Practice Blog Post

Outline

A. Who am I?

1. My name is Julie Cornelson. I am an elementary education major.

2. I was born in Mobile and have lived here my whole life.

3. I am engaged and will be married in November of this year.

4. My fiancé and I have a five year old son together.

B. Why do I want to be an educator?

1. I have been surrounded by educators and children for most of my life.

2. My mother taught kindergarten until I was in middle school. At that time, she took a position as director of my church's daycare. I worked in this daycare for three years.

3. Most of the women in my life are teachers because of the connections and friendships that my mother made as a teacher that have lasted through time. Also, my sister is a teacher and many of her friends are as we'll.

4. My past experiences and the mentors I have in this field, made teaching a natural path for life.

C. What does an educator do in his or her practice?

1. lesson planning

2. learning

3. practicing

4. teaching

D. What are my passions?

1. children

2. reading and math

3. family

Blog Post

My name is Julie Cornelson, and I am a student at the University of South Alabama, majoring in Elementary Education. I was born in Mobile, AL, and I have lived here my whole life. I have a late birthday, so I was only seventeen when I graduated high school. I was nervous to leave home, so I started looking around at local schools. I ended up attending USA for both the price and the opportunities available here. I fell in love with the university after getting involved in several organizations including SGA, Southbound, and Freshman Leadership Council. I have changed my major twice. I think because I have several teachers in my family, I rebelled against the idea of becoming a teacher. However, I find myself gravitating towards children, and I have even had several people in my current work environment (which has nothing to do with education or children) comment that they think I would make a great teacher. I have been surrounded by educators and children for most of my life. Most of the women in my life are teachers because of the connections and friendships that my mother made as a teacher that have lasted through time. Also, my sister is a teacher and many of her friends are as well. My mother taught kindergarten until I was in middle school. At that time, she took a position as director of my church's daycare. I worked in this daycare for three years.

I come from a big family. My family never felt large to me, but people are always shocked to hear that my parents have five children. I have a five year old son, and his father and I are engaged to be married in November. My son's name is Joel, and I'm sure I'll talk about him on this blog a lot in the future. He is in kindergarten this year at Council Traditional School.

The profession of teaching has changed drastically in the 21st century with the boom of technology. It is becoming harder to keep children engaged without turning on some type of electronic device. When I was in elementary school, classrooms were doing well to have one computer. Most classrooms had cassette players and headphones so that students could listen to books on tape. My middle school classrooms used overhead projectors. I can remember my mother, as a kindergarten teacher, using an overhead projector to trace characters onto her bulletin boards. Now, each and every classroom has a smart board, and many elementary schools offer or require iPads for each student starting around 2nd or 3rd grade. Gone are the days when using the computer once a week or watching an educational video once in a while was exciting. No, now students expect technology to be integrated into almost every lesson, every day.

I am aware that it is strange, but I have always loved math. Growing up, it was always my favorite subject in school. I think the reason I loved math so much was because it clicked for me right from the start. If it had ever been a struggle, I'm sure I would have hated it like everyone else. I firmly believe that my early elementary teachers played a big part in my understanding of math. Sure, some people are just hard-wired to be better or to grasp it more quickly, but if educators take the time, knowledge of math basics is attainable for most all students. There are many ways to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Taking the time to help students, even if it means they learn a different method, is vital in mathematics especially. I have also always been a reader. I'm quite certain that this stems from my mother being a kindergarten teacher. She put great emphasis and importance on being a reader--not just learning how to read. We always had books available to us at home, and she showed a great example by reading to us and reading in front of us. I believe that all subjects are important, but math and reading hold a soft spot in my heart, and I hope to be able to share that with my students.