Hi, my name is Grace Flynn. I was
born in Wilmington, North Carolina on June 19, 1994. I lived there for about a
year then moved to Corning, New York. I lived there for about 8 years before my
dad got a new job in Connecticut. I spend 6 years here before job complications
caused my dad to find a new job in Maryland. I spent all of high school at
Broadneck Senior High School in Annapolis, Maryland. I love Annapolis so much,
it’s such a beautiful town and really allowed me to turn into the person I am
today. Through high school I spent a lot of time babysitting, lifeguarding, and
working at the church down the street. One of the families that I babysat for had a
child with autism. This allowed me to really work with a special education
student. For the past 2 summers I have worked as a lifeguard at Chase Creek (a
small community pool), because the pool was so small I got to spend a lot of
time with the little kids that belonged there and had the chance to work with
them every day. At the church I worked in the Sunday school and helped my dad
teach a class of 12 second graders. I also helped form the new middle school
and high school program through the youth group. Through the past 4 years I have
really found that my passion is working with children.
Here at Edinboro University I am
studying Early and Special Education. When I am done at school I will be able
to teach both early education with kindergarten through fourth grade and
special education kindergarten through eighth grade. Right now I am a freshman
just getting my feet wet in the education program. I am excited to start and
see if I really want to choose a career working with kids.
Technology in the classroom is
something I have mixed feelings about. While I think that the smart boards and I
pads are useful for a lot of lesson plans and games that kids will enjoy being engaged
in I think that there is a lot to learn from books. There is never going to be
anything that can replace a book. I think that kids need a book in their hands
to fully grasp reading. They can use their fingers to follow the text and turn
the pages using fine motor skills and then they get the self-satisfactory of
closing that last page and shutting the book when they complete the story. The technology
that I find useful are the smart boards for learning games that allow kids to
become even more involved and excited about learning. Technology in the
classroom also allows more students to become more successful with learning by incorporating
different learning styles that work better for them. by creating games and
different presentations it keeps attention while lectures and overheads might
have been boring to many students.
I think that teaching is the most
rewarding career. Teachers help to mold students into the people they will
become. Students have a lot of influences and to be able to make a positive influence
is the most rewarding feeling. Teaching is about more than standing in front of
kids and teaching them what the books say, it’s about teaching them social,
emotional, physical and mental skills to make them successful in their future.
