I am Cathleen Gregory, I am a sophomore at Old Dominion University. My major is Elementary Education and my minor will be in Special Education. I grew up in Durham, North Carolina. Durham is an inner city and both my middle and high school were title one. I volunteered at two elementary schools, both of which were title one. I saw the struggles my friends experienced and saw the impact it had on their learning as well as how it impacted the younger kids that I worked with. I also saw how it impacted the teachers who were not from the area, I felt that the teachers were not prepared for what those students were going through and they did not know how to help or support those kids. I feel coming from that background I will be able to connect with my students and help them to want to learn and further their education.

I know what it is like to go to a title one inner city school. I know how it impacts the kids and how it changes their ideas about education. I know I can help students to want to further their education and want to break generational barriers. I know I can be a support system to my students. I have to learn how to appeal to all the different learning styles that will be in my classes. I will need to learn more about my students so that I can ensure I am respecting the different beliefs and cultures throughout my classroom. I will challenge myself to reach every student and make it so they enjoy learning.

The purpose of school is to learn, and grow. To me the most important thing I hope my students will learn is the impact education will have on each of their lives. I will try my hardest to teach the importance of an education while building relationships with each of my students. I will provide hands-on experience for my students and hopefully find an interest for each of them. I hope my students will value their education and the relationships that are built in the classroom. I will strive to be a safe space for my students and help them realize I will support them through everything. I feel like students are more eager to learn when they feel safe and comfortable in the classroom. One word that will describe me as a teacher is supportive. One word to describe my students is eager. If a visitor walks into my classroom they will see students eager to learn and a teacher eager to teach and help. Out of the five philosophies we discussed in class the two that describe my views on teaching are progressivism because education should be focused on helping the child instead of focusing solely on curriculum. The other philosophy that describe my views on teaching are existentialism because I feel the student should be in control of their meaning in the world.