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Courtney
Coates

I am a junior at Brigham Young University-
Idaho. I graduated from Camas High School in
2017, and am working on obtaining a degree in
elementary education with an emphasis in science. I
was able to gain experience in the classroom while
working as a substitute paraeducator. I have had
the opportunity to work in many behavioral
classrooms, and this has taught me the importance
of having set routines and clear rewards. I have also
seen the importance of staying calm when
interacting with students. The classrooms that I’ve
worked in where the teacher yelled a lot were less
controlled than the classrooms where the teacher
knew how to stay calm. What inspired me to go
into education were the teachers I had that were
enthusiastic about what they taught. These were the
teachers that motivated me to really learn about
what they were teaching. I hope I can show the
same enthusiasm in the classroom that those teachers
showed. This way, my students can see that it can be
exciting learn about new things.

I believe in having a classroom built around
constructivism that allows students to have as many
options as possible to learn what they want to learn
while still meeting the curricular standards of the
state/country. I also believe that a classroom should be
structured, but that students should have enough
freedom to make their own choices where they feel
that they are being treated with respect. If students are
treated with respect, then they likely reciprocate that
and respect me as their teacher. Science and math are
also important to me, and I plan on incorporating both
of these subjects as much as possible into the
classroom so that students can feel confident in these
areas. I also believe in making the material relevant
and meaningful to the students so that they will be
interested in it and have a deeper desire to learn the
material. I believe this will help them retain the
information longer over time, and that it will continue
to help them further their education.

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