Capture 12

Over thanksgiving break I read a book called "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. It was a great book that took principles about frugality that I believe in and showed how to apply them to be successful, no matter the income. It was truly motivating, as well as captivating. I like how he was able to publish a book and thereby teach millions of people how to better use their money. Business, finance, all those things, have always really interested me, but I left the business school shortly after my mission because I figured out I wanted to teach. I had always thought about how cool it would be to teach finance, economics, and such to high school kids, but I had always just figured that if one of those classes opened up in my school I would try to get it. However, after I read this book, I've been thinking about it so much, and realizing how large of an impact it could make on students' lives if they figure out what to do with their money. That book had some shocking statistics that showed how poorly many americans manage their money. For example, over 80% of college students graduate college with some debt. 97% of americans aren't financially ready to retire when they are of retiring age. I want to become involved and help people with that. Debt is often caused by a lack of financial knowledge, and debt can be super depressing and crushing. It is a horrible master but an excellent servant. I took a look at the requirements online at uose to see what I would need for an endorsement to teach those classes. It is a 15 credit endorsement, but I already have the accounting credits and macroeconomics credits, so I would only need 9 more, (microeconomics, finance, and one other). I'm seriously considering picking this endorsement up...

Capture 11

We taught the sixth graders, and I felt so much more calm than I do when I teach my peers. I like that sign. I also thought that I was able to figure out a lot of the students in the classroom pretty quickly. There were some that were easy to figure out because they participated so vocally in class, but for most of them it took some one-on-one time to figure them out. I think if I create activities in my classroom that allow for that, that allow me as the teacher to go around and help individually then I will greatly benefit. I will benefit because I will know different students strengths and weaknesses. I will be able to tailor my activities and my class questions to best help each student. Another thing that Geoff said, as we were riding back from the classroom that I thought was interesting was that you can find yourself in these students. If you see a kid that is the same as you were, it helps because you know how to solve that kid's learning hurdles. You have a great insight as to what will help.

Teaching those sixth graders was pretty great also because I got to see that the teacher was himself. When I was in el ed and observed teachers at the lower grades, it seemed like they weren't themselves. Mr. Larson really just acted normally. I saw obviously saw moments when he needed to have some discipline but during the fun times he just had fun. That is really encouraging for me because I am split between which age level I want to teach. It was good to see that Mr. Larson could have fun with those 6th graders.