KINDERGARTEN

KINDERGARTEN

My first memory from school was from Kindergarten. This photo is from my graduation from kindergarten and I remember being so happy to go onto first grade. My teacher Mrs.D was an amazing teacher who always believed in me and she always made sure to spend extra time with my spanish speaking parents in order to make sure they understood my progress in her class. I don't remember much from kindergarten because I was very young, but when I asked my parents what they remembered most it was my teacher Mrs.D and how helpful she was. She always took the time to make sure my parents understood everything she was saying. I plan on doing this for my students and their parents one day. I believe that it is very important for parents to be informed about their child's progress in the classroom, even if they speak a different language. Mrs.D taught me how to believe in myself and the importance of communicating with every single parent.

SECOND GRADE

SECOND GRADE

My second grade memory involved my teacher for that grade, which was Mrs.G. She made my second grade year one to remember because she always went out of her way to help me grow as a student. I remember this year I had a tough time learning how to spell words correctly. I believe I struggled with my spelling because I was an english language learner, with my first language being Spanish. Mrs. G would set aside time to work with me on my spelling. She would help me with my spelling during lunch and after school some days. She worked with me until she saw me improve and I soon became one of the best spellers in my class. I'll never forget Mrs. G because I saw the way she believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. The time and effort she put into helping me learn has encouraged me and motivated me to do the same with my students one day.

FOURTH GRADE

FOURTH GRADE

My fourth grade memory comes from my fourth grade class when my group and I had to build a mission. Our group worked really well together and we had so much fun building our mission while also learning about our mission. This specific memory stands out to me because it taught us how to work in groups while also building a replica of the mission that was assigned to us. Mrs. P helped guide us through building our mission and even provided assistance to us at times. I loved how she took the time to build a portion of our mission with us because it felt like we were bonding with our teacher as well. I remember Mrs. P always wanted us to have fun while we were learning. I will apply this to my classroom by making sure my students have fun while also learning.

SIXTH GRADE

SIXTH GRADE

My sixth grade memory comes from when I enrolled in an orchestra program at my school. I learned how to play the violin and I loved when we would have concerts and perform for our parents, the staff, and friends. I remember for our first concert I was really nervous and didn't believe I could perform well in front of so many people. My teacher, Mrs. B, made sure to reassure me that I was ready and that I would perform well. She took the time to ask me why I was so nervous and I explained to her that I was afraid of forgetting the notes while we were in the middle of playing one of our songs. She practiced playing with me until I felt like I wouldn't forget the notes. This was inspirational to me and it motivated me to do better. I played so well that night and Mrs. B was so proud of me. She inspired me to believe in all of my students and to really take the time to listen to my students because if I know what is going on with them, I will be able to help them learn better.

SEVENTH GRADE

SEVENTH GRADE

My seventh grade memory was a bittersweet one. I was the "new girl" at a middle school and I remember everything being unfamiliar to me. The first day of school was really hard on me because I was watching everyone else greet their friends after a long summer away from one another. I was missing my friends from my previous school and seeing everyone else hug and greet their friends made me really sad. I was dreading lunch time because I wasn't sure where I would sit or who I would sit with but luckily some sweet girls approached me and invited me to sit with them. They soon began to make my experience at this new school a positive one. They showed me around the school and even introduced me to some of their other friends. Soon it was as if I wasn't new anymore and I felt like I was at home. This made me realize that as a teacher I need to make sure that the new kids feel welcomed because this affects how well they perform in class as well, and I plan to do this with my new students some day.

NINTH GRADE

NINTH GRADE

My ninth grade memory was a scary one. I remember my friends and I were so scared of being freshman because of all of the movies we had watched about the seniors giving freshman a hard time. On our first day, my friends and I tried our best to fit in. We tried dressing like the seniors and we even tried to do our hair like them. We quickly realized we didn't like who we were becoming. We were only trying to fit in and in doing so we lost ourselves. One of our friends, who I will name "B," really wanted to fit in so bad that she ended up hanging out with some seniors that were a really bad influence on her. We quickly saw her drop her grades, skip classes, and become reckless. My friends and I were glad we didn't end up like she did and although me missed her, there was nothing we could do to change her mind and get her to changed her ways. This experience taught me that I will lose friends and gain friends along the way and it also taught me that you can't change someone who doesn't want to be changed. As a teacher, I will take my previous experiences, and make sure to check in with my students to make sure they are doing okay and to let them know that I'll always be there for them when they need to talk to someone.