| Advocacy: I have always been interested in in advocacy, especially for environmental issues. After working in Washington D.C. and becoming more familiar with the process, I have stayed extremely involved in politics. I am especially interested in issues dealing with the environment and education, particularly gifted education. Visiti my links page to see some of the groups I've worked with or am intrested in. |
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Why Teaching?
Growing up every child’s wish on the first day of school is, “Please let me have a good teacher.” No one wishes “please let me learn a lot” or “please let me pass” because once you have a good teacher the rest of the pieces fall into place.
Being that teacher, the one every kid wants, is not an easy task. It requires energy, passion, and dedication, on top of experience, knowledge, and patience. My desire to become a teacher, which was inspired by my own fantastic music teacher in second grade, has motivated me through every stage of my own schooling. During high school I sought every opportunity to work with children from babysitting to teaching outdoor education and volunteering in the local classrooms. My interest in education, however, did not stop at the classroom walls. Surrounded by college graduates and teachers, I served as the only high school student on a committee to help write the curriculum for fourth grade outdoor education.
My college experience has been centered on my passion for teaching. Inspired by teachers who were always willing and able to answer questions, even when they were unrelated to the class, I looked for a major that would give me a wide range of knowledge. With the inter-disciplinary major Nature and Culture, I have had the opportunity to take a wide variety of classes including solar system geology, biology, comparative literature, and anthropology. The major also allowed room for numerous electives, where I had the chance to focus on everything from California history to issues of language and gender in second language learning.
My desire to work with children continued as I spent summers working as a camp counselor for Girl Scouts and Kids University; however teaching a science camp called Camp Invention was the highlight of my summers. Camp Invention is a national science based program sponsored by The National Inventors Hall of Fame that encourages hands-on-learning for children. Using the Camp Invention base, I developed lesson plans and activities for the kids to learn about physics and chemistry and create their own invention using parts from old electronics. Standing in front of the kids and watching their excitement as I explained the basics of Newton confirmed my desire to teach, and preparing and teaching the lessons was a great learning experience for me.
My most valuable teaching experiences have been working in classrooms as an intern. Through observing the teachers and helping the students, I have learned important skills about developing and adapting lesson plans, engaging students in creative ways, and even dealing with discipline issues. In addition to working with individual students, the classroom experience helped me develop my own ideas about how to create a lesson plan and teach material.
In addition to creating dynamic and productive lesson plans to make a difference in the classroom; I hope to make a difference in the community. I recently interned for the National Association for Gifted Children on advocacy and legislation in Washington D.C., which was an amazing experience. While I initially saw the internship as a chance to learn more about education policy and gifted education, working with the organization helped me discover my passion for advocacy. Through NAGC, I helped prepare fact sheets to lobby congress and inform parents about important issues such as a teacher training bill, science and math education issues, and fact sheets to help parents advocate for gifted programming. I also worked on gaining Congressional support for the Javits Act, which provides crucial funding for research and programs to better serve and identify minorities in gifted and talented. As a teacher, I hope to be a leader in the education community and work with parents, teachers, and administrators in my own district to advocate for improved education policies and legislation. I realize that I will not be merely a teacher, but a part of the educational community working on important issues both inside and outside the classroom.