International Student Teaching Spring 2009

My name is Rebecca Jones. I am at Leesville Road High School in the North Raleigh area, which is also where I graduated from high school--class of '05! I am teaching two sections of regular-level World History and one section of Honors US History. I have always loved studying history. When I was a little girl, my parents took me and my brother to historic sites all over the country. My grandmother encouraged me to delve deeper into history and understand why it is important and fascinating. History and the study of our culture is so important for all of us to learn. It teaches us who we are as a people, where we came from, and how we can learn from our mistakes. At Leesville I met the two history teachers who would inspire me to become a teacher. They helped me understand the importance of sharing my love of history and the importance of caring for other people. I choose to participate in the international student teaching program because I have always loved Ireland. When I was trying to decide if I wanted to apply my mother gave me the advice to do it because as she said, "You will always have another chance to go to Ireland, you will probably never have another chance of teaching there." I am hoping to learn how to teach history from other culture's perspective and to take myself out of my natural comfort zone. I can't wait to leave!

It is only a few weeks before I head to Costa Rica for 5 weeks!! I am Ashley Garbrick and I first started teaching because I had a love for children. Family and friends always commented on my warm nature and patience for them. Once I started my educational classes, I fell in love with being able to teach children about everything. I was not the smartest student growing up and I have worked very hard to be the student I am today. With my educational background I feel I can connect with many students and I am excited to start teaching.
I am with 42 amazing fifth graders at Valle Crucis Elementary and I am going to miss them dearly. My cooperating teacher is a dream come true. She helps me in every way possible because she wants me to succeed and we work very well together. We both love to laugh and there is never a day that goes by that we do not.
I have the passion to travel and when I heard of this opportunity to teach and travel, I took great interest. I chose Costa Rica because in NC the second most spoken language is Spanish. I felt that if I immerse myself in a Spanish culture then I will be able to learn some of the language. This will help me to connect with the Spanish students in my future classroom.
I want to become a well rounded person and opening my doors to new adventures I believe I can achieve this.When I go home I hope I have a new understanding of the Costa Rican culture. I am there to teach English to the students, but I except to learn Spanish from them. Also, I hope to learn new teaching styles because many countries have different styles, but we all achieve the same goal. I also what to learn about Costa Rican culture and customs. I feel that traditions are an influence on the people and their way of living. I am not educated on how Costa Ricans live and I am excited to see the similarities and differences between two cultures.
I cannot wait but I will miss teaching my fifth graders!

My name is Nick Davis and I will be heading to Ireland in about three weeks. This May I will receive my Physical Education K-12 degree from Appalachian. I am currently teaching P.E. classes out at Cove Creek here in Watauga county.

During my school years I enjoyed going to P.E. I have fond memories of my P.E. teachers and my time spent in thei classes. To put it bluntly, I had fun in those classes. I have always thought as P.E. teachers being in the business of fun. These are the only classes where students are expected to move around, play, and have fun. I figured out long ago that if I was going to do something, it would have to be something I enjoy. I have enjoyed everyday of my student teaching. I love seeing my students being active and playing.

I had told my parents about the International program and they encouraged me to apply. If it worked out, good, if not, oh well at least I tried. It is going to be a once in a lifetime experience and I am glad that I tried. After getting accepted I started thinking about how wonderful an opportunity this was going to be. I am very interested in how P.E. classes are run overseas. I also want to see how motivated students are. In this country there seems to be a growing problem of low motivation or student apathy. It will be interesting to compare and contrast our educational system and culture with theirs. I hope to learn a variety of different games or activities while I am there. I want to see what they are doing right in terms of physical education so that I can add this knowledge or skill to my repertoire. I believe that this trip will make me a culturally aware, well rounded, effective teacher and person.

I have wanted to be a teacher since fifth grade when I "applied" to be a peer tutor. When asked why I wanted to be apart of the program my response was, “I just want to know that at some point in my life I helped someone else". Well I guess you could say that cheesy fifth grade response is the reason I have become a teacher today.
I am Meg Carr and I am currently student teaching at Watauga High school. I have two biology classes and one honors biology class. I grew to love the subject of biology in high school and decided that I wanted to carry that love into my own classroom. I am having a great time learning the ropes as a teacher, and am excited to go to Costa Rica in a short month to continue learning. As of right now I have taught ecology at an outdoor summer camp and interned one semester at the same high school I am at now.
I decided I wanted to go to Costa Rica for many reasons. The first reason is to experience a new culture, and a different mindset. Today it is easy to get stuck in the same old paradigms, especially when it comes to education. Interacting and observing the way the locals of Nicoya go about education will broaden my horizons. Not only will their way of education influence my life, their way of life will give me a chance to grow in ways I can not even imagine. Also, as a science teacher I want to bring more than just knowledge into the classroom, I want to bring in experiences. Having experienced science and life first hand brings a whole new dynamic to a class and a great answer to the dreaded question “when will I ever use this”.
I can not imagine the impact this trip will have on me as a person and as an educator. I am excited to see what is in store for me in Costa Rica!

My name is Melanie Molnar, but I go by Mel. I am currently student teaching in Raleigh, NC at Fox Road Elementary School in the second grade. I decided to return home to do my student teaching so that I would be able to learn Wake Counties procedures and get my "foot" in the door because it is ultimately the county where I would like to reside and teach in.

I first knew that I wanted to be a teacher in the first grade because I absolutely loved my teachers and wanted to be just like them. While growing up, I have had a passion for working with children and I have always loved knowing that I make a difference in a child's life. For a while I had contemplated becoming a Nurse, but after being a camp counselor at Camp Kanata, I knew that my calling was with children and their education.

I chose to participate in the International Student Teaching program because of the experience of teaching a different culture of people and how I can bring their culture into my teaching back here in the United States. Aside from the wonderful opportunity to travel the world, I thought it would be beneficial for my growing as a person.

I expect to be fully immersed into the culture of Costa Rica, and I expect to absolutely love it. I hope to be able to make a difference in the children's lives and learn as much about their way of living and their city of Nicoya. I am eager to leave and I cannot wait to begin learning!!

I cannot name a single specific reason I decided to get a degree in education. I don't have that one 'magic' teacher that I credit for my inspiration. I did not have an extremely great or extremely miserable school experience. Nobody in my family is in education. So, why?

I like to help people. I tutored younger students in high school, and I enjoyed the reactions when light-bulb moments happened. I took it almost personally when those moments did not happen. I also enjoy having a specialization in a certain area (math for me) that allows me to aid in others' understanding. With those factors, education made sense.

I am currently Student Teaching at Mabel Elementary in Zionville. I have 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in math. My students range the gamut from happy-go-lucky to the typical moody teenager. They also say some of the funniest things I have ever heard, in addition to having some of the saddest stories that I couldn't imagine. I'm going to miss my kids (and yes, for some unknown reason I have been referring to them almost constantly as 'my kids,' and would not change that at all) when I am in Mexico, and I am sure I'll be taking some time to visit them when I get back.

I chose to apply for International Student Teaching because I wanted to expand my personal experiences before beginning a career. I also felt that as an educator in an area in which Hispanics make up the fastest-growing minority, I was ethically bound to learn as much as I could about a culture I would be no doubt interacting with. I think that I will learn a good deal about language and its effects on day-to-day life, as well as non-verbal forms of communication. Also, I hope to learn about gender interactions and certain view-points that may differ from the typical 'American' idea.