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You may be surprised to hear that before deciding to become an educator, I did not have much experience working with children. My second grade teacher was actually who inspired me to become a teacher. Her welcoming and safe classroom environment, her kindness and humor, along with the fact she let us take our shoes off during class, made me want to give others that same feeling and experience! Especially since school is such a big part of our lives and shapes us in many ways, I want to create a positive learning environment where students feel safe to express themselves.

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Currently, I am trying to involve myself in activities with students to get more experience. This photo shows me teaching students using something I learned called Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS). It was a great experience for me and made me even more eager to get in the classroom. Additionally, I joined a volunteer group in college, in which I read to a student once a week, while also incorporating literacy activities. These were both very valuable experiences to me and I plan on continuing them in the future and also searching for more opportunities.

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I plan to continue to study Childhood Education at the U of A with a concentration in ESL. I chose ESL because I enjoy learning other languages and would like to, as I mention previously, create a more positive learning environment for students. I felt this would give me many opportunities to work with children from many different cultures and backgrounds. Furthermore, I want to involve myself in more volunteer opportunities involving students so I can become the best educator I can be.