Teacher Tamela L. Nelson

My Journey to Become a Teacher In this presentation I will be taking you on my journey to becoming a teacher. I am a non-traditional student. I will begin in my childhood and take you through my life to the point of returning to Shepherd. I will then discuss my first semester back in school and where I hope to go from here.

My Childhood When I was a younger, around 9 or 10, I was intrigued by children. At family dinners I was always in charge of the activities for the kids. I began babysitting around the same age for neighbors and family. I thought someday I would like to be a teacher.

The Daycare When I was in high school I volunteered at day care center where I was eventually hired. I loved working with the children, this experience confirmed my career path, or so I thought.

Going To College When I applied for college I selected elementary education as my major. While I was in college I worked part time in a clothing store. After being in school a year I changed my major to business and fashion merchandising. I thought, at the time, that was what I wanted to do.

The Real World After completing the fashion merchandising program at Shepherd I started a career in retail management. I truly loved what I did and I received invaluable life experience throughout my management career. I was very successful and was able to “teach”in a different arena as a manager.

Now I am a Mother As a mother of 2 children I found retail hours are not family friendly. I began to think about teaching again. It has always been in my heart I just needed to pursue it.

A New Career I began exploring the idea of going back to college to become a teacher. As I began to think about becoming a teacher I decided to accept a position as a classroom aid to see if it was truly what I wanted to do.

Working for the Board of Education I was a substitute for a year before accepting a permanent position. I work with students with Autism. I have worked in elementary and middle and high schools, my experience in those environments shed a new light on my major at Shepherd University, I still wanted to teach just not elementary students.

My Major I have chosen to major in Secondary Education. My concentration is Family and Consumer Sciences.

Why the change? I still love working with younger children but much to my surprise I feel like I can make a greater impact at the secondary level. By teaching Family and Consumer Science I can use my experience in fashion merchandising to teach some of the subject matter.

A Student Once Again This is my first semester back at Shepherd University after 17 years. It has been quite interesting. I was a bit apprehensive about returning to school after so long. I have found I am more focused on my goal of graduating and becoming a teacher then I was the first time around.

This Semester I have thoroughly enjoyed my classes this semester. I mapped out a tentative schedule for the rest of my time at Shepherd in EDUC 150. I have improved my used of technology in EDUC 209. My other courses were general studies, I had great teachers in all my classes.

Looking at the rest of my college career I have great expectations for the coming semesters at Shepherd. I am looking forward to delving deeper in to my Education classes. Next semester I will be taking EDUC 200 along with 3 classes in my concentration and 2 general studies classes. I am hopeful for what the future holds.

Challenges I am a single mother of 2. I work full time. I am in school full time. Each of these things are time consuming but the 3 of them together are quite challenging. Keeping sight of the ultimate goal will keep me focused and help me through the difficult times.

Goals I hope to graduate in the Spring of 2007. I would be happy teaching middle school but want to teach high school. I would like to work for a county that has “technical high schools” to be able to teach more specialized classes in child care and fashion merchandising.

Long Term Goals For now, working on my Bachelors Degree fills most of my time. Once I receive it and have started teaching I will determine which area I will study for my Masters. I am considering Administration or Family and Consumer Science. I am considering pursuing a career in higher education.

On My Way I am currently a student at Shepherd University and I am very happy about my decision to be a teacher. It is something I have always wanted to do, I just took the long way around to do it. I am looking forward to using what I have learned at Shepherd along with my life experience to be a successful teacher.