Eighth Grade English Language Arts Teacher

My mother was a huge influence on me becoming a teacher. When I entered kindergarten, she became a teacher's assistant in a kindergarten class. Throughout school, I loved to visit her classroom and assist her at home preparing for class activities or gifts for her students. Her passion for teaching and her students were illuminated through everything she did, and it inspired me to want that same feeling. I was also heavily influenced by some of my unforgettable teachers as an Elizabeth Public School student. There were teachers I had that I will never forget. They made me find a love for their subject and built wonderful rapports with their students. Taking time to connect with students on a personal level, showing care, and understanding left a lasting impression on me. They also demonstrated a love for learning and enthusiasm that impacted me as well. It was those teachers who acted as role models for me and helped me shape what kind of teacher I wanted to be one day and what impact I wanted to have on my students. I wanted to be a teacher that helped students find a love for reading and writing.

One of my most important personal beliefs about teaching is that every student has potential and we must strive to create an inclusive and supportive environment where students feel valued, respected, and motivated. I try my best to differentiate, modify, create lessons, as well as assignments for students that focus on their interests and are on their specific level. By creating material that students can relate to and complete, it can help with motivation, engagement, and overall growth in learning. Building positive relationships with my students is another aspect of teaching that is most important to me. Trust, empathy, and respect are characteristics I believe are necessary to be a wonderful teacher. Fostering meaningful connections can help support student growth.

To ensure that my students are connected to the lessons that I teach and the world around them, I make the content relevant to them. I include informational texts and videos about current events and various cultures in my lessons that are used for reading, writing, as well as discussion. Project based learning is another strategy I use to deepen students’ understanding of academic content with real-world connections. Integration of real-world and personal connections during lessons can enhance the quality and effectiveness of instruction.

Language Learning Disability Assistant – Special Education

The factors that influenced me to choose this profession are to serve and help. My first passion was to be a lawyer and I studied until my second year then I came to United States, and I want to continue with a career that lets me serve and help. I had a good opportunity when I was hired as a Teacher Assistant with special needs and immediately, I loved it, working with amazing teachers, learning from them, and helping students changed everything in my life. I wouldn’t change it for anything. Teaching showed me that we can change lives and still do what I wanted to do, “serve and help.” After many years now and seeing students going to high school every year, it makes me happy and proud of them and why not say proud of myself because I contributed to their growth by playing a part in keeping them walking on to a new path in their lives.  

My worksite responsibilities are to help teachers prepare materials, keep the classroom organized with all the necessary tools while keeping them clean as well as placed in the right areas. In addition, I work with students and make sure that they are safe first and understand the daily routine. The most important thing for students with disabilities is taking care of each one and listening to their needs because each one is unique. I believe it is always important to work together with the classroom teacher as a team. Fortunately, I love photography and is my second profession. This skill allows me to create new materials and tools, helping the teacher and students. The last two years I had an amazing experience of teaching a student how to take pictures and he is now our photographer in the school. We created amazing memories that are displayed on the walls. We cannot wait for all that is coming. I am very grateful for every day, and I am happy in the mornings knowing that we are going to have new things to learn, to do, to share and experience.