My name is Carrie Brown and I am currently a K-2 Instructional Coach for Cook Elementary in Winston Salem Forsyth County Schools. I moved here from Chicago 3 years ago where I had taught 2nd grade for 7 years. I miss being in the classroom and have been re-inspired by all that I have learned in this graduate program. As I don't have a classroom of my own, I spend time in a lot of different classrooms showing teachers how to implement all the new strategies and techniques that I have learned.
I am looking forward to taking this class because I have been teaching in an inner city environment for 9 of my 10 years in education. I am a strong advocate for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and am passionate about the fair and equal treatment of all students. I also believe that although my varied experiences have taught me how to work with a diverse population, I am always looking forward to learning more about how to best understand and support my students and their families.
Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. For as long as I can remember, my mom and I would curl up on the couch together with a book. We still do in the rare occasions I get to see her! Although now that I am much bigger, we share the couch but our heads are at opposite ends, reading silently our own choices, yet in fact, reading together. When I was young, I always had my nose in a book. I recall one time my brother saved up to buy me a Sweet Valley High book for my birthday. I stayed in bed and polished it off in 2 ½ hours and he was furious that it didn’t last longer!
My love of reading just scored me a Kindle for Mother’s Day, which I am truly enjoying but I still don’t think I’ll ever totally give up the love of turning the pages of a good book. I tend to like mysteries, yet my book club has been picking some interesting novels lately that I have enjoyed. I have to admit, I’ll give a book 50 pages and if I’m not into it, I put it down. That’s why I am adamant about giving students choices on what they would like to read. I want them to LIKE what they are reading, otherwise the likelihood that they will learn something goes downhill.
My daughter who is only 11 months old, already chooses books over any other toys. I was floored when I walked into her room the other day and saw her sitting on the floor turning the pages of her favorite book (don’t worry…I got it on video)! As I am already doing with my daughter, I am determined to motivate and promote a love of reading with the students in my school both first hand, and through instructing their teachers. Once a child is literate, their chances of success increase greatly. The students that I work with tend to have more obstacles to learning before they even enter the classroom. Understanding where they are coming from and what their needs are is my job as an educator. Reading is the greatest gift that I could give to an individual and it is a goal of mine to give it to as many students as possible, regardless of where they come from.
Writing is not something that comes as naturally. In fact, I have never enjoyed writing at all. Therefore, I hated teaching it. That is, until my charter school in Chicago made writing our priority for professional development for the entire school year. We implemented the Writer’s Workshop program and I realized how writing could be fun. That year, writing became my students’ favorite subject. I would have to set a timer for us to stop, otherwise, we would forget to go to lunch! Now, I find myself modeling how to teach writing to a number of my teachers because it IS a very hard subject to teach. Everyone is at a different place, and has different needs. Yet, I learned a very important lesson: when students see you love something, they love it. Therefore, when I model writing, I model how much I enjoy it as well as modeling the skill. I have found that that enthusiasm can be contagious.
I look forward to learning from you all…
Carrie Brown