About Me!

    

Hey everybody! I'm Laura Welter and I'm from Biloxi and I'm 22 years old.  For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a teacher.  When I first began my college career, I thought I wanted to take a different path and become a physical therapist, but I quickly realized that wasn't the right path for me and joined the education department.  I have been exposed to the teaching field and teaching practices for basically my entire life.  My mom is a 4th grade teacher and my godmother (pretty much my second mom) teaches 5th grade.  While in high school, I worked at the elementary school that I attended in the after school care program which was another factor that drew me to education.
     If I could choose an ideal grade for me to teach, I would choose 3rd or 4th grade.  I just love that age and really feel a connection to those grades.  Since history is my favorite subject, I am very excited to teach Social Studies to students and make them see that history is not always boring and can be fun and exciting.  Also, I am looking forward to teaching science.  I am very nervous and anxious to teach math.  I have always personally struggled with math so I'm apprehensive to teach it to others.
     Like I mentioned before, I am from Biloxi on the coast.  My mom is a 4th grade teacher in the Biloxi school system, and my dad is the director of the Biloxi Teachers Federal Credit Union.  I am an only child, but we do have one dog, a Maltipoo named Toby.  Since I live very close to the beach, one of my favorite hobbies is going out on the boat to the islands, going fishing, and going to the beach.  I am a very slow reader so I do not get the opportunity to read a lot of books, but a few I have really loved have been Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. 

     While I was reading the syllabus, one thing that really stood out to me was The Elizabethtown Pennsylvania Project.  That is such an interesting and cool opportunity and I look forward to hearing more about it.  Judging from what I have heard and read so far, I believe this class is about literacy and how it is the basis of all learning.  It has to do with different literacy practices and how to provide students with the knowledge and support for them to develop.  After reading through the syllabus, I hope to learn how exactly to deal with and approach diversity in the classroom.  The Elizabethtown Pennsylvania Project as well as the Service-Learning Project look very exciting to me.  Both of these are out of the ordinary for a normal classroom and seem very beneficial.  One thing however that scares me a little bit is the Multigenre Writing Project.  I have never been a confident writer, so the face that this is a "writing intensive" class intimidates me quite a bit, but I'm going to stay positive.  As of now, I do not have any questions or concerns but I'm sure I will have plenty of questions in the future!