Personal Narrative: Going Back To The Classroom

Over the past eighteen years I have been alive, there have not been any real challenges I have faced in my pursuit of education. I come from a family of immigrants that managed to find themselves a good life, away from the ghetto and the poverty line, through hard work. Both my parents had to move to a place away from everything they knew to learn English as a second language to give their children, myself included, a better chance at life, and I can gladly say their effort was not in vain. If there was one thing I struggled with in pursuit of my education, it would have to be myself.

I was in 7th grade and didn't know everything was about to change. My mother wanted to get a job and this meant she wouldn't be able to be my teacher anymore. My parents decided, after three years of homeschooling to send me to public school. This was so it would be easier for my mother to get a job and not have to deal with being our teacher as well, because that would be too stressful. I didn't know very many people and wasn't used to being with large amounts of people for long periods of time. Eventually, I got settled in and started to make friends.

Imagine falling of a chair. Not that bad right? Now, imagine falling of a chair in front of the whole cafeteria. Funny? Yes. Painful? Definitely. So embarrassing that you hid in your teacher’s classroom for the remaining time of the school day? Sounds like me! After many years of mental preparation, physiological therapy, and complete avoidance of using chairs in front of others, I was finally able to overcome my tragedy. Like every other day, I ardently waited for lunch time to arrive. As soon as the bell rang, I ran to the cafeteria. I sat, I ate, and just when I was about to throw my food away…

My guided lesson 3 went really well this week. This week the lesson had been implemented exactly the way it had been planned. The lesson began with students looking at the title page and making predictions about the book. Everyone had interesting points to share about the predictions they made. I could tell the students were really excited to read this book as it was very colorful and it got their attention. Before we started reading, I asked the students to look for main events that took place in the book as it will help them retell the story at the end. All the students were able to retell the story to me at the end. What went well the most was the fact that my students brought the main events to my attention on their own before retelling

As a teacher, I’ve had the opportunity to work and interact with many professionals and families from different cultures. Personally, and considering the fact that I also come from another country, I’ve seen myself facing several cross cultural barriers.

Starting in fifth grade when I first picked up a viola, orchestra has been a fundamental part of my identity in school. My first year in high school I was in the entry level orchestra, which I greatly enjoyed despite the easier music because of the community of people in the class. At the end of my freshman year, orchestra got the news that the number of orchestra classes would be cut down to two, making an entry level class, symphonic, and an audition only higher level class, chamber. Wanting a challenge, I auditioned for chamber, but I did not get in. Now, this was not the failure that came with a grand lesson There happened to be a large number of very talented violinists who had seniority over me. There also happened to be a shortage of

At the beginning of 2016, I didn't think I’d be coming out so soon. My AP Language Arts teacher assigned a performance piece that quickly crept up on me. We were told to stand in front of the class and share a piece of our identity; it was nothing like any other assignment I had done before.

For my interview, I asked my high school teacher to please share with me some of her history. Her name is Andrea Sydenham and has been working for PVUSD for 25 years. She has been an SEI teacher since then, and is now my current boss. I persuaded to ask her to share an experience from her life because I see her teach and she is always caring for her students, as if they were her own children. Andrea mention to me that her first couple years were very tough due to the condition of the school. When she started working at North Canyon High School it was considered a violent, gangster school. However, throughout the years, there has been a change in the school’s environment. Due to the different administrations there has been.

I have not had many jobs. However, the few that I did were meaningful and taught me a great deal. One such job was the one I held during the summer of my sophomore year. I worked at one of the many North Star Charter schools that serve students of several minority groups in my hometown of Newark, NJ. During my time at North Star, I helped design curriculum for the General Educational Development (GED) program. I gained insight into methods used to teach adults, some far removed from high school by as many as twenty years. I had the opportunity to see how the teachers would adapt the methods originally used to teach their elementary students to educate their GED students. This experience sparked my interest in alternative methods of education

When I was a kid, grandpa would tell me that an education is the key to success. He would say that the day at which you stop learning is the day at which you pass away. I have pondered this statement over the years and I have to say he was right. I am looking to pursue a Master of Education in Adult and Lifelong learning to help better educate my clientele. Instead of teaching in the classroom right out of college, I went the route of research agriculture. What I found was that even in research agriculture I was teaching. Then I changed jobs to a Field Service Representative and I found I was still teaching farmers new ways to manage the new to Arkansas crop: edamame. When going back to research agriculture in the Extension Entomology

Were you ever homeschooled? I was! My entire pre-collegiate school experience was in the home, with the exception of a handful of external classes, all extracurricular. Understandably, my parents were concerned about the current system of education in the U.S., and wanted to give us the children the best circumstances for success possible. Throughout Elementary and Senior High, everything was excellent! Upon reaching Junior and Senior years however, college was looming heavy, and I knew that I needed to become familiar with working under other teachers, working with a group of other individuals, and working independently of assistance.

I have danced in a studio for a long time now and if I look back I can see how far I have come since I started. I used to go to school and come home. That was it. I did not have many friends or do any extra activities after school. I was shy and awkward, with no real understanding how to really be around other people.

When considering my transition out of the classroom and into a new professional role I cannot imagine a more perfect fit than the Volunteer Coordinator position. I have found in my teaching tenure that there is nothing more rewarding than having a positive impact on a young individual’s life. The Volunteer Coordinator position would allow me to recruit, train and engage volunteers for an opportunity that will hopefully be a life-changing experience for them and the individuals in the PALS community. To me, having the ability to impact someone’s life in that way would be constantly rewarding. I enjoy working collaboratively to come up with new ideas which would be helpful in expanding the organization’s reach. I am willing to travel and would

Today was the day we all studied hard for. It was the final science test. From asking the older student who already took the test, I gathered that this was the most difficult test I'll take so far. And to be honest I took some pretty hard tests in my lifetime. Everyone was chatting in the room, but none were talking about the test. This surprised me. All I could think about was that quiz- If you could even call it a quiz, it's more of something that will determine whether or not I will fail the science curriculum or not. Science was in a few periods, so every chance I get I look through my notes. As I opened my filled up notebook a shadow approached, darkening the pages. I looked up to see who it was. Madeline's tall figure stood beside me.

Running bare footed pounding the cobbles, echoed around my head. The hypnotic sound created a gratifying distraction from the impending despairs of returning to one of my many Hells on Earth….school.