Amanda Rodriguez LSTU 300

In May of 2019, I will have completed my bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies with a minor of English. For as long as I could remember, I have always had a passion for educating others on topics that they did not quite comprehend. As a future educator, I am striving towards getting my master’s degree in education after I complete the army contract I will sign after my graduation. Once I complete that, I will pursue my teaching licensure and land my dream job as a middle school English teacher.

I am a current Big Sibling for Prince Edward Elementary school and already have gained experience being a seasonal teacher at Childtime Learning Centers when I am not in school. I have also gained managerial experience at Shane’s Rib Shack which has honed in my leadership skills over the last few years.

Over my last few years at Longwood, I have taken many classes that will prepare me for the work force as an English teacher. Each of the classes that are listed below have morphed me into a well balanced expert in education with the concentration of English. My education courses, Human Growth and Development, Practicum, and Survey of Exceptional Children have taught me the best teaching practices for every stage of my student’s life. I took Psychology because it helped me get a better understanding of why certain human behaviors occur and it also hit on main topics such as human development.  Taking public speaking was one of my electives which helped me in many of my classes when I had to do major presentations. This class also helped me prepare myself when it comes to projecting my voice throughout a room filled with a lot of people which is useful in the classroom.  My Writing and Research class has helped me with my writing style and it has shown me how to conduct proper research and the methods. When I took World Literature,  it helped expose me to other parts of the world and how to analyze the texts from a different perspective. My Grammar and Writing Theory and Practice classes showed me the basic components of how to teach children the proper way of writing and when it is acceptable to codeswitch in writing. The Linguistics and Language course I have taken was one of my favorites. This class showed me the 5 components of what makes up a language and how people learn their languages, which is helpful if you have a student that is learning English as their second language. My other favorite classes I took at the same time were my Children’s Literature and Literature for Young Adults classes. In these classes I got to read popular literature for the appropriate age groups while analyzing the key components of what makes these good books to bring into the classroom and it even taught me how to host an appropriate in class discussion of the books.

Courses:

• Human Growth and Development
• Introduction to the Teaching Profession: Practicum
• Survey of Exceptional Children
• Psychology
• Public Speaking
• Writing and Research
• World Literature
• Grammar Theory and Practice
• Writing Theory and Practice
• Linguistics and Language
• Literature for Young Adults
• Children’s Literature

This May of 2019, I will be graduating from Longwood University with a degree in Liberal Studies and a minor in English. Longwood has definitely done a wonderful job in preparing their students for a successful career.  Over my years at Longwood, not only have I obtained knowledge in math, science, English, and history but I have also obtained knowledge in how to deliver this knowledge to others in an effective manner.  Not only have I learned this important key skill for the future classroom, but I have also learned how to take my leadership skills and apply them to most aspects of my life.  An example that I take great pride in is after I have taken all of my core classes, I was provided with the opportunity to work as a part time teacher at a well known learning center back in Midlothian. One other thing I have accomplished outside of my academics is holding executive positions on both of executive boards of my sorority and rugby team.

I believe that patience is one of the most important things a teacher must master. Without patience, a teacher not only is the one who gets burnt out, but the students as well. If the students see that a teacher is not wanting to explain more on the subject because they are frustrated, this causes the student to shut down and make them feel worthless. As a student who has felt that way many times, I make it one of my missions to ensure that my students do not feel that way. Every thought and opinion that a student creates is important to listen to, even if they are not entirely on point. As a teacher, it is our job to guide our students in the right direction and help them along the way so they can increase their knowledge.

Going off of this, I already practice what I preach when it comes to patience. I have been working at a restaurant since the age of 16. Months after working there, I got promoted to one of the assistant managers there, and the responsibilities was training new hires. I was given this responsibility and have gained plenty of patience doing this. When I turned 20, I landed a wonderful job by teaching pre-k students at a learning center. Teaching these young minds is a tough yet rewarding job. While reflecting on my work experience,  I realized people learn at different levels in time as well with different styles of learning such as visual, hands on, oral, etc. Having these experiences definitely helped me gain patience for others which will help me in the future.

When I was in middle school, I remember being forced to read a bunch of books that I originally thought were boring. I remember not being able to really make connections in the books because I did not care to actually look at context clues and put the pieces together at the end due to my mindless reading. Now that I am older and want to teach middle school English, I want to teach lessons in a different style that would grab the student’s attention: by using social media.

Middle schoolers typically have cell phones and social media accounts by the time they enter school. That being said, they are always focused on what is on their screens rather than actually interacting with others. Something that I thought would be fun is to incorporate social media apps in my lessons so they would have something they are interested in, and by doing this it will increase their learning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzUe-uAgApY

The link above leads to a video where an English teacher uses social media to encourage her students to make deep connections to the text. A really good example that I will use for my future classroom is using Instagram and having students be creative by using photography to whatever assignment they are given.