Autobiography
My name is Katie Brown and I have
wanted to be a teacher since the first time I stood at my toy chalkboard and
taught my stuffed animals to read. And while the goal has always been clear,
the path has not. For years, I saw myself teaching high school English and
discussing Orwell, Rowling, and Frost with lovers of literature. I pictured
myself grading the most inspired prose and poetry seen in recent years. I could
practically hear myself reading my favorite passages aloud to rapt eleventh and
twelfth grade audiences. I did not, however, picture myself as a Special
Education teacher and I definitely did not picture myself teaching in an
elementary school and loving it dearly.
I graduated from Colorado Mesa
University in 2013 with my Bachelor of Arts in Writing. Shortly after
graduation, I applied through AmeriCorps to be an instructional assistant at
Independence Academy Charter School, the K-8 school my own children attended. After
two years, I moved from instructional assistant to interventionist based on my
work with struggling students, and began to train as the new special education
teacher. In 2016 I was accepted into the alternative licensure graduate program
at Western State Colorado University. I will receive my Master of Arts in
Education with an emphasis in Reading Leadership in May 2018.
As much as I wanted to teach high
school English, I know now that Special Education is my calling. I enjoy
working with students with disabilities and feel that I am particularly good at
working with students with reading disabilities. I like watching students
eventually crack the magic code that is learning to read. As a special
educator, I get to support, both as a teacher and an advocator, those students
who are often ignored. I get to use all resources available to me to help all students
get the education they deserve.
As an educator, I am constantly
trying to improve my craft. I work closely with my colleagues in order to
support my students. I make time to plan with teachers who have students with
disabilities in their classrooms and do my best to align what they are doing in
class with their students’ academic goals. In addition, I facilitate an
after-school service club and news crew. The service club creates and completes
service projects in the school and local community. The news crew writes,
records and produces student-led news casts which are posted on the school
website and shown in class. I do everything I can, on a regular basis to
improve the school, the students, and myself.
Eventually, I would like to
continue with my own schooling and get a PhD in Education so that I can teach
at a university. I was told by one of my professors that teachers like to see
their influence grow. If I can educate educators to be the best they can be, I
can have an even greater influence on struggling learners. However, that will
be in the future. For now, I am going to enjoy working with my students and
seeing the flicker of understanding spark in their eyes.