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I am Karen Rebecca Williams.
I am caring.
I am a mother, grandmother, wife, and daughter.
I am not perfect.
I am blessed.
I am crazy (but in a good way).
I am a leader.
I am extra.
I am confident.
I am a work in progress.
I am loved.
I am a multi-tasker.
I am a learner.
I am a teacher.
I am Karen Rebecca Williams.

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The image that best captures the back ground if my name is a snapshot of the board I created for the my name project. My Name- Karen means pure and Rebecca means a servant of God. Neither meanings are a true representation of who I feel I am.
How I got my name- On the way to the hospital. My mom plead with my father to name me Karen and he agreed. Rebecca is a family name held by my great-great grandma, my mom, and my niece. Williams is my married last name and means son of William. I have no clue who William is, but I like his name.
Other last names- Maiden-Evans Previous marriage- Gagnon

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I would say my favorite characteristic is how welcoming I am. I love meeting new people. I think this characteristic helps me succeed in life.  Becoming a teacher, I must interact and collaborate with a variety of individuals. I look forward to working with fellow staff, parents and future students with open arms. This picture is of a cross-stitch I made 25 years ago and hangs in my son's house. Welcoming is a characteristic I want my children to possess.

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The important object prompt required a good deal of thought for me to come up with an object of significance. I had to choose something that represents what means the most to me. My wedding ring symbolizes my family and above all they mean the most to me. My family's love is unconditionally and never ending. Without them, I could not live.

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I have countless privileges in my life. From being a small business owner to never experiencing discrimination based on my skin color. The one privilege that stands out the most is becoming a mom again at 41. This privilege in my life has had the greatest impact on me. I can not even imagine life with out her. Because of her, the path my life was taking completely changed. Having a child late in life grounded me and gave me clear direction. This direction led me to following my life long dream of becoming a teacher.

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Coming up with a cultural bias that I had was a tough one for me because  I love all people. For me, I do not have a bias but more an envy of skinny people. My weight has always been a struggle for me, and I have had  to diet my entire life. When I see skinny people, I get the sense of wishing I could be more like them. The above picture is my before and after picture of my weight loss in 2014. My whole focus in life was exercise and eating a set number of calories. The week my after picture was taken, I got pregnant with my third child. At this point in my life, I do not have the time or energy to devote to losing weight. My goal is to find balance and be able to be successful at all aspects of my life. Maybe after finishing this program, I will be able to focus on losing weight once again.

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This is a picture of my son's best friend, Danilo. Danilo's family is from Cuba and their primary  language is Spanish. My family attended his graduation party and were at a disadvantage because we only speak English. This experience provided me valuable insight on how an ELL feels joining a class and can not yet speak English. I was able to walk in their shoes and experience life from their perspective.

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My cultural values and beliefs can be summed up with the words in the picture above. Family is what matters the most. Having compassion and acceptance of all people were characteristics instilled in me by upbringing and faith. These are qualities that are necessary as a teacher. Supporting and caring about all students will allow me to make a positive difference in children's lives.

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My all time favorite literary experience has been being on the game show The Family Feud. I had an amazing time collaborating with my family and trying to come up with the most popular answers to asked questions. Although we did not win, it was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.

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Every single person who is already a teacher or in the process of becoming a teacher needs to read Fish in a Tree. Reading this book has impacted me more than anything else I have read and will allow me to be a better educator. It provides insight from a struggling student from her prospective. After reading it, I learned you can not see children for what they appear on the surface and you must dig deeper to meet their needs. In my opinion, it is a MUST read and should be assigned reading for this program.

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My strength in teaching diverse students has come from my field placement last year. Dr. Cowdrick's  class was composed of 22 students who were all English Language Learners and truly operated as a team. Being a part of Cowdrick's Crew taught me an incredible amount about working with ELL's. It showed me the need for teachers to believe they can do it. I saw how even though there were many cultures and languages represented in the class, Dr. Cowdrick was able to meet their needs.

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Even after being a part of Cowdrick's crew and taking this ELAN course, I still question my abilities of being able to meet the needs of ELL's. I still need a lot of work to become the teacher I hope to be. I worry that if I have a student that speaks no English, what do I do first? Can I meet their needs?? It has become my mission to figure this out. I am determined to be that teacher that makes a difference. I will continue to build on my knowledge and read, collaborate, and research for ways to make it happen.

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I am no good at taking selfies so I decided to take a different approach. I chose a "teacher" picture. Even though this picture is from student teaching, it is my very first "teacher" picture. When I look at it, I see my faults and imperfections, but I also see progress and hard work. I am ready to be a teacher and look forward to dozens of future "teacher" pictures.

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Today technology is everywhere and an integral part of literacy. Phones, iPads, and computers are all used in my home as literacy practices. My daughter sings along with songs that expand her vocabulary and teachers her new ideas. I use technology to compose emails and interact with social media. The use of electronics can enrich literacy and learning and is a daily part of my home life.