Ms. Reber at the Lotus Festival in Echo Park, Los Angeles
Why do I teach?
“Happy is the man who can make a living by his hobby”, said George Bernard Shaw. This is especially true if your hobby is also your passion. My mother was an elementary school teacher with almost thirty years of experience. She was the first person to instill in me a passion for the profession and served as my inspiration to work with children. For this reason, I have always been passionate about teaching and sharing knowledge with others. I believe that teaching is a very honorable and valuable profession which plays a critical role in fostering a healthy society.
What do I teach?
Being a Russian native speaker, I was hired as a Russian language teacher at a private elementary school in Hacienda Heights, California. I taught students who ranged from Kindergarten to the sixth grade. This has given me experience creating lesson plans and adapting them to different age and developmental levels. In addition to that, I had an opportunity to create and work on the Russian curriculum for the school. All this made me very proud to watch my children eagerly work on their speaking, reading and writing assignments. They’ve made wonderful progress in their studies. Most of my students are now able to hold lengthy conversations in a language they didn’t know before! What a treat!
Shortly after, I was admitted to California State Univeristy, Northridge where I am successfully working on my Multiple Subject Teaching credential. Currently, I tutor my students in Mathematics, Reading, English as a Second Language and Russian. My summers are busy working at SAPESS (Summer Academic Program for Elementary School Students) which is organized by CSUN as well as last summer (2013) I worked as a substitute ESL teacher for Kings Colleges which is one of the biggest private language schools in Los Angeles.
Last year I was lucky to be placed to student teach in Dearborn Elementary which is located in the heart of Northridge. It was a great experience and such pleasure to teach my 3rd graders and learn more methods and techniques from my master teacher. During my take over week I had a chance to successfully teach my students many core subjects including science, physical education, social studies, reading and of course mathematics. Currently, I am a student teacher in a Kindergarten class at Monlux Elementary which I also enjoy a lot.
How do I teach?
As my mom always says, “There is no good work without play”. This is why I always attempt to integrate various songs, poems, games and videos and riddles into my lesson plans. It gives me such pleasure to see my students grow and become more knowledgeable both about the topic at hand and the world around them. The process of passing knowledge and skills to others and contributing to the betterment of our society makes me very excited about it.
When I work on my lesson plans, I always keep in mind who these lesson plans are targeting. Throughout the years, I had different students whose learning styles also differed. Some of them were English learners and some of them had various special needs. I am planning my activities, learning tasks and ways to explain subject matter with this in mind. When sketching my lessons, I always leave a note to myself regarding students who might need specific accommodations or differentiations. Please take a loot at my sample lesson plans!
Ms. Reber and her mom, Olena, enjoying the walk at the 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica
What are my objectives as an educator?
What I hope to contribute to the field of education, is to help children learn and enjoy the process of learning. My desire is to teach them to be creative, responsible, hardworking and trustworthy. Most of all, I will seek to guide them to be good citizens, and to inspire them to live an exemplary life… for the sake of their own children, and for their children’s children.
Teaching is like an ocean. Just like the ocean is endless, there are endless ways every teacher can perfect their craft.
Having worked as a teacher for some time, I like it so much that I frankly cannot imagine myself doing anything else! In fact, if I didn’t have to concern myself about a roof above my head, food, clothing and bills,this is something that I would do for free.
As a new educator, I realize that there is no such thing as a perfect teacher. One can always come very close by continually improving one’s skills but still not reach perfection. Nonetheless, I know that being a teacher will allow me to fulfill my passion and give me the tools to be useful to society and truly make a positive difference in my students’ lives. Most of all, I look forward to creating valuable learning experiences for others. Currently, my goals are to continue learning and implement various techniques, methods and styles of teaching from other professionals.
I continually seek to improve my skills and teaching methodology for the sake of my students and their well-being. For me, teaching is a creative process. My ongoing goals are to encourage creative thinking in my students as well as solid problem solving skills. The mastery of the fundamentals will encourage students to seek the tools to go beyond them. Most of all, I want to inspire them to pursue something of positive benefit to society, much as my mother inspired me.
Please visit my resume!
Sincerely,
Nadia Noble