About the Author

Katherine Arnold

Auto-biography 

I am a senior now at Florida Gulf Coast University studying Elementary Education. I was born in Fort Myers but I have lived in Naples, FL the majority of my life. I love spending time with my friends and my family including my three dogs. My family has a huge influence on my life, I am the oldest of three children. I have two younger brothers, one is 18 and the other is 11. Cody is my brother who is a year and half younger than me and he is now attending FGCU pursuing a business degree. My youngest brother and half-brother, Zakari was born when I was nine years old and I was instantly obsessed with him. He enjoys reading and he loves all animals. My mom still lives in Naples, FL with my younger brother and she works two jobs. I have gotten my strong work ethic from my mother because I see how hard she works. My dad recently moved back to New Hampshire where our extended family lives but we talk constantly because we are the closest. I am actually planning to visit him at the end of the summer because it has been almost a year since I have seen him.                

I have always loved kids so that is why I have chosen to pursue an elementary teaching career. I cannot wait to get into the classroom and begin teaching. I truly believe knowledge is power. Books are such a great way to build your imagination and gain more knowledge. I absolutely love books, when I was younger I was always reading at least two. I'm excited to reread some books and discover some new ones.

Journey to Teaching and Goals 

I have always had a passion for children and I think that my passion grew when my youngest brother was born. I spent all of my time with him as he was growing up. I love seeing the way children think and I love their imagination. I decided that I wanted to teach children when I was in high school. I took a class for three years called Early Childcare and it was my introduction to lesson planning and classroom management. I had experiences teaching the preschool aged students and it was during this time that I realized I wanted to study elementary education and become a teacher.

            I plan on teaching grades kindergarten through third grade but my dream age to teach would be first graders. I think my strength is that I am very in tune with people’s emotions and I have always been a thoughtful person. I will care for each and every one of my students. This strength will help to learn the strengths of my own students to encourage them to use those strengths in their learning. Through my education I have learned how important it is to care for the students and to give them all the same opportunities to learn. 

            I have learned about many different theories and different views for teaching children but the one that resonates with me is experiential learning. I think that is extremely important to teach students through experiences and to connect their learning to these experiences. We all know that students learn differently but research has shown that students learn better by making real world connections. This includes making the information relevant to their lives and teaching them in unique personal ways.