Sunday, March 9, 2014

Erika Wittig Shrader

Hello, Everyone!

I am studying to earn a Single Subject Credential at National University to teach Science. I graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Earth Science, and enjoyed every minute of my experience there. It was quite extraordinary to learn about the Earth and its dynamic systems that interact to create the beautiful and interesting world around us while roaming through the pristine landscape of the Central Coast during class field trips and journeys of my own personal explorations. I fell in love with teaching when I participated in programs at Cal Poly to teach science to young students through fun hands-on activities and experiments. Using the University's learning motto of "Learn by Doing", all students, including those at Cal Poly and the young ones who came to visit, were able to truly gain an understanding of the concepts they were learning by creating and manipulating models, and to see for themselves how things work through the use of their senses. The effectiveness of the "Learn by Doing" motto has carried on into my life after Cal Poly as both a lifelong learner and educator. Now, as a student at National University, I am thrilled to be learning how to put my plan of becoming an educator into action, and gaining valuable knowledge of how to be the teacher I aspire to be.

Aside from being a science nerd, I also love surfing, yoga, art, traveling, music, dancing, food, and so many more amazing things! I am currently working as an Instructional Assistant at a local elementary school for 2nd grade students with special needs, and am very honored to be helping them to achieve success, and watching them grow. Working with students with special needs is very important for me to gain an understanding of their behavior and capabilities, and to practice implementing methods of assisting them with their individual needs. This experience, I believe, will be an incredible benefit to all of my students as a teacher in mainstream education. Thanks for reading!

-Erika :)

No comments:

Post a Comment