Hello, my name is Caleigh Christensen and I currently am teaching 8th Grade U.S. History in Houston, TX. I attended Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI where I received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies for Secondary Education and a minor in History.
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"A hundred years from now it will not matter what your bank account looked like, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove...the world may be different because you were important in the life of a child." I have spent hours upon hours in many different classroom settings with a wide range of students. I volunteered in an inner city high school and was placed in a 9th grade classroom. In this placement, I was able to take groups of ESL/ELL students aside and work with them on understanding the content. Having taken over four years in Spanish, I was able to effectively communicate with a wide array of Spanish-speaking students. I was also able to work with a few students from Burma and although the language barrier was a struggle, I was still able to find ways of communicating with them by the use of a Burmese dictionary and showing them pictures addressing the content.
I then had the privilege to teacher assist for four months in two 7th grade Social Studies classes. These classes had a high number of special needs kids and were ethnically diverse. My focus was on classroom management and providing a positive educational environment for the students. I co-taught many lessons with my coordinating teacher and I personally taught a two week unit on Southeast Asia. I was able to engage students in their learning using multiple strategies while capitalizing on their individual strengths. I was also able to create a welcoming environment in which I could communicate effectively with each and every student. My student teaching placement was in a diverse high school where I taught a semester of three Civics classes with students ranging from 9th-12th grade. I also co-taught an elective class full of upperclassmen; History vs. Hollywood. I was able to effectively take over the classroom and establish an open and stable environment. I focused on student choice and differentiation along with experimenting different learning strategies to engage students in their learning. I encouraged students to reach their full potential inside and outside of the classroom. As a civics teacher, I focused on having students acknowledge and engage in their civic duties and responsibilities. I built many teacher-student relationships that ultimately helped me as a teacher as I learned so much from the students themselves. During this time I was also able to attend and contribute to many department meetings, IEP meetings and district planning sessions. I am on my third year of teaching 8th grade United States History at Dean Middle School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. Dean Middle School is a tremendously diverse school as the student body is 13% African American, 74% Hispanic and 4% White and 75.2% of those students are economically disadvantaged. I enjoy each and every day at this school with these students because I am constantly learning new things. I strive to make history fun and exciting! It is important to me to make sure students understand the relevance behind the material they are learning. I work with a high population of ESL/ELL students and have been able to learn, adjust and apply many ELL/ESL strategies for my learners. |