I am currently a Senior attending South Dakota State University majoring in Early

Childhood Education and am receiving a certification in Elementary Education through Madison,

SD with a minor in music. I chose this major because I love to see children flourish and spark

creativity within their learning. Minoring in music allows me to incorporate music within my

teachings of early childhood by flourishing their ability to understand another concept other than

the basics. Growing up in Luverne, Minnesota I was given many opportunities to be involved

not only in the community but also within the school district. Some of those opportunities were

volunteering at different care facilities along with being active in school sports such as softball,

cross country, and hockey along with extra-curricular such as FCCLA, FFA, student council,

marching band, and choir. Being involved in all of these things helps me to be aware of what not

only the school district but community has to offer students.

There are so many learning opportunities in a community that students can take teaching

them to sometimes succeed and to sometimes fail. What students don’t always realize is that it is

ok to fail. I want to be a teacher because I want to be that positive energy and optimist that helps

uplift students whenever they do succeed or fail. I want to be that person they can count on to

help them get a nudge in the right direction and try different learning experiences. I not only

want to play the role of a teacher but as a life coach. I want to be the one to reinforce the idea

that they can do anything they set their mind to.

Some teaching experiences that I have had throughout my lifespan would be teaching

bible school, babysitting, being a nanny, and working in childcare facilities. From these

experiences I have learned that not everything will always go as planned but everything will

work out. An example of this would be when teaching for bible school I created a game that I
wanted to play outside because in order to play the game there needed to be a large space.

Unfortunately, it was pouring outside and there wasn’t enough space to play the game inside so I

had to quickly come up with a solution. It took me a couple minutes to gather my thoughts and

materials to think of an indoor game and it actually turned out very well. The children loved it

and I learned how to problem solve quickly. That being stated, I would like my students to learn

how to problem solve quickly as I did in that situation.

Therefore, I would say that my teaching style is demonstrating, facilitating, and

delegating. I enjoy showing students how to do things first instead of throwing them in but also

like to observe them do it and see them possibly ask for help and helping them. I also enjoy

being the delegator because I can help the student further if needed but also allow them to grow

individually finding themselves within a project or assignment. The constructivist approach also

is something I also like to use due to the hands on learning and students being actively engaged

and utilizing background knowledge to help them. As stated before, I love to see children

flourish and spark creativity within their learning and cannot wait to see what the future holds in

order for me to do so.