Guided Response: Since we will be spending the next five weeks together, it is important for us to build a classroom culture and get to know each other. Read your classmates’ posts and respond to at least three of your peers. Ask questions to get to know your classmates more or comment on connections between you and your classmates. You will find that you share many commonalities. So, there are three classmates so it should be three respond for each classmate. NOT ONE REPONDS

Hello everyone my name is Mitzi McDowell, I am the baby of a family of three, I have 2 older brothers.  I am the mother of 2 wonderful children (don’t we all say that about our children), and the owner of 2 amazing dogs and band new puppies (9).  We live in a small town called Saint Paul’s in North Carolina.  It is definitely a country town with country stores, corn fields, cow pastures, and deer running across your yard type of town.  It is enjoyable because my dogs can run freely; we can ride four wheelers, and have huge family gatherings without bothering our neighbors.

My education began right out of college; I attended a four year university Winston Salem State University.  In the midst of college my mother became very ill and she was keeping my son during the time.  I did drop out of school after a total of 3years to take care of her and my son.  No regrets, I feel now I have more discipline, a little scared, but determined to finish what I started.

I am currently employed at Mann Hummel Purolator Filters in Fayetteville, NC.  This is a filter company and we supply filters to some of the largest automobile companies worldwide.  I worked in the Data Key Entry for about 1 ½ years, then moved to Traffic Department for 2 years, then worked as office support for 2 ½ years and then Customer Service department for 5years, and now I am working in the Packaging Department.  It is great to see a different side of the business, I began working with the end result and now I have transitioned to the start of the process.   

From this course my learning objectives are a deeper understanding of teaching methods, of the curriculum, the student, and diverse students. Also the methods of a great instructional plan for all involved.  English language learners I will say are similar to what I am comfortable with.  My native tongue is English, but to teach it to diverse learners may be difficult, but being a teacher is about facing the difficult and conquering.  As an educator we must learn to teach diverse students, due to the diverse world we live in.  There is nowhere we can go and not have to teach to one set standard of children.  They all learn different, come from different backgrounds etc., therefore some form of diversity some differences great and some small.

As for my future a part of me would love to get back into the classroom, although so much is going on in North Carolina regarding teachers, teacher’s pay, classroom structure etc. I still feel good teachers are needed.  We are losing our youth to the streets, to drugs, to their demons and I always felt teachers were heroes so I want to put on a cape and try to do my part.

Hello,

My name is Michael Tate I am a 39 year old father of four amazing kids. Ages range from 14 my oldest to 4 my youngest with 3 girls and 1 boy. They keep us busy, my wife is a third grade teacher and I have been active duty Air Force for the last 19 years. I will be retiring this year and looking to start my own teaching career. I am obsessed with coaching kids in all sports but I love basketball the most. I was stationed in Osan Air Force base in Korea and was able to coach the Osan American High School team and that is when I fell in love with the concept of teaching and coaching as my next career.  I never thought that I would want to teach but life doesn’t always go as planned and I never thought that I would do 20 years in the military as well but here I am about to retire from something that I love as well. I originally joined to try and find myself and was only going to do four years and get out and go to school. Well life is funny and it changes at the drop of a hat. It has taken me on a long journey of self-discovery and I feel as though I can use my life and experiences to help others in the future. I am pursuing my degree in Education Studies and this is one of the required classes for my degree. I am sure that I will learn something from this class just like every other class that I have attended with Ashford.  

As far as English language learners goes I can only imagine how difficult it is for them when English is not their first language. Lucky for me I have worked with all types in my 20 year career in the Air Force and know what a challenge it can be for them when it comes to learning something in another language.  I look forward to this class and learning more about how to better help them.

My name is Wilishia, I am 26, and I am from Sanford, FL. I recently enrolled in classes after a long “break” and deciding what it really is that I want to do with my life. I attended public school in the Seminole County School district, where I plan on educating. I chose my hometown as a base because it is a real nurturing environment and education is one of the top priorities. A lot of funding goes into education here and as a result each school is either a magnet school, performing arts, or incorporates both. I plan to teach middle to high school English and have recently considered guidance counselor as well. I have done a lot of shadowing at schools in my district, but I have not yet took the position of the instructor. I think it is important for educators to learn about teaching diverse learners because education is not a singular thing. There is no one way to learn or educate, and the only wrong way is to not make the attempt. It is important to educate everyone equally especially individuals from a background that is foreign to yours. No one likes to be misunderstood or to not understand what’s going on around them, so it is important that educators make all students feel like their well being matters.