Samantha Self-Introduction

Hello! My name is Samantha, and I am an Elementary/Special Education major. I grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee and Knoxville, Tennessee, so I am a long way from home! In high school, I took peer tutoring as an easy way to get an A senior year, but quickly found my passion for teaching. I went to a class with a girl who has Asperger's to help her take notes and explain why people were laughing or the sarcasm they used. It was really eye-opening to me to see a girl with such potential be so confused in everyday conversations. I also spent one period a day in a Life Skills classroom going out on job sites. Most schools have students in a Life Skills curriculum, but you never realize just how much they have to offer until you spend some quality time with them. They taught me so much about myself and really  helped me decided that I wanted to spend my life working in education.

After graduating, I went to a small private college in rural Tennessee for a year before deciding I didn't want someone giving me a 9:00 curfew. Because of the 12 hour drive between my Erie grandparents and me, I never saw them more than twice a  year, so I decided to pack it up and move to Edinboro. Initially, they put me into the new program, but after crying on the Dean's desk and promising I would graduate on time, she allowed me to complete the old program. After almost three years of working my hardest, I'm finally going to keep my promise to her.

My three field placements were all in Erie, so it is definitely different to have both of my student teaching placements in Meadville. During field, I completed placements in second grade at Glenwood Elementary, 9-12 Learning Support at East High School, and 4th/5th grade Emotional Support at Lincoln Elementary School. My two Special Education placements were really challenging. I grew up in a typical Southern school system where a call to your parents was the worst threat possible, so being called swear words as my name was really eye-opening. My first student teaching placement at West End was completely different that I thought it would be. I thought Kindergarten would be singing and dancing and nap time, but I could not have been more wrong. Some of the concepts and vocabulary words they were learning blew my mind. It really made me reflect on my Kindergarten experience and how much more these five and six year olds are required to know.

My new placement is in first, third, and fifth learning support at Neason Hill Elementary School. My first day went well, and I will definitely be challenged during the next seven weeks. I'm excited to see what the rest of the semester has for me, and good luck to all of you!