Cargen Taylor

Who Am I?

My name is Cargen (pronounced kar-jen) and I am here to tell you a little bit about myself! I was born in Mechanicsville, Virginia and have been living here ever since. As a little girl, I've always loved school and learning new things, and I feel that it is only natural that I want to become a teacher! However, I did not always feel that way. When I was in middle school, I began to have the aspiration to become a nurse and it followed me through high school. When I was in 11th grade, I took the Certified Nurse Aid course offered at my high school and obtained my CNA license. In 12th grade, I took the Emergency Medical Technician course offered at the school as well. When I graduated from high school, I went to Reynolds Community College with the intention to transfer to the Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing. However, right before I graduated, I realized that I no longer had the dream to become a nurse, and for a little while I felt lost and unsure of my future. But I realized that instead of looking into the future, I needed to look at what was going on in the present. At the time, all I had ever done was work with kids. I first volunteered as a summer camp counselor for an elementary school during the summer before I started high school. I absolutely loved the experience and continued to do so for two more summers. This was where I first fell in love with working with and being with kids. I got my first job at a daycare when I started attending Reynolds Community College. This is where I first fell in love with teaching kids. I thought about how great I felt working with kids and I decided that it was what I really needed to pursue, and I decided to become a teacher. When I first made that decision, I felt such overwhelming happiness, as I knew that I would never have a dull life as a teacher, as children never cease to bring joy and color into my life!

What Do I Know?

There is more to this world than any of us can ever truly know. That is the most important thing that I feel people should realize and I would want my students to realize as well. We can try to understand as much of the world as we can, but we will never know everything about it. But this allows us to learn new things everyday and constantly expand our knowledge. To help my future students turn on their creative and curious minds, having them realize that there is essentially an infinite amount of things they can learn and find out about is crucial. So I guess you could say that I know that there is so much that I don't know, but I know that together, me and my future students can learn so much more.

What Do I Need to Know?

One of the most important responsibilities, if not the most important, of a teacher is being able to effectively reach each and every one of their students so that they feel safe and comfortable enough to engage in the classroom and learn. With younger children, this is much easier and I have more experience since I've been working in daycare for about four years. However, reaching older children is much harder and requires much more knowledge and experience. So to become a more effective and caring teacher, I need to learn more about how to make all of my students feel cared for and important. Not only to be a great teacher, but a great role model as well.

A wordcloud of important action words involved in both teaching and learning.

What Do You Have to Say?

Please comment in the Padlet below:

Hi Cargen! I am not sure how to comment on Padlet but you seem so creative and your page is so well designed. I would also say that progressivism is my main educational philosophy. It is very important for students to be able to work with others and know how to problem-solve. I think that it is amazing that you have found your passion again in teaching. I also was getting ready to transfer to nursing school last year and was a little lost myself when I found that I did not have much of a desire to be a nurse but, like you, I am excited for the future again and how we can help students to feel "super"!- Mallory Hodges