Making a Transition

I think the most important thing that I have learned from taking Leadership for Change is to go after what I want with no hestitation. Im not sayin that I make a huge turn around but im not as hesitant to pursue things as I was before. I have more confindence. Im not that fearful of rejection anymore because naturally thats going to happen at some point in your life. I still dont like it, but who does?

I think Ive grown a lot this semester after taking this class. I think I can say that I am more responsible, not that I was that irresponsible. I feel that Ive realized that it is MY responsibility to take the neccesary actions needed to pursue the things I want to do, no one is going to do it for me.

I think more positive now, especially after watching "The Secret." I try to think that all things are possible esp. when you want it bad enough. Ive always known that I wanted to be a teacher but after this semester , I became more confident about it, more secure that I can do it.

I never liked talking to strangers. It was always weird for me. On top of talking to strangers, I had to ask them to do something for me. It actually wasn't bad though. Ive been told that asking the strangers that could help you for what you want gets you good results. Maybe I should try that huh? ;)

Overall I liked the class and the way it was taught. My teacher was GREAT! I dont think there are many things I would change/improve about the class. I think my favorite thing about the class was doing the planning wall. It was a lot of work at first but in the end it proved to be helpful, at least for me. I really like it b/c its a specific layout of what I need to do in order to reach my goal, so there is no guessing on what I need to do next. I also liked the films we watched in class. Though a couple were a little too long, they were still good. I enjoyed hearing the people's stories, they were interesting. The one thing I didnt particularly enjoy was the readings. Wishcraft by Barbara Sher was good because it was actually like a hands on book. The other books were kind of boring to me and seemed to get repetitive with each other.


ClaireLacey♥

Moving Forward: Next Steps

This week my next step was to talk to my Math 140 teacher about a letter of reccomendation. The letter is to help me get approved for taking Math 141, which is another course for pre-elementary education students. Well as I was in the process of doing that he wanted to make sure that I actually needed one. So, we went and talked to Janice Nekola, she approves students for certain math courses. She told us that I didn't need a letter of reccomendation since I was already taking Math 140.
Also I needed to get approval to have my area of concentration Math. Janice Nekola told me that my Math 140 professor would have to reccommend me to her, that is when she will approve me. Well my teacher said that he was glad I wanted my area of concentration to be Math because he thinks I have what it takes to teach Math, so he is going to reccommend me.

This week I haven't really experienced fear or resistence. Since I've seen "The Secret" I have been trying to keep a positive attitude about things. Before seeing "The Secret" I was always hesistant of going after things I wanted to because of fear. I always think I won't succeed or get rejected. That is usually why fear manifests in me. Since the movie, I decided to just go for things and keep a positive attitude about it instead of thinking I will fail at it. I'm not saying fear is totally gone from within me, it just happens less. I will admit though, I'm nervous about submitting my COE application.


ClaireLacey♥

Planning Wall`

First Step

The thing I wrote on my pink card was to prepare my goal statement for the COE application and study study study! for my upcoming chem exam.

Well I did both! I studied really hard for my chem exam and I KNOW I passed. Yes I'm that confident!

My goal statement was fairly easy to write. The question I have to answer is: What attracted you to UIC's education program?



ClaireLacey♥

Interview

Ms. Smith's Response:

What prompt your decision to become an educator?

For as long as I could remember I've wanted to be a teacher. I remember being a child and pretending to be a teacher, it was exhilerating. As I got older I had some experiences with different teachers. Most of them were the same. It felt like the teachers I came across could care less about my education and where I would end up after their class. Those experiences ignited the spark within me to want to become a teacher even more.

What was your journey like on the path to becoming a teacher? Were there times when you felt discouraged? If so, how did you overcome the discouragement?

I feel like my journey was long and hard BUT well worth it. I attended Western Illinois University. I completed my student teaching at a elementary school in Chicago. My discouragement came my freshman year of college, second semester. I am the first to admit that I was not ready for college. I lacked study skills and wanted to party too much! Those bad habits caught up to me the second semester of my freshman year. I was placed on academic probation at the end of second semester. I thought there was no way I could recover from that. I just wanted to give up, but something in me would not let me. The following fall I worked overtime to pull my grades up. To make a long story short, I brought my GPA up and graduated at the top of my class. I wouldn't change my journey for anything. My mishap at the beginning of my college years taught me a valuable lesson. When you have a dream, you must work hard to obtain it because it will not be handed to you on a silver platter.


ClaireLacey♥