Hello

My name is Ruth Nazarian, I am an Elementary Education student at the University of South Alabama. I graduated from South in 1989 with a BA in Psychology and I am returning to school to earn my second bachelors degree. I look forward to teaching elementary school, I hope to teach the lower grades K- 3nd . I have worked for the Mobile County Public School System as a Paraprofessional in a self contained special education classroom and I have also worked as an instuctional aid interventionist in K-2nd grade. I will start my pre-sequence Spring 2009 and I am looking forward to working in the schools.I am a single mother of a 10 year old daughter Breyanna. I enjoy reading fiction novels, going to the movies and jogging.

Technology in Education

I have found through my Micro Computing in Education class that technology is very important part in our society and it must be integrated in the classroom. Currently the school systems have computer labs and Smartboards, unfortunately the students have very little access to them.My daughter who is in public school goes to computer lab once a week if she is lucky. When I become a teacher I am going to find ways to integrate as much technology into my classroom as possible. I feel that it is important for the students to have hands on experience, if they are not exposed they will not learn. I also must continue to learn as much as I can to keep up with all the changes that are happening. Technology is doubling every 2 years so that means I will continue to be a student of technology as well as a teacher in order to prepare my students for their futures.

Diversity In Education

I have worked in the Mobile Public School System as a paraprofessional in a special education self contained classroom and I feel that it is very important to be accepting of all people. As a regular education teacher I feel that I will be able to include children in my classroom that have special needs. I feel that accommodating all students -no matter what it is they may be in need of so that they are successful academically- is my number one job. Students are more likely to learn and benefit from school if they feel accepted and valued by their teacher and other students will learn from my example.

Art in Education

Art is such an important aspect of education. It is important to realize that every child learns differently. There are students that flourish in the arts and are drawn to it. I believe that this is very important to integrate into the curriculum. Art is very expressive and can be used in all subjects. Art is a way to communicate , children at a very young age draw before they can write this how they tell us stories. Art can bring a creativity to any lesson that is being taught and should be used to the fullest. Using art can bring life to a dull lesson and make it fun and encourage engagement to a child who may not want to participate otherwise.

Importance of Classroom Management

I believe that the most important indicator of whether you are an effective teacher or not is dependent on your classroom management skills. It is very important that a teacher puts their best foot forward starting on day one. A teacher must set the tone for the whole school year from the minute the students walk in the door on that first day. The students must feel that they have a voice in the classroom instead of being dictated to so that they feel that they are important and valued. School experiences especially at a very young age must be positive, if a student has a bad experiences than they will not participate or cooperate. If that happens that will make your job as the teacher that much more of a challenge.