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Who I am
Hi everyone! I’m Abigail and I am currently a junior at Old Dominion University. I am an English major and I'm planning on teaching high school English once I graduate. I was born in Lowell Massachusetts and grew up in Amherst, New Hampshire. I am one of four kids in my family and i am the youngest. I graduated from Souhegan High school in Amherst in 2018. After I graduated I moved to Norfolk Virginia to be with my husband who has been in the Navy since 2017. I have wanted to be an English teacher since I was in the 8th grade.
Why I want to be a teacher:
When I was in 8th grade my English teacher, Ms. Allison, noticed that I did not like reading the books she assigned for the class. When it came to the next unit of the class she handed me a copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and told me that she thought I would love to book and that it would mean the world to her if I read it and told her my thoughts on it. I did not want to disappoint her. I had three weeks to complete the book but I read it in three days. By the time the three weeks were up I had read the whole series. Since then I knew I wanted to be an English teacher because Ms. Allison knew exactly what she needed to do to get me to connect with the class. This is what I want to do for my students. I want to be such a good teacher that I know exactly how to get my students to connect with my class. and that is what I want to do for my future students.
I need to learn how...
To understand that not all students are the same
To learn how to “dumb down” the learning material so the students will learn easier
To learn how to integrate technology into the classroom
To learn how to get all of my students to trust me, even though i know not all of them will
How to talk to students about their problems while maintaining professional boundaries
This is Chandler. He thinks he's a person so he sits at the dinner table.
That's me :) This isn't my dog and good thing too because he's the same size as me!
This is my husband and I after he graduated Navy boot camp.
And that's my sister and I. Or is it Chandler and Joey from Friends?
Here's what I know...
How to introduce difficult issues in a way that makes them easier to talk about
How to make writing a 5 page essay fun (sort of)
How to adapt learning plans to fit the needs of my students
How to pick reading material the pushes students to think outside the box
How to make the classroom inviting while still letting the students know that I am in charge
How to say no
Facts about me:
I got married the day after my 18th birthday
I have a dachshund named Chandler
My favorite book series of all time is Harry Potter
I've read the Harry Potter books 15 times
My birthday is in March and I am an Aries
The type of teacher I want to become:
I want to become the kind of teacher that students talk to. I have had very few teachers that I felt comfortable talking to about things besides school and I think that was one of the biggest problems I had with my education. If I had more teachers who I felt comfortable talking to, I think I would have had a better high school experience. I want to become the kind of teacher that understands the needs of students and how to meet those needs. I also want to make my students love English class. My main goal is to show my passion for the subject and get at least one student to love it as much as I do. I know that not all students will like me and like school, but if I can help just one student like school better, then I know I am doing my job right.
Abigail,
I absolutely love your reasoning on why you want to be a teacher. That just goes to show you that teachers really do have such a huge impact on their students lives. My reason for wanting to become a teacher is very similar. I used to dislike math so much, until my freshman year of high school. My math teacher could tell I was struggling, so she kept offering me to come after school to get extra tutoring from her. Most students wouldn't go, but she stayed anyways, just in case! & I am sure glad she did. She helped me figure out that I actually love math. She found my zone of proximal development and taught me from there. I went to her class after school multiple days of the week. Without her help, I don't think I could have gotten all the way through calculus! -Brooke Hamilton
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