Hello, my name is Nycole Carey and I am a second year student at Husson University. I am majoring in Elementary Education and my desired grade level is kindergarten. My first practicum, last semester, was in a pre-kindergarten classroom. I loved every minute of it. I have spend a lot of my time inside of the classroom. My senior year of high school at Penquis Valley, in Milo, I had most of the credits I needed to graduate and was the first student from my school to get credit from a work study program I arranged. Basically I had the chance to spend half of everyday in a kindergarten classroom helping out. I learned a lot from this experience and it helped me to understand that this profession is the right one for me.
During high school I participated in a large variety of school activities. I was the vice-president of out class, an officer for key club, and an officer for Jobs for Maine Graduates (JMG). I also was a mentor, part of NHS, and on the yearbook committee. Along with all of these I have a large passion for basketball. I was on varsity all four years, captain my junior and senior years.
In school, my seventh grade year was the very first year of the lap tops. We also had them my eighth grade year, but since then I haven't used one. We used them a lot in school, learning all of the programs but since they were still new the teachers weren't exactly sure yet on how they would be used. I feel they could have taught us a lot more about the computers, or even made lessons more exciting with them. Aside from that, I have taken multiple classes using computers in high school. I took a computer class which mostly consisted of typing, desktop publishing, multimedia, and advanced desktop (yearbook). Every computer class I have taken in the past I have really enjoyed. Although it wasn't using a mac, I feel I am fairly comfortable with computers. I spend a decent amount of time on the computer during my free time also between e-mail or facebook.
I enjoy doing hands on projects that are creative. I feel I have more to show and I fully learn a concept if I have to figure it out for myself. My least favorite way to learn would have to be auditory. I have a hard time with lectures and not having any type of visual or hands on project to grasp the subject. This would have to be a large part of why I enjoy computer classes.
I look forward to learning how to use technology in my future teaching career. I feel it is important in order to be successful as a teacher and also make it fun for the students.
