Samantha Howell

Who I Am

My name is Samantha Howell, and I am 27 years old, married with two wonderful children (Maddix gene and Hallie Ray). I am majoring in Elementary education with a minor in Human Services. My goal is to teach pre-k to 2nd grade. I love to spend time with my family and friends. I enjoy the beach, mountains and online shopping. I'm a huge summer fan! i cannot get enough of the beach with my family and I am missing those warmer days right now. I enjoy reading, scrolling on social media once my children are asleep. Growing up I enjoyed playing house and playing school with my friends which is where my inspiration for teaching came from.

WHAT I KNOW

Education is so important from beginning to end. I think that its vial for children to learn critical thinking skills as well as creativity. From having my own children and watching them grow and figure life out has been such a fun time. I was not sure what I wanted to do at first when I started at ODU. I first started in Special Ed due to being a teacher assistant at a private school that specializes in children with special needs, but then I found myself getting burnt out during my 6th year of teaching. I then went to nursing because I love helping others and just being there for people, but due to some unforseen circumstances and amount of school, I decided to go back to teaching. I love children, I love teaching them and helping them become successful. Children need to be shown compassion and help build relationships with their peers, as well as learning the first beginning parts of education such as phonics and counting and colors. I believe that it's important for children to learn problem solving, creativity, and social skills that will help them in their future.

WHAT I HAVE TO LEARN

Teaching is not an easy job in my opinion because there are always things changing such as virtual teaching since COVID-19. I want to learn how to be more creative with teaching and keeping it fun. I want to be able to keep them engaged no matter their age or abilities.

I want to learn how to incorporate real world situations into teaching as well as keeping those things fun and not boring. I want to learn how to get my children to think critically and help them problem solve just like I do with my own children. I also need to learn how to be confident within my classroom and rememebr that I am the teacher and no other teacher will take that away from me. Everyone is different, and that what makes this world so amazing.

THE TEACHER I WILL BECOME

I will become an amazing teacher that guides my students to success by the end of the year! I will be fun and give my students the knowledge that they need to succeed. I will make my students feel amazing about themselves and make them feel smart no matter what others may say to them. I will make sure that my classroom is a safe haven for them and that it feels like home away from home. I want my students to know that I care about them and that I only want the best for them. I was always told that the students are the teachers' children from the time they walk into the classroom from the time they leave. I will make sure to build relationships with every student and their parent(s). I love my students I have right now as if they are my own and I would do anything for them, I think that is one of my greatest attributes as a T.A. and that won't change when I go from special education to general education. The purpose of school is to learn and become a greater version of you. I think it is important to learn self-confidence, problem-solving skills and critically thinking.

PROGRESSIVISM

teaches problem solving; students learn by doing and working with others.

Essentialism

teaches essential knowledge; emphasizes cultural literacy.

When I think of progressivism, I think of the things that it says. I want my students to learn how to work out their issues with one another as well as learn from their peers. I would of course give them the knowledge they need, but I want to teach them how to learn from their peers. Little ones have an imagination out of this world, so to see ways others interpret information and to show their classmates is an amazing idea in my opinion. Essentialism is also important to me because I feel like education has changed for teachers and expectations of us, however, I think that the knowledge side has stayed the same throughout the years. I would want to teach my students knowledge that is useful but also the same as it has been over the years.

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