay. I was extremely disappointed in the grade I made and I wanted to reject writing all together, but that is not the kind of scholar I am, so I began my journey during my Eighth grade year to become a better writer. I had many academic goals that year, but my main goal was to excel on the English state writing test at the end of the year. The test would determine if I moved on to ninth grade English or if I would get placed in a pre-high school English program. To achieve my goals I knew that I was going to have to work hard not only on developing the papers I write, but also making sure they are grammatically correct, interesting, and that each story or essay gets the main point across as well.

Tonight since it was my last time working with Keily, I told keily that today she could pick the game that we played today, but I told her it had to be math related. Of coarse, the first couple games that she wanted to play were not math related at all, but the she asked if we could play a card game. After observing in a kindergarden classroom last semester and looking at Pintrest from time to time, I drew from my previous knowledge to think of a card game that we could play that would relate to math. The first game that popped into my head was the card game war, but this was a modified version of the game. Instead of the regular war game, we would play addition wars. I told keily that in this card game we would split the deck of cards between

August 21st, 2017. The year where a handful of kids from Curtsinger, Gunstream, Shawnee Trail, etc, all come to Wester Middle School, as an official 6th grader. This is the year all of us went from being the “Big kids” in Elementary School All the way down to being the little babies of Middle School! As I was finishing the 5th grade, all of our teachers were helping us to figure out what it’s going to be like. I was terrified about getting late to classes and losing all my friends who weren't in my classes! These things freaked me out just thinking about them!

You walk in scanning the badge I gave you the night before you go up the stairs and look no one sees you . walking up to the room I told you about you go in and lock the door , in the middle of the room you see an abandon desk. in the corner is filing cabinet and there a door on the left side

Mr. Riff, esteemed teachers and staffs, dearest parents and grandparents, guests, fellow graduates, relatives, friends, ladies, and gentlemen, good morning!

On behalf of our sixth grade team members at Oak Grove Middle School, I would sincerely like to thank you for the six beautiful book bags filled with school supplies you so generously donated to our students at Oak Grove Middle.

I learned to read and write at about the age of five, but I did not begin to learn how to read and write in English until the age of 12. During my early childhood, I lived in Mexico consequently my literacy focused solely on the Spanish language. Not to brag but as an eleven year old in fifth grade; I was probably reading at a twelfth grade level. I was pretty proud of myself. During the time in which I lived in Mexico, I was always number one in my class. Year after year, there was always competition for the tittle, because at the culmination of every academic year the top three students with the highest grades and test scores would be awarded the only award of the year; an academic achievement award. There was no nonsense of “best effort”, or anything of the sort. There was only number one, two, and three. And every year, up until I moved away I held the first place title. I must admit, the title didn’t mean much to me, but it meant a lot to my parents. I wasn’t just academically proficient, I liked to spend my time playing outside, riding a bike, or playing a sport, and from time to time there would be an altercation and it was time to brawl. Anyhow, I always got along with my teachers. I think there was a mutual appreciation. They wanted to teach and I wanted to learn, and I was great at it.

I had always done really well in school. High school I managed a 4.0 all four years. Not that this was any major feat for me. I didn’t even have to try. Show up to class, take some notes, and then pass all the tests with flying colors. I do have to thank high school for making school seem so incredibly easy, and for it making me think I was smart without even trying. Heading into college I thought I would ace though all of my classes no problem. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

I came into this high school believing I knew who I was, but little did I know there was a lot to discover about myself and over these 4 years I blossomed. My freshmen year was a plane white wall as I was beginning my journey in high school. My older sister who was a senior at the time and a friend from middle school helped me explore the school my first days. I began adapting to my schedule and the environment within classrooms getting along with my classmates and teachers. As days passed I began feeling comfortable not only in my academics, but socially as well. I grew distant from others, I grew closer to others, but throughout the process I began realizing that people will come and go and I needed to focus on my interests. I began joining clubs my sophomore year such as an art club and lacrosse. I felt welcomed and challenged at the same time because I had to balance academics and clubs. I learned time management and responsibility and several other important characteristics from my experiences motivating me to become more involved. My junior year was an eye opener as I realized the previous years were just a smooth ride through high school and now I have to face the challenges. It was my first year taking AP courses and I took U.S History and Calculus. History was no problem even though it’s my least favorite subject, it was an easy to understand course and I felt comfortable in the classroom. In the other hand, Calculus was the slap in the face of reality, a course

Grammar school, middle school, and most high schools share one thing in common; they offer the same basic history, math, English, science, and social science course. By the time high school comes around students have already learned the same things again but only this time it is harder and more in depth. College becomes a time that a student really begins to learn about what they want to do with the rest of their lives. When applying to college, applicants don’t apply to learn math, English, history, and science. They apply to learn just math, English, Art, Business, Biology, Chemistry, Criminal Justice and many others. By having a core curriculum, it takes away time that students have to learn deeply about their program of interest. However, if colleges and universities focused more on the curriculum of student’s majors, and less on the core curriculum, these students may have a better understanding of what they want and less chance of graduating late.

It all started when I was a senior in high school and I was taking my final English class required to graduate. At first I had the attitude of a typical senior student with a bad case of “senioritis”, but that all changed once my teacher Ms. Wade began her lesson plan. I immediately fell in love with her teaching style and her enthusiasm for English, which seemed rare to come by with teachers who taught a senior level class. It was then that I knew I wanted to become a teacher and possibly major in English. Fast forward a few years, I started dating my fiancé and was introduced to his niece (age 6) and nephew (age 2). At that point I had a flood of memories of when I was student in elementary school and remembered how much I enjoyed going to school, learning basic knowledge like my ABC’s, and more importantly how my teacher brought me happiness and the desire to learn new things in a fun, exciting and safe environment. When I came back this semester to Daytona State College I was informed of a new program they offered, a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education (BSED) and knew it was meant to be. After speaking with an advisor and some of my peers it was clear this is the career path I wanted to take and with hard work and determination I would eventually become an elementary school teacher.

I volunteered at W.B Sweeney Elementary School in Willimantic, Connecticut. I was with children in grades kindergarten through fifth for two hours after school every Monday this past semester. I thoroughly enjoyed helping them with homework, doing activities, and just getting to know them individually. I grew as a person from this opportunity, learned more about the field I am planning on entering, and broadened my experience with children overall.

As a senior here at UNI, I am very anxious to start my student teaching experience next fall. I hope to be placed in an elementary classroom because I am an Elementary Education major with minors in Literacy and Educational Technology. I hope to incorporate both literacy and technology into my lessons and prepare my students for the future. I have always wanted to be a teacher because I loved school as a child and even played teacher when I wasn’t in school. I enjoy being around children and love to see the excitement in their eyes when they learn something new. I am creative, caring, and passionate and I believe these characteristics will help me to become the best teacher I can be. I have always told myself that my main goal as a teacher will be to change at least one student’s life for the better and help them see that learning can be fun. I want to show students that school can be enjoyable and teach them learning techniques that will be beneficial in the future. I believe that teachers are extremely important in this world because it helps people enter all different kinds of careers and without teachers, these other careers would probably not exist.

In every classroom, there will also be students who come different backgrounds. Students will come from different cultures, various levels of poverty, numerous religions, and assorted family structures. When there are a variety of cultures represented in a classroom, it is the job of the teacher to make every student feel welcome and special. Getting to know students and parents and having a warm, inviting classroom culture are a few ways to help students from different backgrounds have the best experience in school they can.