https://padlet.com/ste2135832/z4u3af5k2magkg2v en-us 2022-10-06 19:17:42 UTC 2026-02-26 14:21:57 UTC hello@padlet.com ste2135832 https://padlet.com/ste2135832/z4u3af5k2magkg2v/wish/2329975260           I started my education back in the Spring of 2020.  To date, I have taken 8 online courses, and am now enrolled in 2 more. 

         I am really excited about working with my own students someday soon, as I am finishing up my education at Rio Salado Community College to become a certified elementary school teacher in Arizona.  It has been a LOT of work, but I really believe that this program has been doing a great job preparing me to become a great teacher.  
    I have successfully completed 8 online teacher-education courses at Rio Salado, and I am now enrolled in 2 more.  My coursework has been very challenging, but I have learned so much.  I look forward to applying everything I have learned in my own regular classroom with my own students some day.  
    In case you are wondering, the word "apply" according to this dictionary that I use is: "to put to practical use."  So I look forward to put into practical use the things I have learned in my own classroom.  ]]> 2022-10-06 19:25:57 UTC https://padlet.com/ste2135832/z4u3af5k2magkg2v/wish/2329975260 ste2135832 https://padlet.com/ste2135832/z4u3af5k2magkg2v/wish/2329994772      Before I decided to do this, I studied at the University of Arizona to become a high school French and Spanish teacher.   I graduated from this university quite a few years ago, back in 1985.  In 1992, I graduated from ASU in Tempe with a Masters in French.  While working on that degree there, I taught introductory French courses to college students, which I really enjoyed. 
 I have always enjoyed studying these languages, especially French, which I consider the most beautiful language in the world.  When I am speaking French with someone, I almost feel like a different person, as if I have been transported to Paris, France or to Montreal, Quebec, in Canada.  
    I like studying and learning new languages because the whole process makes me feel better about myself, because when I was in the early primary grades in school, I struggled with learning to read and write in English.  Learning French and Spanish in college was my way of "doing better" in terms of being able to read and write in those languages.
    For this reason, I really understand and empathize with elementary school students who struggle to read and write.  I hope to use this understanding to help my future students in a grade school in Arizona.
    Just so you know:  the word "empathy" means "to have the same feelings" as those of someone else."  I found this definition in the pocket-size Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which I always carry around with me so that when I come across a word I don't know, I can learn it's meaning or when I DO know it, I can explain it to my students in simpler words. ]]> 2022-10-06 19:44:14 UTC https://padlet.com/ste2135832/z4u3af5k2magkg2v/wish/2329994772 ste2135832 https://padlet.com/ste2135832/z4u3af5k2magkg2v/wish/2330007405     After I finished my MA in French at ASU in 1992, I decided to see whether teaching children or teenagers would be a good job fit for me.  So, I started substitute teaching in various elementary and high schools in the Phoenix area.  I did this from about 1995 to 2010, so about 15 years.  
    While doing this, I decided that I really did not enjoy substitute teaching teenagers French and Spanish, because I found that it was too stressful working with them and because I came to realize that most of these students would soon forget what I had taught them after they graduated from high school.
    However, while I was working with students in the earlier primary grades, I found that I really enjoyed this age group.  Also, I realized that teaching children how to read and write in these grades would have a much more lasting impact on their future.
     I especially liked Kindergarten because there are lots of ways to use arts and crafts to teach them how to read and write.  For example, I once taught some kindergartners how to make the upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet with playdough.]]> 2022-10-06 19:55:32 UTC https://padlet.com/ste2135832/z4u3af5k2magkg2v/wish/2330007405 ste2135832 https://padlet.com/ste2135832/z4u3af5k2magkg2v/wish/2361169514    For the last three years, I have been living in the beautiful house my mother left to my brother and me after she passed away ten years ago.  This is the house where I grew up, and it has been so much fun being able to relive some of my favorite childhood memories while living here.
    I live with my adorable cat who is also my best friend, Kitty.  I love her almost as much as she loves me.  
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