Changing Your Future
The Personal Website of Cara L. Morris
about me
I come from a very long line of elementary school teachers—my great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, aunt, sister, cousin, ... I have always had a desire to help children discover, learn, and grow.When I was 5, I made an "All About Me" book and wrote that I was going to be a teacher when I grew up. I still have that book as a reminder of my early dream.
Today, I am a 1st grade teacher in the California public school system. My school, at which I have taught for 11 years, has a large percentage of minority and low-income families. This presents challenges; however, I love these kids and I wouldn't trade this school for any other "better" location.
I have 20 students in my class. 75% of my students have attended kindergarten and pre-school at the same school and 75% of those students have siblings who have attended the school for three years or more. These numbers are higher than they have been in the past and that is a great testament to the impact of our school on the community. Many people would look at our kids and see "lost causes." I only see children, children who, despite the challenges in their lives, come to school excited about learning and excited about their future.
Someday in the future, I would like to open my own learning center where I can ensure that all children in my care are learning in the best way possible for them. This is what I work towards. This is my "Why."
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Tuesday, March 18, 2003
I am half of the way through my vacation. I have started to clean out the dreaded room and actually, found some books for my students that I thought I was missing. :) I buy "interesting" chapter books that are right at my students' average reading level and let the students check out the books for a week. Keep in mind that 3rd graders find some unusual things interesting. They love the Junie B. Jones series in which a kindergartener describes her daily antics from a kindergarten perspective. They also enjoy SpongeBob from the television cartoon and Jackie Chan, also based on a television cartoon. I have tried to introduce my students to some great literary works, as well as the popular stuff. Some of my kids have read The Time Machine, The Jungle Book, A Tale of Two Cities, and Black Beauty. (I apologize, this program doesn't allow me to underline or add italics). My degree is in English Literature, so I would be remiss if I failed to introduce my kids to the "good stuff". When was the last time you got lost in a good book?posted by Cara at 10:03 PM |
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Tuesday, March 04, 2003
Wow, this is hard to keep up with. :) I am now a teacher who is off-track!! Whooohooooo!!! 4 1/2 weeks to be exact. During that time, I get to re-organize my school files, write lesson plans, clean out my dreaded "storage room", and re-connect with my two very lonely cats. In the past, I would be spending a good portion of my vacation in inservices and training meetings. This year, however, we were able to those meetings taken care of during our first 2 off-track sessions. So, I actually get a break. This will be a great time for me to plan for the end of the year with standardized testing coming up in May. Standardized testing. . . that's an entry all on its own. :) Maybe later. For now. . .I am on VACATION!!!posted by Cara at 9:06 PM |
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