Hello world!

Hi everyone, my name is Sarah Koch and I am a student at Millersville University and I am predicted to graduate in the Fall of 2021 with a bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education!

When I was a senior in high school I did an internship with a kindergarten teacher. I was in her classroom about three times a week for a few hours. During that time I would work with students either in a group/center setting or one-on-one. It was my first time working with children in an educational setting and helping them achieve what the teacher intended.

One of the days I was working with a student who was from Hungry and he read through an entire Early Readers book and the smile on his face and the excitement he had when he finished the book without needing help, it made me happy and excited and I remember just being filled with a lot of positive emotions and knew that this is what I wanted to do.

Seeing this student be proud of himself and what he accomplished made me realize that I want every student to feel like that, to be able to be proud of reaching a goal or accomplishing something. That teacher helped those students and set them up for success. I hope to have the things I need in my classroom to make sure my student succeeded. With doing that I want to implement Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs in my classroom as much as possible, making sure that my students feel safe and that not only their educational needs are met but that their personal needs are met as well. I want my classroom to feel like a safe place and that they know I am also a safe place.

I remember being in elementary school and always wondering if I am going to pass a test or do well on a homework assignment and that started early on in elementary school, it was pretty obvious who was in the “smart” group, the “average” group and the “basic” group and that hurt knowing where I fell. I remember not feeling like I was “smart” enough, a goal I have is that my students never wonder what group they are in and that they always see themselves as smart students who can achieve things and that they know I am in their corner cheering them on.

With the semesters I have left I hope to learn different ways to adapt to what children need, educationally and personally. I want to adapt to my students and the ways they learn and help them to retain the information not just remember it for a test. I want them to know that I am a safe person and that my classroom is a safe place for each child. My goal is to be the teacher I always wanted when I was in school.