1. The Educational Autobiography ELED 1010

2. What is an Educational Autobiography? The Educational Autobiography is a story of your experiences, both inside and outside of school, that have had an influence on your education, your growth, and your interest in becoming a teacher. Focus primarily on elementary through high school Other experiences are welcome.

3. What do I actually write about? The experiences that have led you to your current interest in becoming a teacher. Important people/events that have influenced your thoughts about: The goals of education The role of teachers You as a teacher

4. What are some educational experiences? Anything that impacted your education inside or outside of school! Classes Teachers Sports/Dance teams Clubs Transitions between schools/grades Extracurricular activities And much more!

5. Time to go back in time… Elementary school: What was your favorite grade? Why? Was it the teacher? Curriculum? Friends? Why do you remember this grade better than the rest? Did something of great importance happen in your life?

6. Time to go back in time… Junior High: What extracurricular activities were you involved in? Was there a coach/teacher that influenced you? What was your favorite memory from this/these activities? Can you remember a time you had success? What happened? Was there someone that helped you along the way? What about failure? What did you learn from this experience?

7. Time to go back in time… High school: Think about the class that you felt you learned the most… Who was your teacher? What was her/his teaching style? What was the environment like? Did you have friends in the class? Did they have the same experience? What was the most important thing you learned? (academic or not) Why do you remember this?

8. Other things to think about… What lead you to investigate becoming a teacher? Who has influenced you? Good or bad Peer, coach, or family influences? Memories of teachers (loved or disliked, why?) Favorite/least favorite school year, why? Successes and failures in life, what did you learn? When you write your paper, make sure your experiences are organized in chronological order.

9. Tie it all together with a THEME! Your theme is a metaphor that ties your whole paper together. Carry your theme throughout your entire paper and tie it into the end. Examples: ingredients in a recipe, a journey down a road, items found in a closet, crayons in a crayon box, your favorite sport. Choose one that comes from YOU! Find a theme that gets you excited to write your story.

10. When you start writing… Be patient with yourself! Getting started is often difficult, just as it is often a problem to know when to quit. Quit when you have nothing more to share. As you begin writing and memories come to mind, you may find your storyline shifting and sometimes changing dramatically. Write whatever you feel comfortable enough to write about. Does the story feel right? Does it capture you and your thinking? The emphasis in the paper is more on the story than on the analysis.

11. General Requirements 6-8 pages, double spaced, Calibri 11 or Times New Roman 12 pt. font, 1” margins on all sides. Proofread! Should be free of errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Have someone proofread it for you: Friend or family member The writing center Me! (maddyn07@hotmail.com) Cite your sources if you use them. Style manual APA 6 th Edition. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01 Title page that has the date, your name, the title of your Educational Autobiography, and “ELED 1010.”

12. How your title page should look: Title: An Educational Autobiography By: Your Name ELED 1010 Fall 2015

13. Rubric: What you’re getting graded on The Seven Big Ones Syllabus Pg. 6

14. #1: Introduction It should Introduce your theme The attention grabber! This is your story, so don’t be afraid to make it sound like YOU!

15. #2: Theme It should be suitable. Interwoven throughout Carries the narration of the paper.

16. #3: Coverage Covers time period from elementary school through high school. Organized chronologically. Other experiences are welcome.

17. #4: Inclusion Important people and critical events that impacted your education and desire to become a teacher. You can use fake names if that’s more comfortable for you. The importance of these people and events is clear. What did it do to impact your education or desire to investigate becoming a teacher?

18. #5: Focus Your paper focuses on NARRATING rather than analyzing a story. Narrating: telling the PERSONAL STORIES that got you here. Analyzing: pulling things apart to examine and give a detailed explanation of why you’re here. So write clearly with a purpose and write stories that detail your personal experiences. The story draws from the broader view of being education- related.

19. #6: Flow The narration of the story flows, includes brief introspection on teaching issues and relates to your current interest in teaching. The theme should help with this. “Brief introspection on teaching issues”= your opinions on how teachers should teach, among other issues. This is usually easiest to discuss when you think of the teachers that have impacted you, positively or negatively.

20. #7: Self-Revelation Your paper is personal and authentic. You demonstrate your willingness to stretch beyond your comfort zone, take a risk, and share the experiences that have REALLY shaped who you are and have led you to this classroom today. Use only personal information that is appropriate to the theme, purpose, and audience for this paper. When we workshop each other’s EA’s, you can have your reader skip sensitive personal parts if you wish. Professor Markworth will be the only one reading your entire paper, and he will keep it confidential.

21. Dates to Remember: EA first draft due March 14. Hard copy/Laptop – relatively finished! (?) We will be work shopping them in class! EA FINAL PAPER due April 11.

22. Remember to have fun! This really is a GREAT opportunity to put your story into words and remember the experiences that have shaped who you are and what direction you want to go career- wise! After writing your paper, you could evaluate the reasons why you are interested in teaching, and that is the whole point! That is what this class is about: exploring your interest in teaching, and discovering what it takes to be a teacher.

23. Questions? You can email me at maddyn07@hotmail.com maddyn07@hotmail.com