Creator

I am a 23-year-old graduate student, as you see from the sidebar information, but I am also much more than that. I am a voracious reader of science fiction, fantasy, and classic literature. I am also a poet and sometime fiction writer, and a composer of piano and vocal music. I have 8 years of piano lessons, 4 years of private voice lessons, and 10 years of choral training under my belt as far as music goes, but I have chosen to teach Language Arts and Social Studies instead of music. The reason? I giggle at typos and grammar mistakes, but I cringe at sour notes—it’s hard to hide my reaction when my perfect pitch lets me know something in the note is not right. I still love to sing, play piano, and write music, but music has always been more of an avocation for me. However, I look forward to being able to incorporate music into my future Language Arts and Social Studies classrooms.

I chose to teach middle school because the three years of middle school in my own experience were difficult years for me, socially, physically, and most especially emotionally. I endured verbal and often physical abuse at the hands of my classmates, and felt that the teachers saw and didn’t care. I want to be a caring and involved teacher, working with students every day so that I can effectively deal with both the bullies and the victims of student abuse.

As a teacher, I am a project-oriented, energetic person, but I am still unsure of my own capabilities as of yet. I only have 3 hours of actual teaching experience, but those 3 hours were positive and affirming, and I hope that I can build on what I learned from it to further my degree. I like to have students do a lot of group work that isn’t based on a grade, because I like for students to be able to discuss their true thoughts and feelings about a piece of literature, or construct a project together that shows their mastery of a particular use of language.

On the weekends, I enjoy playing strategy games of cards and miniatures with my guy friends and my boyfriend at the local comics and collectibles shop in my hometown. I find that these games, rather than rotting my brain out with simplicity, are actually mentally challenging and fun. I also do a small amount of web and graphic design (though far less than I did before I began my Masters work), and play video games on a myriad of systems.