January 26, 2014

Dear Ellen,

Its nice to meet you! My name is Emily, and I am in the Elementary Inclusive
Education program. I completed my undergraduate degree at Emerson College in Boston
in 2010 and then moved to Berkeley, CA. I am originally from California, though I had
never lived or been to Berkeley before moving there. I grew up in Chula Vista, a city
south of San Diego.
I really love being outsidecamping, hiking, riding my bike, or swimming.
Although I have only taken one American Sign Language class, I love practicing sign. I
hope to continue taking courses and one day become fluent. While I lived in Berkeley, I
volunteered in a fifth grade class through the Berkeley Unified School District. I had
experience teaching swimming with the Red Cross and working as an outdoor educator at
camps and environmental education centers, but I had never worked in a traditional
classroom. I volunteered with a first year teacher, and every week I looked forward to
going into school and working with the students. This experience affirmed my desire to
become a classroom teacher.
In September of 2012, I moved from Berkeley to New York City and started my
first semester at TC. It took me a while to adjust to my new surroundings; life definitely
seemed to move at a faster pace, especially compared to the Bay Area. Last year, I lived
and worked at Barnard College, and now Im enjoying my new home in Brooklyn. This
semester, I am student teaching in a first grade classroom at the East Village Community
School in Manhattan. In the fall, I student taught in a fifth grade classroom at PS 503 in
Brooklyn.
This is my last semester at Teachers College. In May, I will be applying for
certification. I plan to move to Burlington, VT and apply for teaching positions. Why
Burlington, you ask? Well, I hope to work at a public school there called the
Sustainability Academy, which integrates concepts of sustainability into all aspects of the
curriculum. I am really passionate about trying to live a zero waste lifestyle, and I strive
to make decisions that positively affect or have a very minimal impact on the
environment. I would love to combine my love of teaching with my commitment to the
planet. Not to mention, the school has an outdoor classroom, so my students and I could
read and write outside!
My goals for this course are to learn more about teaching English language
learners. I would also like to discuss different ways to use read aloud to teach writing,
reading, and social emotional skills. I am grappling with these questions: What can I do
to help encourage and build a love of learning in my classroom and among my students?
What can I do/say to support students who do not like to read and/or struggle with it?
And what can I do in general to position my reading instruction in a more relevant, real-
world context? One of my big goals is to feel more confident leading reading lessons,
particularly for younger students.
I look forward to meeting you on Tuesday! See you soon.

Sincerely,
Emily McKelvey